Project Garima

My name is Aashi Agarwal and I am a student at Castilleja School in CA. I immigrated to the United States from India at age 11. An engineer at heart, I have am driven by the idea of using human-centered design and frugal engineering to create real and long-lasting impact to communities. I run an organization called Engineering for Equity in my school to create awareness and take action.

For the last 2 years, I have been committed to the issue of Period Poverty in our society. Having access to menstrual hygiene products is a necessity all women should possess. Menstrual health is linked to 8 of 17 Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations, and improving access can have direct impact on empowerment, education, and economic outcomes for girls. However, shockingly, 88% of women and girls in India use unhygienic alternatives for menstruation, from rags to hay, sand, or even ash! I came face-to-face with this issue when I visited a women-run community center focused on distributing sanitary pads. Some women opened up during our interactions – “I could afford to either buy milk or pads before this center” and “my daughter would have to use rags and often skip school during her period days.” Moved by their struggles and strengths, I decided to direct my passion for engineering to improving this situation and Project Garima (“dignity” in Hindi) was born.

I am inspired by the work of Mr. Arunachalam, a social entrepreneur known as ‘Pad-Man’ in India, dedicated to the cause of menstrual equity. I have invented a low-cost pad-making machine that costs less than $500, runs on human and solar power, and empowers any remote household to make affordable (costing less than a cent!) yet quality disposable sanitary pads for the community. I have currently deployed three such machines in a girls school and couple of tribal communities in India, impacting the lives of nearly 500 girls and 200 women. You can find more about my invention and work on my website.

My goal is to expand my setup to 25 communities in the next 90 days, impacting more than 50,000 girls and women. With each machine costing about $500 to make, I am raising $12,500 for this ambitious goal. I hope you join me in my movement.