"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

“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.

“I used to be sexually abused repeatedly, and when I screamed in pain, they hit and threatened me with more violence,” says Priya (name changed), a rescued child sex worker. Priya was abducted by traffickers and sold into a red-light area house before she was rescued by Guria led by Manju. For over two decades, Manju has been rescuing young girls forced into prostitution across the country. She has been shaken to the core seeing some of the most horrifying crimes that young girls have to undergo. “You can’t imagine the state of girls forced into sex work. The girls are given electric shocks and burnt with cigarette butts just to get kicks out of it. And if they get pregnant, the "owners" kick them repeatedly in the womb so that the child inside dies…If you want to see hell, it is here on this planet where young girls are sexually abused,” says Manju.Manju needs your help to rescue more young girls from forced prostitution and reunite them with their families. Donate now.Guria’s work over the yearsBased out of Varanasi, inarguably the holiest place in India, Manju and her organisation Guria, fights the sexual exploitation of girls, especially minors, by taking on the traffickers head-on, and rescuing and rehabilitating them.Started in 1993, Guria has rescued over 5500 persons from slavery, sex trafficking, and child prostitution so far. It has also been instrumental in shutting down hundreds of places that housed trafficked girls and putting scores of traffickers out of business and in jail.For instance, in 2005, a Guria-led rescue operation in Varanasi's red-light area led to the freeing of 49 women and girls, including minors. Many of them were kept against their will. Some of the traffickers were also arrested and tried. Since then, Guria has rescued thousands of young girls.Manju and her husband, Ajeet Singh began rescuing girls from Varanasi’s red-light areas and then working to stop the sex-trafficking of young girls within Uttar Pradesh and outside. The organisation’s aim is to eliminate the sex trafficking of women, especially minor girls, end second-generation prostitution and child prostitution, and rehabilitate women and girls who are rescued from the trade. Manju has faced violent backlash from the traffickers and other vested interests, but it has not deterred her from carrying on rescuing young girls from trafficking. Rescue and rehabilitationBesides rescuing girls trafficked for sex, mostly from low-income families, from across the country, Guria fights on their behalf in courts and also provides education, food, vocational training, and other facilities until they are united with their families. But because of a lack of funds, Guria is finding it difficult to rescue more girls and also take care of them once they are away from the clutches of the traffickers. Take the case of Sameena (name changed), who was abducted from Uttar Pradesh all the way to Telangana. Guria took it upon itself to rescue the girl with the help of its own work and also the authorities. After months of rehabilitation, Sameena went back to her family and even completed her education. With your support, Manju can rescue many more young girls from trafficking and help them live the life of their dreams.

Help Manju rescue young sex trafficking victims. Donate now

This is a sample description for Women Empowerment. For the purpose of testing I will use the word Women EmpowermentWomen EmpowermentWomen Empowerment.

Women Empowerment

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

Livelihood

Trickle Up’s approach helps women overcome extreme poverty by training and mentoring them to plan for the future, develop a profitable business, save and connect to others through savings groups, and access entitlements. When participants graduate from our program, they’re earning sustainable incomes, able to feed their families and send kids to school, and have a greater voice in their households and communities. We support governments and partners to improve their own ability to identify and target highly marginalized households and to provide pathways out of extreme poverty, while also building resilience to destabilizing events like Covid-19 and increasingly volatile weather due to climate change by adapting and integrating our proven economic development approach.

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

Anjum Khalidi

Sushant Verma

Sudip Mukherjee

TRICKLE UP INDIA FOUNDATION

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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In Jharkhand, certain communities have been identified by the Government of India as “Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups” (PVTGs). Often settled in small clusters near forest areas, PVTG groups experience high levels of poverty, low literacy rates and geographic isolation. They adopt livelihood options based on the eco-systems in which they live, primarily focused on gathering and selling Non-timber Forest Produce (NTFPs) such as Tamarind, Saal Leaves and Mahua. Lacking access to markets and pricing information, PVTGs are often exploited by middlemen and buyers who aim to procure forest produce at very low prices. Tribal communities are unable to equitably benefit from their hard work and the majority of product profits flow to others in the value chain. Without productive assets or sustainable sources of income, these tribal communities struggle to meet basic consumption needs and are extremely vulnerable to life shocks, which keeps them trapped in the vicious cycle of poverty. The ongoing COVID pandemic has further added to their vulnerability, often resulting in distress sales to raise much-needed funds for basic needs. 
 Our dedicated Trickle Up staff and trainers will partner with PVTGs to build their capacity to work collectively to produce a greater volume and higher quality of product. By training and investing in processing equipment and training, women from these communities will be able to develop microenterprises that enable them to obtain better prices for their produce.  To ensure that an equitable portion of profits are captured by the PVTG communities, we will also work with program participants to access market information and negotiate better terms with buyers. The following products will be developed as part of this project:a)     Tamarind pulp which is a major crop produced in Jharkhand and traded throughout South India. b)   Mahua Powder and oil which are used to produce toffee, jam, sweets and manurec)     Saal Leaf plates which are eco-friendly and low cost to produce and bought in bulk at higher prices in larger markets in Jharkhand and West Bengal. 
 Trickle Up seeks to provide sustainable pathways out of poverty for vulnerable populations in India. Through capacity building, training and infrastructure (basic processing plants) we will create economic opportunities for 500 PVTG families who will see on average, an increase in income of 50 percent. . Over a period of six months, each tribal woman engaged in the project will earn at least three to four thousand rupees. As a result, families will be able to improve their food security and economic resilience. This in turn, will help them withstand the frequent climate and other shocks as well as provide them with economic means to move out of extreme poverty But we cannot do this without you. Your support, no matter the amount, will help us create resilient livelihoods for participants and support them as they build capacity and infrastructure and connect to markets.

Equitable and Sustainable Livelihoods for Tribal Communities

Women living in poverty face multiple, reinforcing challenges: traditional gender roles, the time burdens due to their responsibility for unpaid work, lack of education (literacy, numeracy), greater risk of violence, and lack of access to and understanding of markets and market information. These deep-seated challenges as well as lack of access to new technology work in tandem to keep women in the poverty trap. While access to financial services for low-income women in India has increased over the last decade, usage of those services as a means towards financial capability and agency continues to lag. Furthermore, the gender gap in digital services and mobile ownership present additional obstacles to women’s ability to leverage digital and financial services. 
 Trickle Up's Graduation Approach provides women risk-free start-up capital, livelihoods skills training, and follow-up coaching to strengthen financial literacy, build successful livelihoods, and create the means to save and access credit. The goal is for Trickle Up participants to develop sustainable livelihoods, save on a regular basis for business expansion and household needs, access affordable credit, and gain skills and confidence that last a lifetime.M-POWERED addresses one of the key challenges to improving livelihoods in remote locations—real-time access to information. While livelihoods coaches visit participants regularly to provide training and support, these visits only occur weekly or every other week, creating information gaps in the interim. Trickle Up designed a mobile application that provides tailored “just in time” information about crop choice, planting strategy, pesticides, feed, vaccinations and money management. With this coaching app pre-loaded on their smartphones, participants carried a livelihood guide in their pockets. They were also able to directly connect to their bank accounts and government programs and receive digital alerts on upcoming opportunities 
 Mobile technology provides new solutions to one of the oldest challenges of building sustainable, rural livelihoods—direct access to information and resources. However, simply providing phones is not enough to integrate these new users into the digital world. To connect the poorest women and improve program delivery, M-POWERED had to address not only technical implementation challenges but also deeper fundamental barriers linked to the cycle of poverty.Gender impact: During household visits, staff engaged and counselled men on the potential benefits to their entire family. The majority of women maintained primary control over the phones, while the remainder maintained access. With increased profits, savings, and access to information, women became more influential in both the household and the community. Many also reported having increased self-confidence simply from possessing the phone.Digital literacy: Trickle Up’s mobile coaching application is designed to be useful for people without literacy while enabling extra functionality for those with some literacy or with literate support networks. The app services English, Hindi, Bengali, Oriya, Ho, and Santhal. Visual cues and voiceovers in local languages provide detailed guidance, and participants can check off each step as they complete it. The app was designed to mirror existing practices used by those with limited literacy or numeracy, such as a money counter that used visual denominations of rupee notes and electronic images of sticks used by farmers for land measurement. By tailoring the app to be accessible and familiar to low literacy users, Trickle Up has been able to overcome a major barrier to the digital world to put the power of just in time information into the hands of women without formal education.Social capital: Peer support proved effective and reliable and was incorporated into the program. Trickle Up recruited 69 Smart Sakhis, or “wise sisters,” from among participants and women in the community who demonstrated success with the phones and apps. They were almost all literate and each committed to supporting a group of 25 peers for a modest stipend of USD $21 per month. They were trained and mentored by project staff, and effectively complemented—and sometimes even replaced—the work of livelihoods coaches. The Smart Sakhis began to train 2,500 additional women who are members of the same savings groups as M-POWERED participants, thereby extending the use and reach of the app in the community. Smart Sakhis provided important regular feedback on the livelihood app, enabling iterative improvements in design.

Equitable and Sustainable Livelihoods for Tribal Communities

M-Powered: Mobile Connections to Promote Women's Economic Development

This Navratri, save abandoned, elderly widow mothers of Vrindavan from begging on streets

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

Help Manju rescue young sex trafficking victims. Donate now

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