"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

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, 250 of the children rescued from abuse and exploitation 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 Ahmednagar, 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 majority 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 HIV+ children, rescued from abuse in red-light areas a new life

“They insert a candle in the vagina, fingers are inserted (in the vagina) and tortured, and if children don’t relent even then, they put chilli powder so that children will say “yes” because of the burning of the skin… There are teeth marks on their bodies, and their vaginal parts are burnt. When children stay in these conditions, it is painful even to hear,” says Lalitha SA of Society for Participatory Integrated Development (SPID), in course of talking about many heart-rending stories of trafficked children in red-light areas.In over three decades, the SPID led by Lalitha, has saved over 3000 children from the red-light areas, many from clutches of sex trafficking.Sadly, many more children need to be rescued and in need of a loving home. But Lalitha needs our support to carry on the mission, to move out of her small facility so that she can rescue more children, house them in a permanent location and give them all the love they deserve. Your support can help her give these children 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).A movement to protect vulnerable childrenAs a social worker, Lalitha has worked for decades in GB Road, the red-light area of Delhi and helped many women escape the clutches of being forced into sex. But it was the exploitation of children, many of them hardly ten or twelve or even less. The SPID has focused on rescuing such children and giving them a new life.Lalitha plays a vital role in the survival and safety of vulnerable children in the red light areas. As SPID is almost entirely dependent on donations from the public, we can support and strengthen SPID’s mission to save children. Donate generously.Donation to SPID’s fundraiser on Give.do“I have limited funds and very limited space, and if I had the funds, I would be able to rescue many more children and provide them with more comfort. With folded hands, I plead with you that you help us with funds in large numbers and support us in providing us children with a decent life. Become a part of the mission,” pleads LalithaDonate to this fundraiser by Give, India’s largest and most trusted online donation platform, to help Lalitha give hundreds of children rescued from brothels a life away from violence and abuse.NGO's 80G number: AADAS3217RF20212NGO's 12A number: AADAS3217RE20214

This Navratri, help Lalitha give kids rescued from abuse in red-light areas a safe and loving home. Donate now.

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Women Empowerment

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Education

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

Children

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education

Milaan Foundation is a social impact organization, with a vision of an inclusive and equal world, where every girl has the knowledge, skills, and social environment to pursue her dreams and explore her full potential.

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

Javed 

Rati Misra

Milaan Foundation

She is one of the best singers at school, good at studies, has a lot of friends with whom she plays, laughs and roams around. She is amongst the best five students of the class. The story is about a girl, Savitri, who went back to school two years after she had dropped out. Savitri had to drop out of school after 8th grade because her family could not financially support her. She wanted to study further but poverty and lack of any senior secondary school within the radius of 13 kms around her house, forced her to stay at home to do household chores.

In 2009 Savitri enrolled in 'Swabhiman', a program initiated by Milaan, focussed on getting dropout girls back to school and appear for class 10th exams.

At present she is studying under Swabhiman Programme of Milaan and her confidence speaks her story. She dreams of achieving something big in life. Since Swabhiman, there has been a positive trend in the community towards re-admitting girls who one dropped out.

The gift of education

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.

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An armed burglary during the COVID-19 pandemic led to a tragic loss for 14-year-old Tania (name changed) and her family as they lost their mother in the confrontation with the robbers. Belonging to a Scheduled Caste community in rural Uttar Pradesh, Tania’s family had to deal with the subsequent job loss of their father, the sole breadwinner, which added to their growing concerns during a nationwide lockdown. When the team at Milaan Foundation reached out to Tania, she was keen to pursue her education to build a better future. After joining Swarachna Girls’ Hostel, Tania, now a student in grade 9, is more determined than ever to fulfil her aspirations. She enjoys studying Hindi literature and has a keen interest in poetry. She also actively participates in sports events and enjoys playing kho-kho.Millions of girls like Tania face adversity and challenges in their daily lives. The pandemic has pushed over 10 million adolescent girls into vulnerability with a higher risk of not returning to school, facing child marriage, child labour, violence and exploitation. Milaan’s Swarachna Hostel provides a safe haven to girls, providing quality education, health, confidence and opportunities to create a better life for themselves and their families. 
 Providing a safe haven to vulnerable girls through Swarachna Girls’ Hostel Uttar Pradesh accounts for the highest number of out-of-school adolescent girls in India. COVID-19 pushed these underserved girls into further vulnerabilities. The trail of destruction left by the pandemic in its wake is expected to last a few years, if not decades. Established in 2021 to provide such girls with access to free boarding and lodging and an enabling social environment, Milaan’s Swarachna Girls’ Hostel started off with classrooms turned into makeshift dormitories.The free-of-cost hostel provides a nurturing community for their well-being and development with access to:<ul><li>A safe residential facility</li><li>Quality secondary education</li><li>Healthcare </li><li>Nutritious meals </li><li>Vocational training</li><li>Soft skills training</li><li>Sports programs</li></ul>As we expand to accommodate more vulnerable girls like Tania, we need more dormitories. Every contribution, small or big, will help build the infrastructure needed to house the girls. 
 Milaan envisions an equal and inclusive world where every girl is educated, healthy and safe. An amount as low as INR 1,250 will help in the support of the proposed dormitory extensions, expected to accommodate 30 girls each. Milaan's total requirement is for 4 dormitories, of 2,000 sq feet each and we would like to start construction of at least 2 dormitories by March 2023.Our girls need a second chance at life and at Milaan, we are committed and need your support to give them that! Your contribution will help build her future - one square foot at a time!Milaan would be happy to acknowledge the contribution of the donor by naming rights for those who would generously donate 1,000 square feet or more. Donate now, for tomorrow may just be too late.

Build Her Future, Brick by Brick

15-year-old Gomti has been out of school for 18 months because of continued school closures, this has led to severe learning loss. Gomti dreamt of becoming a civil engineer but her dreams stand at a risk of being lost forever. Gomti belongs to a low-income family, where affording a smartphone especially for a girl's education is out of the question. Like Gomti, millions of girls living in poor households are being left behind from the education system due to a lack of access to devices to continue online learning. A study by the Right to Education forum highlights that boys are being given priority over girls in online studies due to the lack of an adequate number of mobile phones at home. Technology disparities can have a permanent impact on girls continuing their education, and remote learning has made education for girls from marginalized communities even more inaccessible Only 28% of rural households’ children have internet access to the home. For girls, the impact of school closures due to the pandemic threatens to leave almost 10 million girls out of school. The longer girls stay out of school, the more vulnerable they become, with fewer chances of returning to school. The major challenge of remote learning is the disparity in access from electricity, internet connections to devices like smartphones.  
 We need to act HERE and NOW to save decades of progress in girls' education. There is a desperate need to bridge the technology gap to support girls in low-income communities by distributing technological devices. By investing in smartphones girls will have equal access to online education and opportunities. This is why we are raising funds for 500 smartphones that will enable 500 girl leaders to leverage their network to reach 10,000 adolescent girls to access online education and learning material. Prompt remedial actions must be adopted to ensure girls are not denied their fundamental right to education. Each smartphone kit will have a smartphone, power bank and mobile stand.  We can support the dreams of the girls by helping them have free and fair access to online learning and information. They will also enable them to avail opportunities for skill-building. Girls who have been left out of the fold of education as it has moved to the online module will be able to access online education. The gaps in the learning outcomes for the girls which have widened over the last two years will be addressed. Adolescent girls will have the power to institute safe spaces to bring about transformative change by harnessing the power of technology. Access to smartphones for girls is a tool to move out of their dire circumstances and be educated, healthy and independent.  
 With Milaan’s timely intervention, Gomti was given a smartphone kit to help continue her secondary education and prevent her from becoming a school dropout. Today, Gomti is enrolled in class 11th and with help of the phone has access to online classes and learning materials. She continues to aspire to realize her dream of becoming a civil engineer. Milaan is deeply invested in promoting and furthering the right to secondary education for adolescent girls in marginalized communities. 500 smartphones will impact 10,500 adolescent girls by having access to online education which will contribute to saving them from dropping out of school and further losing their learning outcomes. 500 trained girl leaders with access to smartphone kits will mobilize 20 adolescent girls each to create a longitudinal impact on girls’ education in their communities. This means that one smartphone will support online education for 21 girls thus impacting 10,500 adolescent girls. We are driving efforts to ensure equitable access to digital learning for girls from low-income households so they have the choice to learn digitally, and access quality education.

Give HER the POWER to learn - Sponsor a smartphone, help underprivileged girls access online education.

The status of girls and women in India, especially those from vulnerable and marginalized communities, is in a dismal state. According to Dasra report, it is estimated that for every 100 girls that enroll in school in rural India, 40 will reach grade four, 18 will reach grade eight, 9 will reach grade ten, and only 1 will make it to grade twelve. With over 87.5 million girls attending school in India, it is imperative that adolescent girls are provided extra support to mitigate barriers that lead to this alarming drop-out rate. Ensuring education for girls is a catalyst that enables women to become agents of social change, development and economic growth. Due to this high impact, Milaan focuses on educating adolescent girls from marginalized communities in India as the cornerstone of our programming. 
 Each Girl Icon Fellow will participate in a 2 year program aimed at transforming them into dynamic leaders that will catalyse change within their community. The Fellowship will include direct training specifically designed to support their academic and professional goal planning, gender equality, leadership development and social change projects. Fellows will also receive lasting community support from other fellows and mentors. Each Fellowship includes a Social Change Grant to create an impact in their communities and Learning Grant to assist in them pursing better education opportunities. 
 By investing in girl child education, community activism, and leadership skills, we will create the next generation of leaders with the potential to implement lasting social change. Building a network of Milaan Girl Icon Fellows will create an amplified effect as our fellows pursue their goals in their home or surrounding communities, taking with them the skills and tools to be effective change makers. The Girl Icon Fellowship is the catalyst to maximize our organization’s impact and leverage the impact our beneficiaries have in society.The barriers in society for girls are complex and interrelated. Using a variety of interventions and activities, the Girl Icon Fellowship will empower girls to better navigate these social barriers and advocate for lasting change for their generation.

Empower and educate a girl through Girl Icon Fellowship

The Bell has been rung! It is time for the Swarachna School to reach more children in need, especially girls. We are looking to address two main needs.Milaan’s Swarachna School, a fun, creative and safe space in the heart of rural Uttar Pradesh has been providing education for 12 years to children from socially and economically challenged communities. For the last 4 years we have had 100% results in both 10th and 12th, a feat we are extremely proud of given the context of education in UP.As we evolve and move into our next phase of growth there are two needs we need your help to address.1. Primary EducationThe first need is that our primary section is getting very full and a lot more children are coming to us wanting to join. Having to turn them away due to shortage of space doesn’t feel right. So we are reaching out to you to help us create a separate primary wing, so that we do not have to turn away a single child who deserves education.According to Ministry of Panchayati Raj, GOI, Sitapur, UP is one of the most backward districts of India with the Sex Ratio of 789 female per 1000 male according to 2015-2016 National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4). The average literacy rate of Sitapur district is 61%, significantly lower than the national average of 74.04% with female literacy at only 50%. The annual district per capital income is less than INR 5000 a month, among the lowest in the country. Clear there is an urgent need to be addressed.The Swarachna School is in block Sidhauli of Sitapur district of Uttar Pradesh. Its student demographic comprises 78% from the Dalit community and 84% come from below poverty line families. It is one of only two secondary schools in a radius of 13 km.Your support for a primary education infrastructure will address all of these needs.2. High Dropout rate among Adolescent GirlsAmong adolescent girls, Uttar Pradesh has amongst the highest rates of dropout after secondary education. Many of them end up being married off. One in seven and one in four young women who discontinued their education in class 7–9 and 10–11 respectively, reported the main reason for dropping out of school was marriage, showing a strong correlation between schooling and marriage. 22% of girls aged 15–19 reported having no education where as 74% of adolescent girls aged 15–19 years reported that they could read and write, all in UP, underlining the need to focus on adolescent girls here and now.  
 THE SQUARE FEET OF HAPPINESS CAMPAIGN  PRIMARY SCHOOLFor the first need, our solution is to create a dedicated 26,598 Sq. Ft. co-ed primary school for 500 students from lower kindergarten to grade 5th. This will cover classrooms, washrooms, staff rooms, Labs. Library and Play areas including furnishings. Girl Icon Leadership AcademyTo address the second need our solution is to work towards a world class facility to work with 320 adolescent girls to be named the Girl Icon Leadership Academy.Milaan intends to create a residential setup for 320 girls, where the girls can continue their studies after class 8th under the guidance of excellent teachers and a curriculum that has an equal focus on building leadership as on academic achievement. This will empower them to explore their full potential.This means construction of 18942 sq. ft. total, for the Girl Icon Leadership Academy.In total the Square Feet of Happiness campaign will look to raise INR 4 Crores to enable the construction of 55946 sq. ft. to address the needs identified above. Of this we are looking to raise 55 lakhs to build 5000 sq. ft. during this Daan Utsav. Please visit the gallery section of our profile to view the info-graphics of the school to be built. 
 500 children more children will get access to quality education at the primary level. Currently there are far more children from challenging backgrounds who want to join the school but we are unable to accommodate them. The government schools are the only options left. Unfortunately the learning outcomes of the govt. schools are not good enough to enable these children to break the shackles of poverty on their own merit. Your support will contribute towards ensuring every child from these communities receives the education that is the right of every child.Your support will also contribute towards creating a vibrant space for bright, capable and deserving adolescent girls from the most in need backgrounds, where they will develop their innate potential to be future leaders and change makers. They will access leadership focused, quality education empowering them to take better decisions affecting their lives, become roles models and agent of change in their communities.What Does Leadership Look Like at Milaan.Milaan’s definition of leadership begins with the self. It means being able to take control of one’s own life. Practically this translates to being a participant in the decisions that affect one’s life. For a girl this means being able to decide to stay in school, or have a say in whom to marry, or not to get married, or have the right to decide the right time to have children.When a girl is able to speak up, participate and claim these basic human rights for herself she becomes self-aware and substantially more confident. A strong role model, she now leads others in advocating for their rights. On ground, this translates into talking about such topics and creating awareness. She is a leader among her peers.A girl leader who is able to standup for others and instigate collective action against social injustice emerges as a Girl Icon. She is a self-aware brightly shining beacon of hope and a powerful agent of change.Leadership is a journey from me to we.