Nyrrvana, a sustainable personal care brand has joined hands with AVNI, a menstrual healthcare startup, to participate in its ongoing campaign D.A.A.G. (Destroying the Accessibility & Acceptance Gap) floated to throw light on the significance of menstrual hygiene. The outreach program launched by AVNI is aimed at creating awareness around the challenges associated with menstrual cycles and making the periods more manageable for females, especially those hailing from the underprivileged sections. Under the yearly program the startup picks a particular female-dominated segment of the society and highlights their struggles specifically in terms of menstrual healthcare. This year’s campaign is aimed at talking about the condition of female sanitation workers, who are also the frontline warriors during COVID, and safe menstrual practices. Nyrrvana, operating in the personal care space, has come forward to add to the initiative and take the agenda of hygiene a notch up with its contribution in terms of knowledge, and supplies.
Nyrrvana has stepped in to make a contribution of Rs. 2/litre from the earnings gained from the sale of hand sanitizers and bath and body products on the website towards menstrual hygiene kit in order to raise awareness about the importance of basic hygiene maintenance. Both companies will work together to provide 5000 female waste pickers with a Menstrual Health Kit, which will include four tested antimicrobial reusable sanitary pads, as a token of appreciation for the services they do on a regular basis.
Ms. Sujata Pawar- Co-founder, Avni – Menstrual healthcare startup said, “Menstrual hygiene is still considered as taboo and hence, many of us refrain from discussing it in the first place. With this initiative, we want to highlight the fact that even the women from challenged sectors of the society have to manage their cycles every month. However, it is unimaginably difficult for them due to the lack of knowledge, supplies, accessibility to toilets, hazardous work environment and more. Yet nobody noticed their condition, and they have remained invisible to the majority for the longest. We are grateful to Nyrrvana for supporting us in this initiative and making it feasible for us to conduct it while following COVID precautionary measures.”
Speaking about the collaboration Sushi Krishna Thanneru, Founder of Nyrrvana Cosmetics says, “Being a woman running a startup with an objective to make hygiene a ritual in everyone’s lives, I am happy to see initiatives to empower women and hygienic practices are taking place. Project DAAG has been an outstanding initiative and we are happy to be aligned with the vision of their initiative.”
It is estimated that there are 1.5 million to 4 million waste pickers in India, out of which 80% are female workers. Amidst the pandemic, the situation has been even worse as frontline female workers are on duty at a stretch. During periods, women sanitation workers suffer from frequent infections, rashes, burns, and welts because of hours of walking and the inaccessibility of public toilets. In order to manage their menstrual days, they have to depend on inferior, unclean alternatives. Hence this collaboration will support and prevent such occurrences as DAAG provides a much more suitable and cost-friendly substitute. The brand has also partnered with a few leading NGOs in Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Surat, Coimbatore, Chennai for on-ground initiation.
About Nyrrvana
Nyrrvana, a Hyderabad based wellness startup offering a range of sustainable and hygienic products, is approved by AYUSH (Board of Ayurveda). Sushi, Founder of the company during her trip from Singapore to India post her three-month maternity break, realized the huge difference in maintaining hygiene at an individual level. She thought of bringing awareness on sanitization to Indian citizens to hit back this deadly disease with products that can minimize the spread of this dangerous disease to a 99% success rate and that are when Nyrrvana was planned and formed. Nyrrvana is addressing this issue by ensuring people are using the right products and use World Health Organisation-recommended 75% IPA alcohol in their products.
About Avni
Avni, founded in August 2020 in Thane, Maharashtra is a young start-up focused on holistic menstrual care. Founded by the husband-wife duo -Sujata Pawar and Apurv Agrawal, Avni conscious menstrual care products for women. The brand offers well researched, innovative, tested products to facilitate womens hygiene during periods. The Co-founders envision Avni to emerge as a reliable womens health brand with the support of medical experts, 24X7 helpline, and conscious products right from menarche to menopause.
