Walk with Us: Purpose in Action

At Traditional Medicinals, we believe that the quality of our teas is a direct result of our commitment to farmers. Our vision is to build lasting relationships with farmers, provide them a living wage, and support them as they strengthen and empower their own communities.

This year, on the International Day of the Girl, we are supporting our nonprofit partner, WomenServe, to Walk for Girls and Water, an initiative to raise awareness of the gender inequity and water crisis facing girls and women in Western Rajasthan.

We are in the business of creating positive change.

It’s the most important thing we make, and it’s how we measure our success.

Over the last 10 years, we have supported senna farmers in Rajasthan, India by partnering with nonprofit organizations like WomenServe whose mission is to increase water access, health and hygiene, education, and economic empowerment. It’s through the hard work of these nonprofit partnerships that we are able to support vital programming for food and water security, health care, education, and employment to reduce poverty for the communities where senna farmers live and work.

Senna is a key ingredient in our Smooth Move® teas, one of our first products formulated in the 1970s by Traditional Medicinals’ co-founder Rosemary Gladstar. This perennial herb with beautiful yellow flowers thrives in the hot desert air of Western Rajasthan, one of the driest places on earth, where temperatures can reach as high as 122°F. The hot climate and lack of water in the desert are a constant challenge, among many others, that rural communities in Rajasthan face. Women and girls can walk up to 10 hours a day in the grueling desert heat to provide water for their families, crops, and livestock. With long hours spent walking, women are unable to earn additional income to support their families, and girls who spend every day walking are not able to attend school.

Water security has an incredible impact on these communities.

It’s the first step to create lasting change.

Building on traditional water harvesting techniques, WomenServe has constructed and maintained nine village naadis (rainwater catchment ponds), built over 500 taankas (rainwater catchment tanks), and supported the repairs of khadins (agricultural rainwater systems).

Before receiving her taanka, Gavra would wake at 3 am, balance two pots on her head and walk six-miles to collect water, not once but five times a day. Now with her taanka she is growing food, and her family is not hungry. With 10 extra hours a day, Gavra has a new job, a new life, and so many possibilities.

Once these basic needs of water and health are met, women and girls have the time to pursue education or income generation and make valuable and meaningful contributions to their families and their communities. WomenServe estimates that in 2018 alone, implementing these simple water harvesting techniques, saved Rajasthani women and girls 200,000 hours of walking.

Today, in these communities where Traditional Medicinals has invested in supporting nonprofit programs over the last 10 years, women are starting new jobs, girls are attending school, and as a result, entire communities are transforming.

Be a part of this transformation.

Walk with us.

From your first cup of morning tea to the end of a farmer’s day, Traditional Medicinals works to create a positive impact throughout every step in the life cycle of our herbal wellness products, from growing and harvesting herbs, all the way to your cup.  

Sign up to walk at https://womenserve.org/walk-for-water/

Spread the word: Follow WomenServe on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Share why you’re walking or why you care about girls and water, using #iwalkforgirlsandwater and #dayofthegirl