This month, Team TUSHY discusses what we are thankful for and reflect on what our giveback program with Samagra means to us. Samagra works to make sanitation services accessible, affordable and awesome for the less fortunate in rural India. They provide superior designed toilets starting from basic services like lighting and ventilation to sanitary dustbins and kids accessories. They transform community toilet blocks into 1-stop Community Centers, which provide life improving, value adding services to the slums.

When looking back on my past career experience, I’ve never worked for a company that had a giveback program, let alone an effective one. I joined Team TUSHY knowing that we were trying to make effective and lasting cultural changes in the US. Our goal is to provide a healthy alternative to common bathroom practices and bring butt health to the forefront of the conversation. When I learned of our giveback program with Samagra, I saw that we were also making a global contribution towards the fight against the global sanitation crisis. Through Samagra, every TUSHY purchased contributes to latrine access for a family of 7 in rural India. In many rural areas where toilet access is limited, open defecation is common, causing extremely unhealthy conditions for the inhabitants of these villages. Furthermore, young women are constantly assaulted when trying to relieve themselves because they don’t have access to safe restrooms. Samagra is making great strides in changing that and TUSHY is a proud partner.

I am extremely thankful to have the opportunity to be a part of company that strives to push boundaries and create a positive impact. Being able to be a part of a company that prides themselves on making a cultural difference worldwide is a truly rewarding experience and I’m excited to see how we can continue to change the world.

-Corin

As Thanksgiving approaches, I think about how bountiful my life is and all the things that I'm thankful for. To list a few, I'm thankful for my friends, my family, my heath, my career, my favorite foods, and... clean sanitary bathrooms where I can use the restroom in peace without the fear of being assaulted or contracting diseases. Prior to working at TUSHY, I would've never thought to be thankful for clean restrooms - in my apartment, at the corner Starbucks, in restaurants, my co-working space... literally everywhere, but through TUSHY's partnership with Samagra, I've learned that it's a luxury that 2.3 BILLION people don't have.  Today as President Trump rants nonsense on Twitter and race and gun control issues continue to be shushed up right-wingers, the Global Sanitation Crisis rages on and kills about 842 000 people in low and middle income nations each year due to inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene. WHAT THE F*CK? How is this possible in 2017?! We HAVE to do something! Thankfully, Samagra is, TUSHY is helping, and so can you. Samagra works to build community toilets in the urban slums and rural India to help alleviate the issue of 522 million people (nearly half of India's population) practicing open defecation. As a woman, another fact terrified me even more. In Indian culture, women must use the restroom before sunrise, so girls and women sometimes have to walk miles to find a place to use the restroom privately before sunrise, and this has led to countless cases of rape and assault. Wow. I can't even imagine... but I'll do my part to help, and I'm so proud of TUSHY for selecting such a worthy partner.

- Carrie

 Samagra, for me, is why we do what we do here at TUSHY. We already know that every purchase of TUSHY is one step toward changing culture here in the States and abroad. Changing culture in the western world is one thing, but lifting those in need is another. That's why to know that each purchase of a TUSHY pays for a family's access to clean sanitation facilities for a month is the ultimate motivator for me to keep fighting to build TUSHY and spread the word. Our ultimate belief is that every human should have the right and access to facilities defecate with dignity and poop better!  Our giveback with Samagra is an inextricable part of that belief and is in our DNA here at TUSHY. We couldn't be more proud of our partner's work and impact. 

- Justin

Support Samagra in their mission to fight the Global Sanitation Crisis by building community toilets throughout India to help prevent deaths from diseases, rapes, and to provide a basic human right of using a sanitary restroom. For every TUSHY that you purchase, you'll be providing a family of 7 one month's access to a sanitary and safe bathroom through our partnership with Samagra.