"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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Education

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Children

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Hunger & Homelessness

TILJALA SOCIETY FOR HUMAN AND EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT is a non-religious, non-political grassroots level non-government developmental organization working for the underprivileged and marginalized people of Kolkata. Our focus beneficiaries include the rag picker community which has been neglected and socially ostracized by civil society. Tiljala Shed seeks to empower and transform rag pickers from a life in rags to a recognized and better quality of life. Apart working for the development of rag pickers, Tiljala Shed also works with other related vulnerable groups like child labourers and street dwellers. Tiljala SHED has worked for over 30 years amongst the slums and squatter camps of Central and East Central Kolkata. Our beneficiaries are the poorest of the poor: most live in illegal shelters beside the city’s rail tracks and canals. Illiterate and lacking documentation, they work as rag pickers and in other parts of the informal economy: rickshaw drivers, fruit sellers, daily labourers. There is poor access to drinking water – with taps far apart and operating only 3 or 4 hours a day. No running water leads to poor sanitation and poor health. Open defecation is commonplace.

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Jane Manson

Shafkat Alam

Tiljala Society for Human and Educational Development

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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Maya is about 75, widowed and lives alone in a shelter beside the Topsia "canal" (open sewer). She still collects waste to survive: she is one of Kolkata's army of rag pickers. If she cannot go out she will starve. Thousands of daily labourers, migrant workers, rag pickers, rickshaw wallahs and other ultra poor are suffering terrible privations because of the coronavirus lockdown. In central Kolkata's squatter camps, families whose income has dropped to zero overnight are looking to Tiljala SHED for help. They desperately need food right now and also the money to purchase other daily necessities. 
 Tiljala SHED has worked with rag pickers and the ultra-poor in the squatter camps and slums of Central Kolkata for over 30 years. Large families live in illegal shelters beside the railway tracks and open sewers. They have no proper sanitation and clean water flows just twice a day for a few hours. They depend on daily wages to eat but there is no work as they cannot go out. This virus will hit these areas the very hardest. We have collected bank account details from 1500 of the poorest families and will pay a monthly stipend of Rs1500 to each family for 3 months. We are also distributing food and medical supplies to those especially vulnerable people like Maya, who do not have bank accounts. Because of lockdown we do not want to spread infection through gatherings of individuals for food distribution so we aim, where possible, to get aid straight into the accounts of the most needy. 
 By putting cash straight into the accounts of the most in need, we are ensuring they can feed their families today. Your help will save families from starvation and destitution. Your donation will enable us to get food and medical supplies to the elderly and most at risk.

Emergency Relief for 500 of Kolkata's Ultra-Poor families during COVID Lockdown

A boy born into a rag picker family in one of Kolkata’s urban canal-side or railway squatter camps would expect to drop out of school by class 5, take up rag picking or other exploitative work and possibly drift into crime, drugs and alcohol abuse by the time he is adult. A girl child would stay in education perhaps a year or two more, but would end up caring for younger siblings, married off as a teenager and repeating her mother’s life of poverty, drudgery, child-bearing and domestic abuse or abandonment. In both cases illiteracy keeps the child poor and vulnerable. •            1 in 4 children of school age is out of school – 99 million in total (Census 2011)•            There are 10.13 million child labourers between 5-14 years (Census 2011)•            42% of married women in India were married as children (DISE) •            1 in every 3 child brides in the world is a girl in India (UNICEF)•            India has over 45 lakh girls under 15 who are married with children. (Census 2011)Across India, school drop-out rates are highest at grade 5, leaving children practically illiterate. Tiljala SHED has found this to be very much the case in our target communities. It is only by staying in education that the children of rag pickers and the ultra-poor can hope to escape a life of destitution beside the railway tracks or the sewage canal. This project supplements their government schooling and motivates the children to remain in education. Tiljala SHED runs after-school classes every day for 600 children from Kg to class XII in 5 community centres in the heart of each of our 5 target areas in Central Kolkata. Here the children receive remedial academic support, English and computer lessons. Sports sessions, songs, drama and puppetry are used to enhance the learning experience and to deliver messages on health, hygiene, good behaviour and child safety. School bags, uniforms and stationery are supplied. In addition, parents’ meetings are held as well as counselling sessions where necessary. The children love the classes and there is a waiting list for places. Since starting classes for class VI and above many children who would otherwise have dropped out or married have stayed in education and are ambitious to go to college. This is unheard of in these communities and we want to do everything we can to support their ambitions. None of the five poorest areas where we work boasts a single college graduate. But since Tiljala SHED extended after school classes from Class VI upwards, there are young people preparing for board exams and hoping to gain a college place. Even basic literacy and numeracy will give a child a far better chance of earning a good living and being able to support a family. In communities where the children are first generation learners, parental support for education needs to be nurtured, especially when traditions like early marriage clash with a young girl's wish for an education.Our target outcomes are ambitious. By 2025<ul><li>80% of target beneficiaries will complete class 8 (as per RTE 2012) – 480 children</li><li>30% of target beneficiaries will pass class X board exams – 180 children</li><li>10% will pass class 12 – 60 children</li><li>8% will go on to higher education - 48 children</li></ul>Impact we are already seeing are: huge demand for classes, especially among class 6 and above; fewer child marriages; a more cohesive society where young people are actively campaigning against child marriage; parents encouraging both boy and girl children to remain in education; parents requesting adult education (literacy skills).

Education for 600 Vulnerable Children from Kolkata's Slums and Squatter Camps

Fire broke out in the Topsia bustee (squatter camp) on Tuesday 10th November 2020 leaving 110 families homeless. After a terrible year when work has been impossible because of the COVID19 lockdown and families went hungry, when Cyclone Amphan tore through these precarious communities and caused terrible damage to their homes, these vulnerable people have already suffered enough. Now 110 families have lost everything. They need help to rebuild their homes and their livelihoods. 
 We are busy co-ordinating donations in kind. These are mainly clothes, mosquito nets and plastic sheeting. Local donors continue to be generous, responsive and imaginative but these families will need support in the longer term. They require building materials, cooking utensils, dry food rations, floor mats, blankets, bedsheets, mattresses, towels, soap, sanitary napkins, tooth paste, toothbrushes. Many have lost their documentation and will require help applying for replacements. There will also be medical expenses. 
 We want to see every member of these families restored to a normal life, with a safe place to live, a livelihood and enough food to eat. Through our other programmes we are committed to educating the children, empowering the women and providing livelihood training. We want these families to be in a position to be able to continue to better themselves.

Emergency Relief for 500 of Kolkata's Ultra-Poor families during COVID Lockdown

Education for 600 Vulnerable Children from Kolkata's Slums and Squatter Camps

Emergency Relief for Families Left Homeless in the Topsia Fire 10 November 2020

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

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

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

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