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

Help Lalitha give kids rescued from abuse in red-light areas a safe and loving home. Donate now.

Hunger and malnutrition have become a reality for thousands of elderly parents abandoned by their own children, in villages and slums across India. Seeing the rampant distress among the elderly, a team of selfless heroes from our NGO partner Mitti Cafe, though disabled themselves, have taken up the responsibility of providing cooked meals and dry rations to over 5,000 elderly in urgent need of support. Setting aside their own struggles, Mitti Cafe’s team, led by Ayesha Alam has been relentlessly fighting to free elderly from hunger and malnutrition through its Karuna Meals initiative. The need for nutrition support is growing with each passing day and Mitti Cafe is struggling to fulfill this enormous need. With your support, the NGO and its team of persons with disability can put food on the plates of hundreds of more elderly parents. Donate generously.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). Elderly deserve love, not neglect and hunger“There have been countless senior citizens, in extremely backward villages of the Sundarbans in West Bengal, who had not had a proper meal in days when we found them. We have seen people picking food from the garbage out of extreme hunger.”, recalls Ayesha of Mitti Cafe, while talking about the extent of hunger faced by senior citizens. According to Ayesha, there are thousands of elderly who have been either chucked out of their homes or have been left behind in villages by their children. “Our elderly don't deserve this life and it is our responsibility to come to their aid. If we come together we can ease the suffering of hundreds of people battling hunger and starvation. Donate now Our heroes’ war against hungerPersons with disability who were once discriminated against by society are today at the forefront of the fight to save abandoned elderly and children from hunger. The Karuna Meals team, comprising only of persons with disability has been able to cook and serve over 10 lakh meals. They have also distributed over 1 lakh packets of dry rations. ”They overlook their own struggles and suffering just to reach the elderly and provide them with the food they need,” says Ayesh. But their job is not yet done. “There are still many villages which have many malnourished and hungry seniors and we have not been able to reach them. But with your support, we can collectively end starvation,” she says. Donate now. Donate to this fundraiser by Give, India’s largest and most trusted online donation platform, to help the elderly fight hunger and malnutrition.

Support Mitti Cafe’s team of disabled heroes end hunger and malnutrition for thousands. Donate now

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

Children

This is a sample description for Differently Abled. For the purpose of testing I will use the word Differently AbledDifferently AbledDifferently AbledDifferently Abled.

Differently Abled

Helene Menezes

Sethu is a Charitable Trust based in Goa, India, to help all children get the best out of their lives, families, schools and communities to grow and develop. Sethu’s mission is to be a bridge between children and their families, schools and communities to foster their overall development through awareness, assessments, therapy, educational initiatives, training and capacity building in the community.Sethu's Work in BriefChildren in Goa have a facility where they can be assured of the best quality of care for developmental and behavioural health. Established in 2005, the Sethu Trust runs the Sethu Centre for Child Development and Family Guidance. Providing services to the community for over 16 years, through our child development and family guidance program conducting: early intervention for children with autism and other disabilities, innovative English education in Government primary schools, training programs for parents, teachers and other professionals, on-the-job training for students from various disciplines, networking with educational institutions, other organisations and Government institutions and providing technical support through itinerant teaching to schools that practice inclusive education.Since its inception, over 8700 children have been registered at the Sethu Centre for Child Development and Family Guidance, which caters to children with developmental, behavioural, emotional and learning difficulties, from birth to 19 years. Every year over 1000 children are attended to. A multidisciplinary team consisting of a developmental and behavioural paediatrician, child psychiatrist, autism interventionist, speech therapist, occupational therapist, behaviour therapist, psychologists, psychotherapist and administrative staff assess and manage the children and their families.However, we have run out of space and we are operating from two overcrowded rented premises at present. Though centrally located, we still face several drawbacks:-·     Long waiting lists ·     Inadequate space·     Inappropriate construction for a child development ·     Access·     Frequent moves﻿After a critical team, and professional from the field, strategic planning meeting in 2016, it was evident, based on the outcomes outlined above that we needed to prioritise a customised space to call our own. Two years later through the BUILD OUR BRIDGE CAMPAIGN we have raised enough funds to purchase the land, now we need funds to build a state-of-the-art child development and family guidance centre to become a reality to enable us to reach out to more children and families in Goa. 
 The new Centre will focus on providing the range of services that it has been offering so far, as well as scale and strengthen these. Therefore, we hope to expand our team by taking more professionals on board enabling us to meet the needs of the children and families through assessment, therapy, advocacy and training. We intend to build a ‘fit for purpose’ Centre which is child-friendly and has disability access. Proposed functionality of the new Centre: Ø Multidisciplinary Centre for assessment and therapy services in child development and family guidance.Ø Early Intervention Centre for early detection of disabilities, in high-risk populations, such as low birth weight babies or those who have suffered neonatal complications.Ø Training and Resource Centre for parents, teachers, social workers, health professionals and others working with children with disabilities, learning and behaviour concerns.Ø Research Centre a dedicated space for research in child development, learning and behaviour. 
 The Centre will be open to all families regardless of race, religion, gender or socio-economic background and will make a special effort to reach out to children with disabilities and those coming from impoverished families.As is present practice, Sethu will cater to children from birth to 19 years old. Professionals from a range of disciplines such as mental health, education, psychology, speech and language, physiotherapy, counselling, health, occupational therapy, social work, child development, etc. can avail of the training facilities offered.A focus of the Centre will be on the training of grassroots workers so that through the transfer of knowledge and skills, more children can be reached.Sethu is registered with the Dept. of Social Welfare, Govt, of Goa, the Income Tax Dept under section 12A and 80G, and also has permanent registration under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) is empanelled with the Tata Institute for Social Sciences (National CSR Hub) for CSR grants and has been awarded the GuideStar Transparency Key.Sethu's Mission and Vision are in line with the following 4 SDGs of the 17 United Nations goals.Goal 3: Good Health and wellbeing – Sethu’s Child Development Centre (CDC) focuses on the mental well-being of the child and family by providing assessment, counselling, therapy and required intervention.Goal 4: Quality Education – The Tarang and Gnyandeep programs focus on ensuring there is inclusive education and that all children learnGoal 10: Reduced Inequalities – Our training sessions, workshop and awareness activities help bridge the understanding gap and work toward reducing inequalities faced by children and enhancing the participation of children with disabilities in all aspects of life. Our CHEER FOR CHILDREN FUND - for families that can not afford to pay for our services.Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions - Sethu's Child Protection Program and emphasis on empowering parents and professionals to use respectful discipline measures seek to ensure the safety of all children.

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Build Our Bridge

Our corpus ensures that we will always be around - whatever the eventuality. In recent history, as covid struck our doors, like many others were forced to close and our services stopped. The outgoings for running our centre and our projects did not. The Sethu corpus is our very important security blanket. 
 We have developed online services, webinars and workshops. These will be ongoing even as things open up. 
 We need to remain open! Our children and their families and the family that is Sethu need to be here always to ensure that, 'no child is unseen and no child is unheard'.

Sethu Corpus

Many of the children who attend come from families who are unable to pay the fees, which are of course, necessary to pay for the running expenses of the centre. The number of children that fell into this bracket pre pandemic were manageable from this fund. Now things have changed. While we are providing care for these children free of charge we feel the need for support from philanthropic individuals just like you, to make our services accessible to poorer families. By contributing to the CFC fund, you would be directly helping to ensure that even the most vulnerable of children receive the help they need. 
 Provide professional services - assessment - therapy - follow up. Free of charge to vulnerable families. 
 The Cheer For Children fund impacts the children who qualify directly in the most positive way, enabling them to avail of the all of the services under the umbrella of Sethu ensuring these children reach their full potential. The CFC fund is inline with Sethu's Mission and Vision and compliment the 4 SDGs out of the 17 laid down UN goals.Goal 3: Good Health and wellbeing – Sethu’s Child Development Centre (CDC) focuses on the mental well-being of the child and family by providing assessment, counselling, therapy and required intervention. Under CFC all of these services are available.Goal 4: Quality Education – The Tarang and Gnyandeep programs focus on ensuring there is inclusive education and that all children learn - children under CFC can avail.Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities – Our training session, workshop and awareness activities help bridge the understanding gap and work toward reducing inequalities faced by children and enhancing the participation of children with disabilities in all aspects of life. Donating to the CFC fund allows us to host more workshops and webinars.We create direct impact by providing a world class service free of charge inline with Sethu's mission and vision and the UN SDGs. THANK YOU FOR DONATING!

Cheer for Children Fund

Ed and his family are very much part of Sethu. It is the family's wish that gifts honouring Ed's memory should be used for our work at Sethu - a place he loved and believed in. Ed, at one time, very much part of our team, guided us with his superior expertise and in-depth knowledge. It is a testament to Ed that his wish was to help others on his passing. His Sethu family are truly humbled and honoured by his family's wonderful gesture at an incredibly difficult time. Immense gratitude to the Chowdhury family, Ed's friends, colleagues and well-wishers. Our hearts and condolences go out to Nora, Ella, Sachi and Max may they take solace in the many wonderful memories the family shared. 
 Please see details under our main BUILD OUR BRIDGE project on the Sethu Trust page for further details about Sethu's plans for the new centre and why it is relevant. 
 Please see details under our main BUILD OUR BRIDGE project on the Sethu Trust page for details of how your gift will impact real change.

BUILD OUR BRIDGE A Legacy for Ed - (Indrajit Chowdhury) 1974 - 2022

We see so many children and families - over a thousand each year, for assessment and ongoing therapy. Our resources are dwindling due to the continuing extra sanitisation that is needed between each session and simply through immense use. We need specialist items such as the ADOS assessment kit for our children with cognitive delay - they need to be non-toxic and do a unique job. Because of the lack of quantity and quality diminishment of our current resources we are experiencing delays with child and family therapy. Our children that come for therapy often have to wait before or in-between sessions, have siblings along with them that need to wait) - our playground equipment is desperate for an upgrade. We see children from 0 - 19 years with a diverse range of challenges - all need to be accommodated. 
 We need to source and purchase the latest specialist resources from publications to therapy tools, including assessment equipment. We also need to improve the facility for children waiting between or before appointments. 
 There is no question that safe, up to date apparatus to conduct our specialist interactions with children are going to have an immensely positive impact on every child visiting us. As professionals having the latest equipment that is fit for purpose, hygienic, safe and sufficient in quantity will enable us to assess and treat more children with tools of a high standard enabling us to treat children to the absolute best of our ability which is unquestionable what they deserve.

Sethu Learning and Teaching Resources!

Sethu Centre For Child Development And Family Guidance is a Charitable Trust based in Goa, India, to help all children get the best out of their lives, families, schools and communities to grow and develop. Sethu’s mission is to be a bridge between children and their families, schools and communities to foster their overall development through awareness, assessments, therapy, educational initiatives, training and capacity building in the community.Sethu's Work in Brief:<ul><li>Children in Goa have a facility where they can be assured of the best quality of care for developmental and behavioural health. Established in 2005, the Sethu Trust runs the Sethu Centre for Child Development and Family Guidance, which has been providing services to the community for over 16 years, through our child development and family guidance programme, early intervention for children with autism and other disabilities, innovative English education in Government primary schools, training programs for parents, teachers and other professionals, on-the-job training for students from various disciplines, networking with educational institutions, other organisations and the Government institutions and providing technical support through itinerant teaching to schools that practise inclusive education.</li><li>Since its inception, over 8700 children have been registered at the Sethu Centre for Child Development and Family Guidance, which caters to children with developmental, behavioural, emotional and learning difficulties, from birth to 19 years. Every year over 1000 children are attended to. A multidisciplinary team consisting of a developmental and behavioural paediatrician, child psychiatrist, autism interventionist, speech therapist, occupational therapist, behaviour therapist, psychologists, psychotherapist and administrative staff assess and manage the children and their families.</li><li>Training programs are a very important aspect of Sethu’s work, as the organisation believes in the capacity building of all who live with, care for or work with children. These training programs include group programs for parents of children with autism, workshops for Anganwadi workers of the Integrated Child Development Scheme of the Govt of India, the world’s largest mother and child health program and internships offered to students from diverse disciplines.</li><li>Sethu has also participated in policy-making through various Government committees in special education, general education and foster care.</li><li>In recognition of its service to society, Sethu was awarded the Navhind Times Viva Goa award for Social Empowerment 2010. As part of the celebrations of the Golden Jubilee of Goa's Liberation in 2011, Sethu was selected by the Govt of Goa to receive a grant of INR 25 lakhs under the Blessed Mother Tereza Benevolence Scheme. Recently on 19 Dec’ 2019, Sethu has been awarded by the Government of Goa – Directorate of Social Welfare with a State award for the best NGO.</li><li>One of Sethu's strengths is its strong administration which follows the principles of sound management. Sethu has 5 trustees who work entirely voluntarily administer the trust. The administrative team monitors all systems of management to ensure that team members adhere to proper planning and work schedules, accounting protocols are followed and excellence in service provision is achieved. Client appointments and clinical data are managed using applications and a Management Information System based on Access software.</li><li>Sethu is registered with the Dept. of Social Welfare, Govt, of Goa, the Income Tax Dept under section 12A and 80G, and has permanent registration under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) 2010 of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India. The organisation is empanelled with the Tata Institute for Social Sciences (National CSR Hub) for CSR grants, under the TISS AESDII (Assessment and Empanelment Standards for Development Institutions in India) and has been awarded the GuideStar Transparency Key.</li></ul>UNITED NATIONS: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDG): The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a collection of 17 global goals set by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015 which are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. These 17 Goals build on the successes of the Millennium Development Goals while including new areas such as climate change, economic inequality, innovation, sustainable consumption, peace and justice, among other priorities. With their focus on protecting the most vulnerable, children and people with disabilities are at the centre of the SDGs. Sethu's Mission and Vision are in line with the below 4 SDGs out of the 17 laid down goals:<ul><li>Goal 3: Good Health and wellbeing – Sethu’s Child Development Centre (CDC) focuses on the mental well-being of the child and family by providing assessment, counselling, therapy and required intervention.</li><li>Goal 4: Quality Education – The Tarang and Gnyandeep programs focus on ensuring there is inclusive education and that all children learn</li><li>Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities – The training sessions, workshops and awareness activities we conduct help bridge the understanding gap and work toward reducing inequalities faced by children and enhancing the participation of children with disabilities in all aspects of life.</li><li>Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions - Sethu's Child Protection Program and emphasis on empowering parents and professionals to use respectful discipline measures seek to ensure the safety of all children.    </li></ul>

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Sethu Trust

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.

Mahera Kantawalla

Please continue to share and spread the message to help me achieve my target!

11 more days to go!!

A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who has donated&nbsp;to this campaign. Your donations have helped me achieve 70% of my target!!I shall keep you updated on the final figures.

Your support has helped me take those 10,000 steps daily!!!

Parent testimonial: I lost my job in February 2020 and my career has been on a downward spiral since then, my wife has a government job in Goa which barely supports the household day to day expenses.It was becoming increasingly difficult to set aside some extra money for my daughter Angelique’s therapy sessions.Angel as we fondly call her is on level 1 of the Autism spectrum and has Cerebral palsy-Spastic Diplegia due to complications at birth and trauma to her brain during her pre mature delivery at under 7 months.We tried to make ends meet as we understand that our monetary worries should not impact Angels development but there came a time where the resources dried up and we actually thought of quitting therapy.That’s when I approached Mahera Kantawalla from Sethu and was honest and open about my predicament, I was touched with the genuine empathy that I was shown by her. Her willingness to help me in my time of need was very heart warming.She told me that she would try to apply for a sponsorship for me and later that week she confirmed that I have received the same.My joy knew no bounds as now there was no reason to compromise on my daughters development and we could continue with our fantastic therapy sessions with Mahera at Sethu.I urge and encourage all to contribute to this noble cause as I can personally vouch for impact it has had in my life please donate so other lives can be reached and no special child is deprived of the opportunity to develop and has access to all the therapy and care that they deserve.

Dear donors, This is how your donation will make a difference in the lives of children with special needs......

As they say 'when the intentions are pure and real, the blessings will flow for sure.'I feel blessed and full of gratitude to see the support my campaign has received in just 3 days. Your generous donations have helped me achieve 20% of my target already!! I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for your generosity and donations to my campaign. Please do continue to spread the cause among your family and friends.

Your contributions have helped me achieve 20% of my target!!  THANK YOU!!!!!!!

Whenever we make an effort to do something for a cause that means so much to us, it instantly lifts up our moods!! I went through the exact same emotion as I completed my 10,000 steps on day 1 - although I was exhausted after a long day at work, every step that I took today for the lovely children I work with, energized me thoroughly and lifted my spirits up! Thank you Sharukh Master and Sadiq Zaveri for your generous donations towards my campaign.

Getting started .......10,000 steps and INR 12,500 to Cheer for Children!!

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