"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.

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

Education

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 Disaster Relief. For the purpose of testing I will use the wordDisaster ReliefDisaster ReliefDisaster Relief.

Disaster Relief

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

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

Yein Udaan is a grassroots organisation in Chennai, established in 2017 to provide marginalised children and women access to a safe space with diverse learning opportunities. We hand-hold children from cradle to college with the vision to set them on life-changing paths and empower women through our education and employment initiatives. Our youngest learners are 2 – 4 years old and attend our “Playschool” program, where we prepare 25 of them for their schooling journey. These children are taught in the play-way multi-sensory method to develop their language, numeracy, thinking and movement skills. At our “Young Learners” program, in association with the Greater Chennai Police, 50 primary school children of ages 6 – 10 years have access to rigorous academic mentoring, along with extra-curricular, sports, mental health and life skills oriented interventions. Our “Holistic Development” program for 50 children between 11 – 18 years old focuses on: academic excellence, extra-curriculars and sports, mental health, and leadership development. Sessions are implemented in the evenings from Monday to Sunday at our community centre. We also work closely with the families of these children to create positive change in the overall home environment. Our community centre is also a safe space for the women of the community. Under our “Penn (Woman) Power” program, we directly provide mental health services for 30 women to learn self- and relationship- management skills. We also provide vocational, interpersonal and communications skills development opportunities to 108 young girls and women overall in communities across Chennai including, Chetpet, Choolaimedu, Egmore and Kilpauk. To benefit the community at large, we conduct free outreach awareness and medical camps for all community members.

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

Vedika

Yein Udaan

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.

Vedika Agarwal

We have raised the full amount needed to take our children on this trip - via this link and direct bank transfers! Thank you to all of you for donating and making this dream come true. We appreciate you!! Stay tuned for cute photos from the trip :D

Funding goal reached!!

We've planned three fun- and learning- fill days in the royal palaces and wild jungles of Karnataka! Check out the details in the attached image!

Read the amazing ITINERARY

Thank you for helping this dream come true!

Thank you!!!

Thanks to our CSR partners, we have raised 50% of the required budget! We need your help to raise the balance, please!

Half way there!

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<ul><li>Children do not have a safe space to continue learning and playing after school hours. When both parents are at work or children come from single-parent households, they are unsupervised in the evenings. Thus, they get into bad company and involve in gang violence, drug and alcohol abuse, and thefts.</li><li>26% of adults in India are illiterate. With a stigma around learning as adults, men and women shy away from learning. Thus, they are unable to help their children with their school work. They also are financially illiterate and thus struggle to manage their money.</li><li>Youth from low-income areas go to school and college but struggle to find jobs due to their presentation and communication skills. Thus, children and adolescents drop out of schools and colleges, seeing no value in education.</li></ul> 
 <ul><li>Establish learning centres or ‘Launchpads’ and provide a range of learning opportunities to residents of all age-groups.</li><li>Conduct out-reach programs to spread awareness on the importance of education.</li><li>Conduct needs-analysis surveys to understand the learning needs of the different age-groups and design sessions based on these needs.</li><li>Partner with experts in different educational fields to learn from best practices and bring relevant resource persons to deliver programs.</li><li>Train community residents in communications and evaluation of program delivery and success to make the centres self-sustaining.</li><li>THE DIFFERENT PROGRAMS INCLUDE:</li></ul><ol><li>ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING;</li><li>EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES SUCH AS DANCE, DRAMA, ARTS, MUSIC;</li><li>COUNSELLING, THERAPY AND PARENTING</li><li>LIFE SKILLS AND SOFT SKILLS</li><li>COMMUNICATION AND PRESENTATION SKILLS</li><li>AWARENESS DRIVES ON MATTERS OF HEALTH, CHILD SAFETY, SAFEGUARDING LAWS AND RIGHTS, AND ENVIRONMENT CONSERVATION</li></ol> 
 Yein Udaan was Founded in July 2017. Over the past two years, we have established two Launchpads in two communities of Chennai and one Launchpad in Bangalore.At our Launchpads, we have engaged with over 400 community residents collectively, including children and adults, through our in-house and outreach programs.Our partners are based both in India and globally in the UK and USA.

#FuelMyTakeoff - Educating and Empowering Low-Income Families

Yein Udaan was founded in 2017 with a powerful mission: to transform Chennai’s oldest and largest dhobi ghat (washermen community) into a model community by providing its children, youth, and women access to education and employment opportunities. We are working towards a future wherein motivated individuals have the agency and social capital to break out of the cycles of poverty and build thriving communities.<img src="https://cfstatic.give.do/171f21ac-b2ec-4a47-bbba-c39d8e04b93b.webp" />Our mission is to hand-hold these impressionable learners throughout their school journey into college, to realise our long-term vision of every child having access to diverse and deserving learning opportunities. Since our inception, we have been working with 200 children and their families on this transformative path. We have already witnessed improvements in language skills, shifts in mindsets about abuse, development of healthy relationships with self and others, honing of non-academic skills which tap into each learner’s unique abilities, and overall healthy growth of the child. Children are also more joyful and secure to express themselves around caring adults in a safe space.We believe a holistic model of intervention at a safe space will enable participating children to improve their quality of development and life, and in turn culminate in a safe, healthy and joyous childhood. Such an intervention will not only result in short-term improvements as children stay away from negative influences but also have a long-term, sustainable impact as they grow into well-rounded, self-aware young adults, ready to thrive in the real world, and break the cycles of abuse and poverty.

#FuelMyTakeoff - Educating and Empowering Low-Income Families

Support Chetpet's Children

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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