THE DESAI FOUNDATION

In partnership with local CBO’s, the Desai Foundation established the Asani Sanitary Napkin Program, an innovative, transformative, women-led, community-based program that trains women to produce and distribute retail quality, low-cost sanitary napkins, and provides menstrual hygiene management (MHM) education in the rural communities. The women use semi-automated machines to produce sanitary napkins in the production unit to ensure their higher quality. Currently, there are 11 women working in the production unit. Additionally, approximately 250 pad distributors are employed who have flexible working hours. Their responsibilities include door to door distribution of sanitary napkins in remote areas of Gujarat and informing the communities about the importance of menstrual hygiene and management.
The project is operated by women in the communities, creating leadership roles that
encourages them to make independent financial decisions both at home and outside. So far, we have produced approximately 1.2 million pads.

Desai Foundation's fun-filled child health fairs (Bal Health Mela) attract 500-2,000 children at a time to provide them with quality health care and guide them toward healthier living. As of yet, 15,000 children have been impacted by these camps. At the health fairs, children are taught positive health habits, parents are informed of necessary vaccinations for their newborns and infants, and children are provided with high-quality medical screening and vaccinations. All these activities are conducted through games and musical puppet shows that make learning fun for children. We also educate the parents on various medical issues and precautionary measures that has improved the health conditions in our target communities.

In the village of Untdi in Gujarat, India, Shantaben Vidhyabhavan is a vital community
center, providing quality education, vocational opportunity, and health and
developmental services. Since reconstruction, Shantaben Vidyabhavan’s school, “Lok
Vidyalaya” has tripled in size, and four more classrooms have been constructed to meet rising demand. Over 800 students from 15 surrounding villages have attended the school, with class levels ranging from kindergarten to 12th standard. Unlike many schools in rural India, the school's curriculum covers all major subjects: language, math, the arts, history, and science through the use of state of the art science labs. The science school is the only one of its kind in the region, offering a rich curriculum to students hungry for a level of academic rigor and exploration that they would not otherwise have access to. This school has a waiting list to meet the demand.

Community Impact is a student volunteer-based program located in Morningside Heights, NY. The volunteers are students from Columbia University who are involved in providing free educational guidance, computer lessons and healthcare facilities to the community members living in the Morningside Heights, Harlem, and Washington Heights neighborhoods. Services include ESOL classes, high school equivalency (TASC) preparation, CUNY assessment test preparation, college counselor services, and career counselor services for residents in the target areas.

The Desai Foundation has organized several gynecology health camps in its target villages for girls and women. These camps provide services such as pap smear examination, checkups for pregnant women and sensitizing the participants about various women health subject matters. The focuses of these camps are on breast cancer awareness and tests, pre-natal and post-natal checkup of women, and on issues related to menstruation. Women attending these camps are also provided with detailed information on various health related matters. Referral cases are further diagnosed by local hospitals situated at a village/ district level.