"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.

This Navratri, 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 Community & Rural Development. For the purpose of testing I will use the word Community & Rural DevelopmentCommunity & Rural DevelopmentCommunity & Rural Development.

Community & Rural Development

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Human Rights

NIVASA is a social venture specializing in contextual design consulting for housing and other building typologies for the underserved segment. Our goal is to redefine and transform the rural and the urban landscape through sustainable design interventions that are culturally appropriate and strengthen the local ecosystem through adaptation of local skills and technology as catalysts for social change.We interact with local communities, collaborate with the Government, NGOs, Developers, contractors, corporates and individuals, engage the Architectural community in R&amp;D of alternative materials and construction methodologies and volunteerism, derive specific, local and cost-effective designs to arrive at strategies for implementation that involves awareness &amp; training, constructing prototypes, and helping to construct, where required.

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

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NIVASA

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.

Nivasa

The GI sheet roofing and windows in place, the outer walls finishing in progress. Appreciate all the support in donations and sharing of this post. Donations, big or small also make a BIG difference!

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We have re-started the work on the project and we will regularly update on the progress and the transformative outcomes we are able to achieve. Thank you donors for your support, we continue to appeal to help us reach the set target of making a difference and together creating a better future for those who need it most.

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Rayanakallu village, in Manchenahalli Gram Panchayat, Gauribidanur Taluk, Chikkaballapur District has 24 homeless tribal families. They are living in dire poverty and in very primitive conditions for more than a decade, just about 130 km from Bangalore. The community comprises of mostly women and children below 10 years of age.They are currently living in thatch huts and tarpaulin tents, with no toilets, bathrooms, electricity and drinking water facilities. Such abysmal living conditions have a direct impact on children's mental health, physical health and they're overall wellbeing and development. Lack of security makes women and children vulnerable to sexual abuse and attacks from snakes and rodents. The community is also vulnerable to harsh weather conditions like heavy wind and rains.An unfortunate incident of a baby getting burnt in their hut triggered the Tribal Welfare Department to approach Nivasa with the request to build temporary homes for them while the District Administration works on allocating land, housing scheme, skill development and other measures to rehabilitate them. 
 Project Suitcase is a temporary housing solution for the landless homeless till the issue of permanent housing is resolved by the Government. Suitcase house is a toolkit of housing components, which can be assembled by the homeowners themselves; They are portable, affordable, reusable, flexible and expandable based on the end user's requirements. We have crowdsourced and built 10 houses for the community so far. 
 For the lower-income segments in our society, architectural intervention in design and materials is VERY essential, but unfortunately, it is neither available nor affordable. Nivasa seeks to fill this gap through developing common palettes of design for socio-economic, cultural and geographic groups, with the support of donor organizations. The shelter is a basic human right and we believe everybody deserves live in a humane and dignified manner irrespective of their economic background.After we started building suitcase homes for the first 10 families, the local Gram panchayat came forward to provide them with clean drinking water and community toilets. The Nirmiti Kendra of Chikkaballapur District trained them in block making which has provided the community with a new skill and an alternative income. Nurse and doctors from the local PHC visit the community regularly to provide medical care.

Project Suitcase - Manchenahalli

This Navratri, 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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