Project RISHI @ UCLA
Our Projects
Project RISHI at UCLA is committed to creating lasting change through our diverse campaigns and programs. While we maintain a clear mission, we employ a broad range of strategies to address critical issues within the South Asian community, including water sanitation, healthcare, and women's and community empowerment.
Learn more about our initiatives and get involved yourself.
Health Advocacy
About Our Team
Through our health advocacy initiatives in Tamil Nadu, the HA team collaborates with local partners to advance community well-being by addressing substance abuse, non-communicable diseases, and women’s health.
Past Projects
Past Projects
During the 2023 and 2024 Project RISHI India trips to Vadamanapakkam, members observed significant discomfort with disposable pads among schoolgirls, difficulty disposing of the pads due to broken incinerators, and stigmas surrounding menstrual health. In response, Project RISHI partnered with the Anahat for Change Foundation, a Kolkata-based NGO that provides sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and menstrual health (MH) education across India and sells reusable cloth pads under Anahat Unnati. With the support of Selvi Aunty, the leader of local women’s self-help groups, Anahat facilitated six workshops from January to November 2024. These workshops aimed to break the silence surrounding menstrual health, empower women and girls with SRH/MH education, and promote sustainability by distributing reusable menstrual products and teaching women how to sew their own cloth pads. A total of 150 reusable pad kits were distributed, and adult women reported particularly strong interest in workshops focused on making and using these pads. Data showed that the 30–39 age group had the highest attendance, and that schoolgirls expressed a strong desire for future workshops. Key local women (Selvi, Parimala, and Radhika) were identified and trained to sustain the work beyond Anahat’s involvement. The initiative progressed into a community-wide Women’s Festival, which reinforced a strong collective interest in reproductive health education and emphasized the workshop’s success in health advocacy.
Ongoing Projects
Looking ahead, the Health Advocacy team is planning to broaden its impact by exploring new partnerships and expanding its focus areas. In reproductive health, the team aims to build upon its collaboration with Anahat by connecting with other NGOs to lead workshops for younger girls and address gaps identified in needs assessments, such as pre- and postnatal supplement access. The team plans to strengthen mental health advocacy by initiating conversations with organizations that specialize in mental health education and services. Additionally, Health Advocacy is considering launching NCD (non-communicable disease) research by integrating Vadamanapakkam and Attrambakkam as part of a larger network of cluster villages. On the educational side, the team hopes to implement a substance abuse awareness program (TTK) in Vadamanapakkam as a pilot, with plans to scale it up across age groups and potentially hold full intervention camps. Lastly, they are working on creating dental hygiene modules for local tuition teachers, tapping into UCLA’s existing resources to build accessible and culturally relevant health education content.