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Women across the kingdom who have been struggling to care for their families and stay afloat during these difficult times are being given bags full of essentials and love to help them in their time of need.
The Women Across empowerment team aims to be a platform for females of all nationalities looking for support.
To set their caring vision in motion, they are working on three initiatives such as A Bag of Love project to help keep people healthy and happy throughout the summer.
“A Bag of Love project, which started in May to mark Eid Al Fitr, was launched after a mother’s plea for basic necessities to aid her daughters,” said Sumithra Praveen, the co-founder of Women Across, which was formerly called The Women of India Series Bahrain, that created an array of workshops, programmes and activities to celebrate women in recent years.
“There is no exaggeration when we say that only women can truly understand the needs of other women. Basic needs such as undergarments and sanitary pads should be accessible for all women and that is what our project is addressing among other essentials.”
The bags contain undergarments, sanitary pads, personal hygiene items and some snacks too. To the team’s delight, the initiative was picked up and supported by LuLu Hypermarket.
“The retail giant and other donors helped to distribute 100 such bags to women of different nationalities living in Bahrain and the project is ongoing,” added Sumithra.
“While giving away the Bags of Love, we came across women with several other needs too. Some needed milk for their children, while others needed medicine. At least two to three of them were desperately in need of medical check-ups. This made us think of our next initiative.”
The new Her Health project, supported by Shifa Al Jazeera Medical Centre, will aid women who need medical care.
They will receive packages for free check-ups from the medical centre featuring tests for blood sugar, total cholesterol, uric acid, serum creatinine and urine routine analysis.
An ultrasound will also be carried out on the abdomen as well as a Serum Glutamic Pyruvic Transaminase (SGPT) test. That is done to measure the amount of Glutamate Pyruvate Transaminase in blood serum which is an enzyme found in heart cells, kidney, muscles and liver. An SGPT test is helpful on a regular basis to ensure the liver remains in a healthy state.
“This project marked our Eid Al Adha celebration last month,” said Sumithra. “So far we have given vouchers to four women and the project is still ongoing.”
The last project, called A Healthy Basket of Goodness, was created to coincide with Onam, the Indian harvest festival.
“We haven’t distributed the baskets yet but we will be giving away 100 baskets of fruits to women in need,” added Sumithra.
“The project is unique as we are also helping Bahraini women. The baskets, featuring apples, oranges, bananas, watermelons, grapes, plums and peaches, are handwoven by Bahraini women weavers from the village of Karbabad.”
This project was funded by an expatriate well-wisher and a Bahraini woman from a noted family. They provided funding for the baskets that were purchased from Abu Helal’s shop who is a Bahraini weaver, and Shifa Al Jazeera Medical Center donated water bottles for the project as well.
“We hope to continue aiding women in need and we reiterate our slogan, let’s rediscover, together!” said team member Anupama Binu.
For details on how to support future causes, contact team member Anupama on 39062720.
