In Vrindavan, thousands of elderly widow mothers face the harsh reality of abandonment and suffering. With no one to turn to, many are left begging on the streets, exposed to heat, cold and rain,Donate so that Maitri can provide shelter, food, clothes and medical support to abandoned elderly mothers now. Give generously.Winnie Singh has witnessed many cases of widow mothers being abandoned on the streets of Vrindavan, one of the holiest places in India. “Children leave their mothers as soon as they become widows. The children start feeling the burden. This has become a practice in today's society that money comes first and everything else later,” says Winnie whose Maitri India, rescues widowed mothers from the streets of Vrindavan.Many widowed elderly mothers often end up living a lonely life and begging to survive on the streets. And Maitri aspires to take care of every widow in need of help, but because of lack of funds, Winnie and Maitri are in a position to do it."Elderly widows don't have shelter. They sleep in cowsheds over sacks. They don't have a blanket. Nights are really difficult for them," shares Winnie Singh. <img src="https://cfstatic.give.do/1abfb906-563b-4747-85b8-8af2071a2856.jpg" />Maitri aims to:<ul><li>Provide shelter and nutritious meals leading to improved health and wellbeing</li><li>Make physical and mental health services accessible</li><li>Offer necessary quality aged care and assisted living support</li><li>Increase awareness and engagement around the struggles of abandoned widow mothers</li></ul>Why donate to MaitriWinnie needs your support to help those in need of food, healthcare and well-being. “Maitri urgently needs your support to provide nutritious food, clothing and healthcare to sustain these widow mothers who are prone to more illnesses as they age,” appeals Winnie. “You can become the family they were denied. Hold their hands so they don't need to beg ever again,” she adds. Let’s rescue abandoned widows mothers from the streets of Vrindavan and give them a better future. Donate now.Our help will enable Maitri to save hundreds of abandoned widows from a life of begging, and restore the respect, dignity, and identity they deserve.

Help provide shelter, food, clothes and medical support to abandoned widow mothers of Vrindavan. Donate now

In the dark and dingy alleys of red light areas, injustice, pain and suffering run rampant. And the worst affected are the children who grow up in red-light areas and are subjected to constant abuse and violence. “The sight of a 12-year-old girl being gang-raped by a group of men near a house l haunts me to this date. I was filled with anguish and resolved to do something,” says Girish Kulkarni who has made it his life’s mission to rescue children from red light areas and give them a safe and secure childhood. In the last 3 decades Girish has saved over 1100 girls from a life of abuse in red-light areas, giving them a loving home, education and medical care. He has further supported over 20,000 children with a better life.Sadly, Of the 250 the children rescued from abuse and exploitation, around 70 of them are HIV positive. The high cost of medication has left Girish struggling for funds. Your support can help him provide these children with the care and upbringing they need. Donate now.Donate easily through UPI, all debit/credit cards and net banking. Charitable donations to this fundraising campaign are tax exempted under 80G of the Income Tax Act (India), &amp; 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (USA). A movement to protect vulnerable children“Growing up in Ahilyanagar, the experiences I had as a child witnessing the horrors of sex trade defined the path of my life. I had even seen my friend’s 15-year-old sister and 70-year-old grandmother being forced to do sex work for the price of a cup of tea”, recalls Girish. “I started by merely feeding and teaching children of sex workers initially with the intention of giving them some respite from the horrors of life of abuse in red-light areas. Gradually more and more mothers started coming to me and asked me to take their children away, even if it was just for a couple of hours,” he further adds.The work that Girish started in his youth gradually grew to become a movement, with many more joining his cause. His NGO Snehalaya to date has transformed the lives of millions. Girish’s work is crucial for the survival and safety of vulnerable children of sex workers. Snehalaya is almost entirely dependent on donations from the public and your support can strengthen his mission to save children most in need. Donate generously.The horrors of life in red light areas“The cruelty and abuse that children as young as 6 or 7 years of age face is something that I can’t explain in words. Young daughters of sex workers are made to watch their mothers being raped, are brutally assaulted and forced into sex work. No child deserves to grow like this, Girish says in anguish.Sad reality of life for children growing up in red light areas is that they are deprived of even the most basic needs like proper food, safety and education. Moreover, a good number of children rescued by Girish are diagnosed HIV positive. The task of securing medication, providing them quality education and much-needed nutrition is one that requires constant support from donors. Moreover, the increase in healthcare cost has left Girish struggling to keep his home for children going. But your support can enable him to give his children a loving environment and save many more who still remain trapped behind closed doors.Donate to this fundraiser by Give, India’s largest and most trusted online donation platform, to help Snehalaya give hundreds of children rescued from red-light areas a life away from violence and abuse.

Help Girish give 250 children, rescued from abuse in red-light areas a new life

“I saw a girl, barely 7 or 8, being pushed into flesh trade. Her cries for help still echo in my ears. There were men as old as 60 r*ping the innocent child. That was the day I knew my mission in life was to get these children out of the hell-like conditions in red-light areas. They are nothing short of hell and no child deserves to grow up in this environment” says Vinay Vasta, founder of Social Activities Integration, an organisation committed to freeing children trapped in red-light areas.Vinay and his NGO have been able to provide education, medical care and nutrition to over 2,500 children. But his dream to provide safe shelter to children remains unrealized. “We do our best to keep these children safe during the day but sadly they are forced to go back to the red light areas at night as we don’t have a home for them. Your donation can help us build a safe home for children of sex workers and prevent them from being pulled into prostitution. Donate to make this dream a realityDonate easily through UPI, all debit/credit cards and net banking. Charitable donations to this fundraising campaign are tax exempted under 80G of the Income Tax Act (India).Life in red light areas“S*x workers use their homes which are barely 6 feet by 4 feet for their business. They invite customers in the presence of their children. Their children not only witness abuse but experience it too. Just imagine a child being told that all she can ever become in life is a pr*stitute”, Vinay shares as he explains the extent of abuse children face in red light areas.This is a life that thousands of children are forced to live behind closed doors where they suffer abuse and exploitation morning, noon and night.A ray of hopeVinay has been relentlessly trying to give children the care and education they deserve. He has provided quality English education to thousands of children, enabling them to secure a livelihood out of red-light areas. Several children taught by Vinay are today leading successful lives as professionals and Government employees. However the sad reality is that Vinay and his NGO, in the absence of a permanent shelter home, are unable to provide round the clock safety to these children, which is essential for their well-being.Your donations can enable SAI to build a shelter home for the children of sex workers and usher in a new tomorrow for them, away from the horrors of red-light areas.Donate to this fundraiser on Give.do, India’s largest and most trusted online donation platform, to provide safe shelter for children of sex workers and save them from abuse and second generation pr*stitution.NGO's 80G number: AACTS0408EF20216NGO's 12A number: AACTS0408EE20028

Help Vinay bring children facing abuse in red-light areas to safety and protect them

This is a sample description for education. For the purpose of testing I will use the word EducationEducationEducationEducation.

Education

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Children

This is a sample description for Art & Culture For the purpose of testing I will use the word Art & CultureArt & CultureArt & Culture

Art & Culture

Curry Stone Design Foundation is a design non-profit working to equip underserved and marginalised communities with methods to design, develop and improve their built environments. We operate as a collective of architects, designers, artists and engineers working collaboratively with communities in need to create sustainable change.Our Vision: An inclusive world where every human enjoys access to vibrant, safe and healthy spaces to live, work and play.Our Mission: Work alongside communities, drive social and spatial improvements through participatory planning, community-driven design and architecture, advocacy and consultation for those in need.Our Process:<ul><li>We believe in building strong relationships and trust through long-term engagement with the communities.</li><li>Our design process supports organic and community-led transformation by enabling and empowering community members to become decision makers</li><li>We work alongside people who will ultimately use the spaces, engaging them as stakeholders in an inclusive, replicable, participatory manner to unearth real needs and spark sustainable self-determination.</li><li>We use design as a tool to enhance human flourishing and improve physical, social and psychological well-being.</li></ul>

Donations through Give Foundation, registered under section 80G of India's Income Tax Act, 1961 are tax-deductible.

Donations through Give Foundation, Inc. a registered US 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Organization, are tax-deductible.

Donations through GIVE, a registered charity in UK, are covered under Gift Aid

Curry Stone Design Foundation

Shashank Mittal

Sandhya Naidu Janardhan

This nonprofit is registered as a charitable trust under section 12A of India's Income Tax Act, 1961.

This nonprofit is registered under section 80G of India's Income Tax Act, 1961. This means you can deduct 50% of the donation you made through your tax return.

This nonprofit is registered under Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), 2010. This means it can accept donations from foreign nationals.

Community Design Agency

Kitaab Mahal was built with the support received from donors on GiveIndia and a grant received from Coca Cola India. The space was inaugurated on 22.2.22 and has been bustling with activities like book reading sessions, art and zine making workshops, film screenings and lots more! It has truly become the safe haven we had imagined it to be for the children of Natwar Parekh Colony. We can't thank all our supporters enough for trusting our vision and helping us realise the community's dream for creating an inviting learning space. Seeing the success of our initiative, schools from the neighbouring areas are also interested in using our facility for their students. We are exploring collaborations with them and are deeply encouraged by the initiative taken by the young library team trained this past year to take this program forward. We need to raise more funds to sustain operations at Kitaab Mahal and support further training and exposure visits for the library team. Our target is to raise enough resources for 18 months to allow the library to expand its reach without any obstacles. Please support the updated fundraiser and become a part of a new chapter in the lives of over 3000 children.

Success of Kitaab Mahal!

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Children all over the world still haven’t been able to return to school. According to a report released by UNESCO, 24 million children across the world will have dropped out of school by the time the pandemic ends. The Covid-19 pandemic has further exacerbated the deep disparity in education of the urban poor, where a lot of students had to drop out of schools due to lack of devices and internet connectivity necessary for online learning.Natwar Parekh Colony - a resettlement neighbourhood of former pavement and slum dwellers with more than 3000 children aged below 14 - saw record drop-out rates as families were forced to prioritise one child’s education over another. Shoiab, a 12 year old boy living with his grandmother in the neighbourhood, was enrolled in the local Urdu medium school before the pandemic struck. Due to lack of resources, a number of municipal schools weren’t able to offer digital classes, which brought a halt to education of a number of children like Shoaib. To make matters worse, children were confined to 225 square feet homes for almost two years - a space shared by an average of six to seven people. 
 Even though the schools are slowly reopening, it will take a long time for children to assimilate learning back into their daily lives. Kitaab Mahal - a community children’s library - is an initiative conceived to bring the joy of reading and learning in a safe, creative and vibrant environment back into the lives of children who have been robbed of their access to learning by the pandemic. Kitaab Mahal will be a community owned and led initiative for the children where they can reconnect with books, interact with each other, and learn together. Four youth members - who are also residents of Natwar Parekh Colony - have come forward to lead the initiative for which they are undergoing training in a community library educators course by Bookworm Trust, a Goa based organisation that works on broadening horizons of opportunities for children who have few or no one who read with them, to create a tool which empowers and recognizes the need to comprehend the written word. The conception and planning of Kitab Mahal initiative is supported in-house by the Community Design Agency, which includes the human resource costs of the people working on the initiative. 
 Kitaab Mahal is a partnership between four organisations; MMRDA has allotted two rooms which will be designed and built by Community Design Agency using resources and skills from within the community of Natwar Parekh Colony, Bookworm Trust is training the youth and setting up the book collection, and the colony federation will take care of the maintenance of the library, which will benefit more than 3000 children of the neighbourhood. The library will function as a safe oasis for children to read, interact, imagine, create and play - opportunities which are neither available to them at home nor at school. Kitaab Mahal will not just be a repository of books but will function as a laboratory of fresh learning tools and ideas by regularly inviting educators, thinkers, artists, and storytellers to conduct workshops with the children of Natwar Parekh Colony.

Kitaab Mahal

Govandi, one of the most densely populated and polluted areas of Mumbai, the city of dreams, has been living in the shadows for very long.  In addition to the refineries and thermal powers in its vicinity impacting the average life expectancy in the area, the lack of sanitation and cramped housing made it even more difficult for the residents of Govandi during the pandemic. However, are these markers enough to define a neighbourhood which is home to more than ten lakhs people? Can these statistics capture the human spirit and resilience of the people who keep on thriving in spite of the challenges and struggles?  
 Despite its challenges, Govandi is brimming with talent that seeks a chance to express itself. Matin, a twenty year old tailor by the day and rapper by the night is writing and composing rap numbers that tell dreams of many like him. Ifra, a burn victim is making a film on her life and Ayesha is getting ready to paint all the lifeless cracked walls with colours. There are many others like them who are eagerly waiting to tell their stories at the Govandi Arts Festival in February 2023. The idea of Govandi Arts Festival came out of the need to spotlight the creative side of life in Govandi and showcase the incredible spirit of the people that keeps them going despite challenges for securing the basics and the minimum. 
 The Govandi Arts Festival will be one step in the direction of celebrating the neighborhood and giving access, exposure and agency to the artists coming out of this area. And the process doesn't end with the festival being unveiled on 15th February 2023, but will continue to support, mentor and guide the young adults and youth from Govandi into the field of art and culture. when the constantly expects them to be the working class backbone of the city without acknowledging or celebrating their hardworking

Kitaab Mahal

Govandi Arts Festival

Help provide shelter, food, clothes and medical support to abandoned widow mothers of Vrindavan. Donate now

Help Girish give 250 children, rescued from abuse in red-light areas a new life

Help Vinay bring children facing abuse in red-light areas to safety and protect them

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