Target 1: Raising funds for Tathapi

We came across Tathapi through my aunt who has been on the NGO’s board of trustees for quite a while now.

The trust is all about women’s empowerment through health education. They see promoting gender equality as key in spreading health awareness since the two components are so finely interwoven inIndia’s economic and social fabric.

Before we delve into their actual project, here’s some background on Tathapi:They were founded in 2000They are based in the western part ofMaharshtra,Indiain the city ofPuneThey advocate people’s rights to health and informationTheir main focus is to help and educate women on health issuesThey plan to do this by

-providing women and health training

-distributing resources accessible to local grounds in rural areas such as posters, flipcharts, flashcards, training material, like puppet shows, slide shows, video cassettes, games, training manuals, skits for role-plays, songs

-conducting body literacy school programmes (a concept that involves body, gender, sexuality, fertility and power as an educational approach)

-organizing Human Rights campaigns (‘Health for All’ through the Jan Arogya Abhiyan, ’Right to Food campaign’, for ‘Quality Care in Sterilisation Camps for Women’, against the ‘2-child Norm’ in Maharashtra)They also focus on children and men’s rightsThey were pivotal in the exposé of selective abortion

They have proposed to build a health centre for women.“It is our dream at Tathapi to build a health centre of excellence where women can access practices for managing their own health, the health of their families and their communities.”“This is to ensure that all women, particularly poor, are freed from the financial and social burdens resulting out the current canvas of commercial and irrational health practice.”

The “Anandi” – a women’s health centreTheir centre will have different services and avenues related to women’s healthThere will be counseling, preventative, curative, referral, holistic and alternative health services.Women will learn self-help and rational health skill-building to indluce nutrition and wellness, menstruation and contraception, infertility, menopause and mental health centre.Any query will receive technical and scientific information, referral options and peer supportAnandi will also be a place where women can learn, relax and be part of a collective that will reach many more women.The centre will run courses to provide health education to women, in order to create an environment for rational practice.Women will be trained as para-health workers to provide primary health services in the georgraphical areas in which they live in.They will be back up by mobile health clinics.The centre will also have library services on women and health.

Now this is where we step in.

We want to help raise funds to build this health centre. 

How?

By organising a sponsored run.