Alisha Moopen to Collaborate with Rural Activist Ruma Devi to Debut Women Empowerment Initiatives in Rajasthan

By: WE Staff | Tuesday, 8 March 2022

Ms. Alisha Moopen, Deputy Managing Director of Aster DM Healthcare, today led Aster Volunteers, Aster DM Healthcare's global CSR arm, in collaborating with India's well-known rural activist Ms. Ruma Devi, a Nari Shakti Puraskar 2018 awardee – India's highest civilian honour for Women – to provide health access to rural households in Barmer, Rajasthan. The cooperation, announced on International Women's Day, will see Aster Volunteers and Ruma Devi work together to increase access to primary healthcare services for the rural population of the Barmer District, as well as develop women empowerment programmes.

The fully equipped mobile clinic, known as 'Aster Volunteers Mobile Medical Services,' will deliver primary health check-ups, medical eye exams, health education, and training to the villages of Barmer, Rajasthan. Aster Volunteers has spent the last few years focused on the empowerment of poor women through a variety of programmes coordinated by Ms. Alisha Moopen, who thinks that women's emancipation begins with their health.

In this regard, rural women's empowerment initiatives would begin with education and training in order to manage their own health in addition to the required medical examination, as well as teach them how to manage the health of their families, such as vaccination for their children, hygiene and sanitization, and disease awareness. This would be followed by skill development training for rural women, allowing them to earn a living on their own. The projects will also assist rural artisan women in improving their skill sets, locating materials, and marketing their products.

Ms. Alisha Moopen, Deputy Managing Director, Aster DM Healthcare, commented on initiative, said, “Women are the centre of caring of their family. With programs like these, we can educate the women better so that she is enabled and empowered to take better care of herself and her whole family. In villages, where most of them live as big joint families, this would mean caring for old, young and for herself better. However, the health of a women particularly in the rural household is the most neglected. The notion that her health is least priority has been weaved into her. We are glad to partner with Ruma Devi and support her in her journey to improve the health and welfare of these women and in-turn empower them to support their families’ welfare. At Aster, being an organization with 59% of women workforce, we feel empowerment of women starts with empowering them to manage their own health first which will enable them to prosper and better support their families.”

Ms. Ruma Devi said, “We are really glad that Aster Volunteers and Ms. Alisha Moopen have decided to join our cause and see value in the work that we are doing for the upliftment of the villages of Barmer, Rajasthan. We are eagerly looking forward to take our partnership forward.”

Aster Volunteers has been actively involved in giving medical assistance to people from marginalised and economically disadvantaged communities. Apart from hosting the mobile clinic, the region will look into a variety of other women empowerment projects to help women better support themselves and their families.

Aster Volunteers has grown into a global movement led by over 42,000 volunteers who have influenced over 3.5 million lives in the previous five years.