At just 17, Arshia Jaiswal recently hosted her first market stall in Christchurch to raise awareness and funds for Endometriosis New Zealand.
Personally diagnosed with PMOS (polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome), and having witnessed her mother’s experience with an adenomyosis diagnosis, Arshia is no stranger to the wide-ranging impacts of these conditions or their overlapping symptoms.
“Choosing endometriosis wasn’t much of a decision. I wanted to make something for women’s bodies out of frustration with how they get treated, and this is the same frustration at a bigger scale.”
Arshia was inspired to start her own fundraiser after noticing how little is understood about women’s health, particularly endometriosis.
“I don’t have to imagine how it feels. I named my page ‘a diagnosis is the bare minimum’ because having a name for something doesn’t mean people necessarily know what to do with that knowledge, but you can’t get to the second part without the first, and that’s the work Endometriosis New Zealand is doing,” Arshia says.
After a recent trip to Rishikesh with her mother to explore Ayurveda in relation to various symptoms, Arshia went on to create an earthed and powdered herbal blend through a Young Enterprise project. One of the blends includes ingredients such as spearmint, nettle, dandelion, hibiscus, chamomile and kawakawa.
Arshia explains that, in Ayurveda, these herbs are recognised as having cooling properties.
“I have PMOS, so I’ve made this because I wanted something that worked with my body’s own intelligence rather than suppressing what it was trying to express.” she says.
Arshia has since left school to further explore her interests and passions. She is due to study Ayurvedic medicine next year.
“Ayurveda wasn’t a discovery for me so much as a recognition; it came from a knowledge system I already belonged to,” Arshia says.
Her fundraiser on Givealittle grew out of that first market stall, where one of the highlights was meeting people with endometriosis and hearing what it meant to them to see her raising awareness of the condition.
“You don’t need to have endometriosis for this to be your problem. Most women I know have got used to being unwell and stopped mentioning it.”
Arshia’s work isn’t over. She has raised $330 towards her $1,500 goal, with her herbal blends still available.
You can support Arshia’s fundraiser through her Givealittle page here.