"My son used to kick me when he was in my womb. Why make an issue when he kicked me in my old age?" reasons a very forgiving Shakti Dasi. The widow travelled 2300 kms from Tripura to Vrindavan after her only son violently beat her with a burning plank of wood and broke her knee one evening. She had to leave behind the business she had built with her husband who had died a few years back. Shakti ended up on the streets of Brindavan begging for food and shelter. But when Winnie Singh of Maitri saw Shakti in a frail state in tattered clothes, she brought her to the shelter home where Shakti gets food, care and medicines. What more, with Maitri’s intervention, Shakti reconciled with her son - and daughter-in-law, and now travels home to Tripura twice a year to spend time with her grandchildren. But she is not leaving Maitri, as this has become her family.Not every elderly widow who comes to Vrindavan after being abandoned by her family gets as lucky as Shakti. Many of them often end up living a lonely life and begging to survive on the streets. Maitri aspires to take care of every widow in need of help.<img src="https://cfstatic.give.do/ce101369-528c-4d37-bc1d-1118b9925af3.jpg" />Maitri’s Project Jeevan to the rescueAbandoned, elderly widows are the amongst the most vulnerable in India. After being thrown out of their often abandoned by their own children and are forced to beg for food and shelter. “Through Project Jeevan, Maitri houses aging widow mothers in two ashrams in Vrindavan and Radhakund (Mathura), providing them with wellness and well-being. The programme also reaches out to widow mothers beyond the ashrams with fruit, milk and healthcare services,” explains Winnie Singh, co-founder and executive director, Maitri India.Save homeless elderly widows from begging on the streetsMost widows who make their way to Vrindavan are abandoned by their families, often after years of abuse. They come here hoping they will spend the rest of their days in prayer and devotion. But most live in impoverished conditions on the streets and in dingy rooms. Since poor living conditions often cause a wide range of health ailments, including respiratory infections and chronic conditions, Maitri comes to their rescue through its Project Jeevan.The project aims to:<ul><li>Provide 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 on and engagement around the struggles of abandoned widow mothers</li></ul><img src="https://cfstatic.give.do/1abfb906-563b-4747-85b8-8af2071a2856.jpg" />Project Jeevan needs your support to help those in need of food, healthcare and well-being. Donate now.“Maitri urgently needs your support to provide food, clothing and healthcare to sustain these widow mothers who are prone to more illnesses as they age,” appeals Winnie.Maitri believes in a woman’s right to dignity in life and death, more so a mother. 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.

Save abandoned, elderly widow mothers of Vrindavan from begging on streets

“What will happen to them after me? I am 80+. I spend sleepless nights,” worries ex-Air Force officer, Group Captain AC Barua while talking about the future of the 28 destitute women under his care. “They have nobody in this world, sometimes they don’t remember their own names. They are absolutely alone,” he informs us as he goes from one room to the other meeting all the women who live at Seneh, the only home where they are loved and taken care of. After fighting for his country all his life, this octogenarian is now fighting to rescue homeless and abandoned women from dying on the streets. But he cannot do it alone. “Everyday I keep on getting calls from here and there. ‘Oh! there’s a woman lying here. Can you help?’ But I don’t dare to go and help because I don’t have the money. I don’t have the resources, our resources are very limited,” explains Gr. Capt. Barua who is lovingly called ‘Sir’ and ‘Deuta’ (father in Assamese) by the residents of Seneh. With your help, 80-year-old Group Captain Barua can fulfill his mission of rescuing abandoned and homeless women from dying on the streets, alone. Donate nowDonate easily through UPI, all debit/credit cards and net banking. All 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).Seneh- a home filled with love, care and hopeThe residents of Seneh often don’t remember who they are, where they have come from. Many times these are women with mental health conditions and considered being a witch due to superstitious beliefs and beaten up as a result. They are victims of domestic abuse or widow mothers who are considered to be a burden on the family. Group Captain Barua has not only rescued them from critical conditions, he has provided them with urgent medical care, food and above all, a free safe shelter where they can live with love and care. Among these residents is Sarala Kalita who fled to save herself from the tortures of her alcoholic husband only to face neglect and trauma from her brothers- and sisters-in-law. “Both my brothers and their wives urged my father to leave me somewhere as they didn’t want to take care of me anymore. One day my brother’s wife didn’t even let me have food at home. She just wanted me to leave and go away. So that’s why, my father got in touch with Seneh through someone, and handed me over to Sir to take care of me,” says Sarita who has found joy in living at Seneh. “Coming to Seneh, it felt like I got a new life altogether. Sir has given me a harmonium. I love singing. It makes me forget everything and takes me to someplace else entirely,” she adds. More women like Sarala can find their way to a loving home like Seneh. All they need is a little bit of your kindness. “It is difficult to make both ends meet”To sustain their daily expenditure, Capt Barua needs approx ₹3 lakh a month and arranging the funds is a mammoth challenge for the NGO. “Our expenses are growing day by day. Residents are growing older, their sicknesses are increasing. At times we have to give them special food. They require more care so we have to get more employees. About half of them require leading around, 1-2 has to be fed also. It will be very difficult to sustain it unless we get help,” he added. One act of your kindness can save these abandoned women, with no one in this world, from struggling on the streets to survive. At 80+ Gr. Capt. Barua cannot sustain Seneh on his own. “With folded hands, I appeal to all. Please come and please help us. Let us help these people, these old people who have nobody in this world. They are dying. They will die on the streets,” he urged. Donate to this fundraiser by Give.do to support retired Air Force officer, Group Captain Barua in his mission to rescue abandoned and homeless women from dying on the streets.

After fighting for India, former Air Force officer is now fighting to save abandoned women. Help him, donate now

Cattle, bred for profit and abandoned after they stop producing milk, are often found malnourished, injured or sick on city streets. Many face bitter winters, starvation and death in road accidents - a sad fate for cows in a country where they are revered by lakhs of people. To save cows from such a sad end, Swami Ishwar Das started Shree Krishnayan Desi Gaushala, currently home to 18,000+ abandoned cows. But with the rising costs of fodder and medicines, he is struggling to provide the quality of care such mistreated animals deserve. “It was in 2010 when I witnessed abandoned cows from the streets in Uttarakhand being transported in a truck. The cows were administered anesthesia and stacked one above the other like lifeless goods. When me and a few of my acquaintances brought the cows off the truck, two of them died before my eyes and that sight shook me to the core. It was then that I started Shree Krishnayan Gaushala with 11 abandoned cows in a small donated land,” says Swami Ishwar Das.Swami Ishwar Das is unable to bear the rising cost of nutrition and medical care for injured cows and needs support to continue to save these voiceless animals. Donate now. All donations on this platform are tax exempted under 80G of the Income Tax Act (India), &amp; 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (USA).<img src="https://cfstatic.give.do/ead01668-6b4d-4a8c-85de-30b43e174f22.JPG" />Every life matters“Here at Shree Krishnayan Desi Gaushala, it is our resolve to leave no stone unturned in caring for helpless cows. No matter what the cost of treatment may be, we make every possible effort to aid ill and injured cows. Our only objective is that a cow should not lose its life for the want of medical care, food or water,” says Swami Ishwar Das. In order to provide the best quality of care and treatment to its adopted cattle, three well trained veterinary doctors attend the gaushala 24/4. The NGO - Shree Krishnayan Desi Gauraksha Avam Golokdham Seva Samiti - spares no expense in providing nutrition either. From jaggery and grains to a healthy mix of green and dry fodder, cows are given meals best suited to their needs.With cost of fodder on rise the Gaushala needs help<img src="https://cfstatic.give.do/93e7eafe-4438-40d6-ae40-6972feaf0988.jpg" />Swami Ishwar Das and his team, however, are struggling to keep up with rising costs of nutrition and medical care for cows. “The cost of fodder has risen by almost three times in the last couple of years. From food to medicines everything has become expensive. And we will never compromise with the quality of care and love that we want to give to our cows,” says Swami Ishwar Das. Help Swami Ishwar Das provide the best care and love to abandoned cows while saving them from a desperate life of starvation and suffering on the streets.

Help Swami Ishwar Das rescue cows on roads, abandoned as they no longer produce milk

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

Livelihood

This is a sample description for Community & Rural Development. For the purpose of testing I will use the word Community & Rural DevelopmentCommunity & Rural DevelopmentCommunity & Rural Development.

Community & Rural Development

Integrated Livelihood Development Centre (ILDC), a registered charitable trust, is a grass-roots non-profit organization based in Jharkhand. This organization has been registered in the year 2020, though some of the founder members are associated with grass-root developmental work for the past three decades. The genesis of the ideology of the community-based development, ingrained among the founder members, can be traced back to the drought mitigation program implemented in the erstwhile Palamu commissionerate (presently the Palamu, Latehar and Garhwa district). This program, which was implemented through a forum consisting of members from various backgrounds including social activists, engineers, researchers and professionals, focused on the development of water resources. Thereby, the members of ILDC were involved in working on natural resource management and livelihood promotion among the community. Apart from livelihoods, the members also have a one-hand experience in entitlement security, forest rights and institution building. The creation of ILDC is laid on the premise of the requirement to work towards the sustainable and integrated development of the community. The organization is determined to work for the marginalized section of the society, especially the Adivasis and Dalits, through the creation of strong, replicable and community-owned integrated livelihood models.Objectives of the organization:<ul><li>Mobilization the marginalized community, especially the Schedule Tribe, Schedule Caste and Other Backward Communities, for natural resource management and attaining sustainable development.</li><li>To build the leadership skills of marginalized communities, especially the Schedule Tribe, Schedule Caste and Other Backward Communities, for the purpose of bottom-up development in the sphere of socio-economical life.</li><li>Strengthening the existing and creating new and innovative avenues of livelihood generation and self-sustained employment of the marginalized communities.</li><li>To develop effective mechanisms and awareness building among the marginalized communities for the purpose of improving the reach of government entitlement schemes and rights of the marginalized communities</li><li>To undertake, organize, conduct and facilitate programs for research and development on various aspects and fields concerning the life and wellbeing of marginalized communities.</li><li>To undertake study for documentation of traditional practices and indigenous knowledge system of the tribal communities.</li></ul>Strategies of the organization:<ul><li>To aid or establish any institution, technical or otherwise, for the promotion of the lives and livelihood of the marginalized communities</li><li>To provide and facilitate legal assistance to the marginalized and poor sections of society and fight for their rights and justice.</li><li>Preparation and implementation of plan based on the improvement of health, education, nutrition and sanitation of the marginalized communities</li><li>Create and develop programs for women's empowerment and attainment of equal rights</li><li>Proving training or consultancy services to government and non-government organizations on various issues of development, technology, environment etc.</li><li>Creation and capacity building of women, labour and farmer’s group and association for livelihood development and access to resources and services</li><li>Develop and create opportunities for networking and advocacy with other like-minded organizations, both government and non-government, for mobilization of resources and attainment of common objectives</li><li>Development and policy advocacy of community-owned effective models on lives and livelihood of the marginalized communities </li></ul>Some of the salient features of the organization:<ul><li>ILDC works for tribals and by the tribals. All the team members belong to the tribal community and work through the framework of indigenous perspective and worldview.</li><li>The team members have a long grassroots experience of working among the deprived communities on the issues of governance, rights &amp; entitlement, food security, employment, livelihoods, natural resource management planning and community-based institution.</li><li>Our team has a long experience of working with district government departments and advocacy at higher levels of administration.     </li><li>Our team members are part of various progressive networks and groups promoting the rights of farmers, like the Revitalizing Rainfed Agriculture Network, Water Practitioner Network, Non-Pest Management Network, Right to Food Network, Van Adhikaar Manch and Jharkhand NREGA watch. </li></ul>Thematic area of work:Integrated livelihood development·      Sustainable and climate-resilient agriculture·      Soil health &amp; fertility·      Seed systems·      Livestock·      Fisheries·      Multiple allied activitiesNatural Resource Management based planning·      Village micro plans·      Watershed development·      Water security plans·      Participatory Ground Water Management·      Participatory Irrigation Management·      Forest rights·      Ecological restorationFarmer’s institution development·      Income generation activity models·      Forward &amp; backward linkages·      Enterprise development·      Sustainable farmer’s institution developmentStrengthening of local governance &amp; entitlement security·      Functioning of Panchayati Raj Institutions·      Gram Sabha strengthening &amp; women’s empowerment·      Transparency and accountability mechanism·      Securing entitlements related to food, employment and social security·      Public advocacy &amp; networkingGeographical focus area:All tribal-dominated regions of Jharkhand, especially that in Palamu, Latehar and Garhwa district.

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

Manoj Kumar Singh

Integrated Livelihood Development Center (ILDC)

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.

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Small and marginal farmers of the Latehar district of Jharkhand are bearing the brunt of climate change-induced events. Agriculture, which is the primary and traditional occupation of the people, has taken a setback due to the production lapses caused by the unfavourable climatic conditions. The gradual trend of the use of chemical-based farm inputs like pesticides and fertilizers has not only made the soil less fertile but has also increased the cost of production. The absence of adequate water harvesting structures has resulted in less water availability for protective irrigation during Kharif and assured irrigation during Rabi and summer season. The inability to diversify the risk through non-engagement in additional livelihood activities has caused the farmers to be even more vulnerable to climate change. The increasing risk with agriculture and limited earnings had forced the farmers to migrate to cities, for performing menial low wage labour work. But the recent spread of the COVID 19 pandemic and resulting scenarios have resulted in the trend of reverse migration, causing a reduction in the income source of the family. Thus, in this scenario, tribal farmers of the region are in a vulnerable position and require urgent intervention for the development of community-owned livelihood models. 
 Owing to the urgency in making the farmers resilient and adaptable to climate change, this project will promote innovative practices for the management of natural resources and livelihood development. Climate-smart agriculture will be promoted so that climate-resilient methods are re-introduced in our agrarian culture. Interventions will be made for organic nourishment of the soil, pest management, diverse cropping and agronomic practices. Multiple and alternative livelihood options, including animal husbandry, fisheries, NTFP value addition etc, will be promoted. Planning for water resource augmentation will be done through participatory plans for crop security. These plans will be approved by the Gram Sabha and advocacy will be done for the implementation of selected schemes from various government line departments. Apart from water resource development, the focus will also be done for the management of water resources through community planning and control. Also, clean energy based on solar will be promoted for irrigation purposes. Farmer’s group will be formed for the purpose of forward, backward linkages and value addition of their produce. Collective aggregation, marketing and sales of the product will help the farmers to get the right price for their produce. Additionally, income-generating innovative entrepreneurial models will be created, nurtured and sustained through this project. 
 This project will improve the climate change adaptability skills of the farmers, leading to an increase in income by 20%. Various practices under climate-smart agriculture will be adopted by the farmers. This will not only lead to increase in the productivity of land but will also reduce the input cost in farming; thus increasing the profit level. Also, the promotion of Nutri-dense crops like millets and vegetables will result in improvement in nutrition levels, especially among anaemic women and malnourished children. The adaptation of multiple allied activities will provide an additional income for the farmers, thus covering the risk farmers in case of adverse climatic conditions. The prepared village development micro-plans will become a document that will be referred by village leaders for future course of action. Water user groups will manage the water resource in a sustainable, efficient and equitable manner, thus providing a model for the much-debated global water issue. Farmer’s group or institution will act as a platform for the provision of value-added support services. An innovative and effective entrepreneurial livelihood model will be generated. Overall, this project will generate sufficient concept of proof for policy advocacy, replication and upscale the regime of climate change adaptation.

Climate change adaptation and resilience skill building among small and marginal tribal farmers of Latehar district of Jharkhand

Save abandoned, elderly widow mothers of Vrindavan from begging on streets

After fighting for India, former Air Force officer is now fighting to save abandoned women. Help him, donate now

Help Swami Ishwar Das rescue cows on roads, abandoned as they no longer produce milk

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