India Floods- 2017

by Ngo'sWomen’s Empowerment

India Floods- 2017

Due to heavy rains, many parts in India like: Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan, etc. experienced floods during the monsoons of 2017. Scores of people were killed and thousands rendered homeless. Rescue efforts on a war-footing by army and paramilitary rescue workers were carried out to evacuate people stranded on rooftops and trees and others were relocated from low-lying areas. Military personnel had to be called upon to help rescue thousands of people marooned due to floods. IDRF promptly launched the disaster relief/rehabilitation programs through its reputable partner-NGOs: Economic Rural Development Society (ERDS) in West Bengal, Gram Vikas Parishad in Bihar, Manav Seva Sansthan in eastern Uttar Pradesh and Samerth Charitable Trust in Gujarat.

NGO: Economic Rural Development Society (ERDS)

ERDS in West Bengal distributed Food Kits, each comprised of rice, flour, sugar and milk etc. to 100 flood affected families.

Devastation caused by floods in West Bengal- 2017

NGO: Gram Vikas Parishad

In Bihar, IDRF helped Gram Vikas Parishad distribute 100 Relief Kits to affected families. Each kit included: rice, flour, polythene sheets for temporary shelter, medicines and life jackets. Most of the flood ravaged villages comprise of elderly, women and children who had lost everything and were confronted with near-starvation like situation.

Distribution of Relief Kits to flood victims in Bihar

NGO: Manav Seva Sansthan

Manav Seva Sansthan distributed relief items to 100 flood affected families in eastern Uttar Pradesh. The relief items included ready to eat dry foods, non-Perishable food items like Wheat Flour, Rice, Oil, Pulses, Sugar, food containers, water filter, mosquito nets and hygiene kits. The beneficiaries included families from schedule caste, women headed families, widows and differently abled. The beneficiary families were identified in coordination with local government authorities and community members.  Token based distribution mechanism was adopted to avoid duplicity and ensure full transparency.  During the distribution the beneficiaries were briefed on healthy hand hygiene habits and encouraged to use toilets for defecation.

Distribution of Relief Material in Eastern Uttar Pradesh

NGO: Samerth Charitable Trust

Samerth in Gujarat distributed relief kit along with food grains to the 100 poorest of poor families living in interior parts of Gujarat. Samerth team had identified these families from 27 villages in the flood ravaged areas.

Hundreds of houses were badly damaged & acres of land got submerged under water and covered in flood-water sand. For thousands of victims in the disaster affected villages, agriculture is the only means of livelihood. Samerth has identified 80 families who have lost their livelihood as a part of the rehabilitation process.  With the financial support of IDRF, Samerth has been able to help resettle the poor villagers by providing them with potter’s wheels, masonry and agriculture kits, sheep, goats, buffaloes, fodder, milk cans and sewing machines, etc.

 

Relief and rehabilitation work for flood victims in Gujarat

Relief and rehabilitation work for flood victims in Gujarat

NGO: S M Sehgal Foundation

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NGO: S M Sehgal Foundation

S M Sehgal Foundation was set up in 1999, with a mission to strengthen community-led development initiatives to achieve positive social, economic and environmental changes across rural India.

IDRF partner since: 2017

  • Focus Area:  Women’s Empowerment
  • Location: Rajasthan
  • Project Title: Strengthening the role of Women Farmers (Jaagruk Krishak)
  • Details:  IDRF shares Sehgal Foundation’s commitment to promote gender equality and improve the lives of women farmers, who account for 55 to 66% of the total labor force in farming activities and responsible for 60 to 80% of food production. Women are key contributors to rural economic activities and also play a traditional role of looking after the household. Despite playing a key role in the rural economy, the role of women as an agriculturist in the community is often not recognized. In order to improve the role of women in farm sector, a three year project on agricultural development is being implemented in ten villages of Alwar District.
    With IDRF’s help, nine training programs were organized in 2017, with the objective of educating farmers on modern agricultural practices for growing vegetable. The focus is by design on vegetables because it is more employment intensive and remunerative than staple food grain farming.
    Women farmers’ self-help groups were given portable solar-spray machines to provide them with an efficient and convenient tool for protecting their crops. These machines would be rotated among the women farmers to make its maximum utilization during the growing season.
    This three year project will benefit at least 2,000 plus farmers in the villages that are focused on vegetable farming. Due to an improvement in the information of best practices of cultivation among farmers, there will be an increase in the yield and the marketable quality of vegetables. This will lead to an increase in their household incomes and help recognize women’s role in the rural economy.

Jagruk Krishak-Training Workshop for Farmers Growing Vegetables

Jagruk Krishak-Training Workshop for Women Farmers

NGO: S-VYASA

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NGO: S-VYASA

Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana University (S-VYASA), was established in 1986 and is a charitable educational institution promoting the role of Yoga in the modern medical sciences and research. Based on the teachings of Swami Vivekananda, the four streams of Yoga, that are the key essence of Indian culture, are now being applied to bring health, harmony, and peace to people all over the world. Suggested by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the United Nations has declared June 21st as the International Yoga Day in 2014. The mission of S-VYASA has been to combine the best of the east (Yoga and spiritual lore) with that of the west (modern scientific research).

S-VYASA has supported and enabled thousands of students with an interest in yoga and its connection to medicine to conduct research, both independently and in collaboration with dozens of medical institutions around the world.

IDRF partner since: 2002

  • Focus Area: Women Empowerment and Health
  • Location: Karnataka
  • Project Title: Construction of Women’s Hostel
  • Details:  IDRF partnered with S-VYASA to help construct a four-floor women’s hostel on the campus in Bengaluru. The Lakshmi Amma hostel constructed in 2010, provides safe accommodation to 500 students of all ages and academic levels (Bachelors to Doctorate). The parents of the girls feel a sense of relief in sending their daughters to study and live on the campus. Since 2017, IDRF has been supporting the construction for the expansion of this hostel.

Lakshmi Amma Women’s Hostel on the campus

Hostel accommodates 500 students

Spacious and furnished rooms in the hostel

Please click on the link to learn more about the S-VYASA’s various programs.

http://svyasa.edu.in/

Sri Lankan Charities in USA

NGO: Sri Lanka Centre for Development Facilitation (SLCDF)

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NGO: Sri Lanka Centre for Development Facilitation (SLCDF)

Sri Lanka Centre for Development Facilitation is a non-profit voluntary organization that was created in 1987. SLCDF is committed to building and strengthening the network of Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) and voluntary organizations to address poverty and other related social and economic issues in Sri Lanka. SLCDF’s programs enhance the capacities and social capital of the underprivileged by developing knowledge, skills, resources, and technical support to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable human development.

IDRF partner since: 2017

  • Focus Area: Women’s Empowerment
  • Location: Sri Lanka
  • Project Title: Improved livelihood activities in Women-headed Households and Families with Persons with Disabilities
  • Details:  IDRF has partnered with SLCDF to improve livelihood activities in women-headed households and families with persons with disabilities in the Kandy District of Central Province. The beneficiary families are identified by the CBOs using participatory methods and basic training for integrated livelihoods is provided. Some of the major activities included under this program are:

  • Providing training in land management technologies for prevention of land degradation
  • Providing revolving loan funds for various livelihood activities (home gardening, polytunnel plant nursery, conservation farming, and improved dairy farming, etc.)
  • Providing training for small tea holders and pepper cultivation
  • Providing capital for cattle sheds to existing dairy farmers
  • Providing planting material for establishing polytunnel plant nurseries

 IDRF grants have helped provide training and revolving micro-loans to 78 women to start or strengthen their small enterprises. This has led to an increase in the incomes of their families and made them economically and socially stable. Most of the additional income earned by these women is being invested in their children’s education and nutrition. Also, the self-employment opportunities created for women as a result of this program are enhancing leadership and confidence among them at the community level.

Converting Small Business to a Micro-venture

Sri Lankan Charities in USADhammika, 46, lives in Central Province of Sri Lanka with her husband and two little boys. As part of the IDRF’s micro-credit program to empower poor rural women, she received training and a loan to make bags and mosquito-nets to sell at the local weekly market.

With the increased income, she is able to buy more raw material to make more bags and nets and pay for the education of her children. With an increase in her family income, she is also able to repay the loan and save some money to meet emergency medical expenses for her family.

US Charities Supporting Sri LankaKanthi Weerasinghe, 57, lives in Central Province, Sri Lanka with her husband. They are engaged in farming activities on their small plot of land and sell the produce in a far off market. To get to the market, the family has to spend a lot of money on transportation and so she started a small poultry farm to supplement the household income.

However, the family suffered a major economic setback when the farm had to be shut down temporarily due to a disease. Kanthi applied for a loan supported by IDRF’s micro-credit program in partnership with SLCDF, to buy more birds to restart her small business. Now the financial conditions at home are improving once again!

Small convenience store

Mushroom cultivation

Pepper planting

Ekel broom making

Please click on the link to learn more about SLCDF:
http://slcdf.net/

NGO: Shiksha Bharati

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NGO: Shiksha Bharati

Shiksha Bharati is an educational institution that is devoted to the cause of the empowerment of girls. The education complex comprises a senior secondary school for girls, an IDRF hostel for tribal girls, a B. Ed college, herbal garden, and gaushala (animal shelter) on a 20-acre campus, some 65 kilometers east of New Delhi. IDRF provides free value-based education, board, and lodging to underprivileged tribal girls from northeast India. The IDRF-supported hostel can accommodate 100 students and is attached to the C.B.S.E. accredited senior secondary school.

IDRF partner since: 2001

  • Focus Area: Education, Women Empowerment and Eco-friendly Development
  • Location:  Hapur, Uttar Pradesh
  • Project Title:  Biogas plant at IDRF Tribal Girls’ Hostel
  • Details: IDRF got in touch with Dr. Emmanuel D’Silva (a World Bank retiree) and his business partner Narendra Jindal who have set up more than 70 biogas units across India on a pro bono basis. IDRF helped Shiksha Bharati to set up two, new biogas units: a-20 cubic meter digester close to the gaushala run on cow dung and an-8 cubic meter unit run on human waste from the girls’ toilets. The biogas generated from the units meets most of the kitchen fuel needs of the girls’ hostel.

    The Shiksha Bharati management is happy with the new biogas unit that employs the latest technology. Unlike traditional dome-shaped cow-dung biogas plants made of bricks and cement, this one is made of synthetic material that looks like a balloon and rolls on the ground. The technology is sourced from Mexico but fabricated in India. The new unit saves about four cylinders of LPG gas per month in winters and five cylinders in summers.

    The biogas unit has already generated considerable interest locally. The state’s Minister for Panchayats came on a visit to see the biogas plant and showed his appreciation for IDRF’s eco- friendly vision. The project might inspire other semi-rural schools that have student hostels, gardens or cattle sheds to have biogas units too. IDRF is looking ahead to support the spread of this technology to education/health institutions in other states of India as well.

The two-unit biogas plant installed at IDRF-tribal girls’ hostel

The biogas plant meets the fuel needs in the kitchen at the girls’ hostel

Clean energy from the biogas plant replaces 57 (approx.) LPG cylinders per year at the hostel

Please click on the link to learn more about Shiksha Bharati https://www.shikshabharati.com/

NGO: Lila Poonawalla Foundation

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NGO: Lila Poonawalla Foundation

Padmashree Mrs. Lila Poonawalla along with her husband Mr. Firoz Poonawalla established the Lila Poonawalla Foundation (LPF) in 1995. This educational trust was set up with a vision to contribute to the empowerment of Indian women through education. LPF supports academically outstanding and financially deserving girls through scholarships to pursue higher education. LPF places great importance on nurturing women’s abilities through a comprehensive education, including personal development workshops, activities, gatherings, study tours, and other such enrichment programs. Since its inception, over 12,220 scholarships have been granted to 5,848 deserving girls. The foundation gives Scholarships to the girls from Pune, Amaravati and Wardha districts in Maharashtra.

IDRF partner since: 2009

  • Focus Area: Women’s Empowerment and Education
  • Location: Maharashtra and Telangana
  • Project Title: Merit-cum-need based scholarships and skill-building
  • Details:  LPF awards scholarships to academically meritorious girls from the economically weaker background:

    1) School scholarships (7th grade up to graduation)
    2) Undergraduate scholarships and skill building project (engineering, engineering after diploma, pharmacy, nursing, and science courses)
    3) Postgraduate scholarships and skill building project

    The focus of LPF scholarships lies in the overall development and transformation of the scholarship recipients. Besides the financial assistance provided for completing their professional education, LPF focuses on ‘Beyond Scholarship’ by investing in the Skill Building & Development interventions to transform its girls into confident employable professionals for the industry at large. This also makes them balanced, empathetic and responsible human being. LPF provides them support in locating internship and placement opportunities, especially to those girls who may not get campus placement opportunities. LPF School Project is also supported with need based infrastructure and counseling of girls and their parents.

    Many LILA Girls/LILA Fellows are working as Leaders in organizations such as Google, TCS, IBM, and Walmart in the USA. In India, thousands of LILA Girls and LILA Fellows are excelling in their career with Corporate MNCs, Hospitals, Academia Institutes, Research Organizations, Consulting and Civil Services.

    LPF encourages the culture of give back within the LILA Girls/LILA Fellows through donations to help other girls get an education and blossom into confident young ladies through mentoring. There have been frequent visits by IDRF’s Board Member -Dileep Thatte and his wife Naina Thatte to LPF to interact and encourage LILA Girls/Fellows.

Skill building and training program for LILA Fellows.

Lila Girls from Wardha in a training class

Please click on https://www.lilapoonawallafoundation.com/  to know more about how Lila Poonawalla Foundation champions the significant cause of promoting girl’s education and women empowerment

NGO: Economic Rural Development Society (ERDS)

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NGO: Economic Rural Development Society (ERDS)

Economic Rural Development Society (ERDS) is an organization that was established in 1982 in West Bengal. ERDS owes its existence to the dedication and hard work of Mr. Madhu Basu, who wanted to combat the growing poverty in villages and urban areas. It is a non-profit, secular and non-political organization dedicated to the mitigation of misery and poverty, and upliftment of the impoverished.

The primary objective of the organization is to engage in sustainable development techniques to empower the local rural communities, especially women and children. In the initial years it concentrated on non-formal adult education. Gradually ERDS has diversified its activities in other fields such as women and child development, children’s education, health & nutrition, low cost sanitation, care & rehabilitation of the elderly and disaster relief & rehabilitation.

IDRF partner since: 2005

  • Focus Area: Women Empowerment, Education, Health and Disaster Management.
  • Location: West Bengal
  • Project Title: Micro-Credit for Women Supported Small Business Activities
  • Details:  After years of providing community services, ERDS conducted an assessment of living standard improvements among its supported populations, and found the surprising news that there had been hardly any long-term improvements. ERDS discovered that their donations to supported communities had actually led to dependence rather than self-reliance. In a concerted effort to redirect this trend, ERDS turned to micro-credit with the financial support from IDRF.

    Pushing against cultural obstacles that make it difficult for rural women to work outside of the household, ERDS went ahead with mobilizing women into small groups, inviting them to gatherings where they were encouraged to speak up, and where their apprehensions were addressed. Since 2010, with the support of IDRF, ERDS’s micro-credit program has been educating women on how to effectively use their money, while also providing them with credit for small business ventures. This program has encouraged the development of women-owned small businesses, and also inculcated a practice of saving money.

    These training programs have been very successful, and over the years, the loan sizes have increased from INR 5,000 to 20,000, and it boasts of 99% repayment rates. As IDRF funding is in grant form, the repaid loans are used as revolving credit to make new loans. ERDS strictly monitors the activities on which the borrowed money is spent by regular visits to the family residences, and, thus, preventing the misuse of loans. The families are given advice on how to use the money for maximum gains, and businesses have steadily grown as a result. The program is co-financed by multiple sources, to best ensure its long-term sustainability. Due to the monitoring, training and 99% of repayment rates, over the years IDRF funds have become three-fold and have changed the lives of 2,000 families in 133 villages.

    IDRF’s funds are directed entirely toward the provision of these loans limited solely to rural areas and villages. ERDS is able to provide women with loans that was previously impossible to obtain due to the high cost of capital. Hundreds of women have received the technical skills, confidence, and financial expertise to operate extremely successful small businesses. Many of these women are now primary breadwinners in their households and leading more dignified lives. The general economic benefits seen by families has led these women to take good care of their children’s health and education.

Shyamali Rani purchased Ice-Cream Carts with Loan Funded by IDRF

Chayarani Mondol’s Success Story:

Chayarani Mondol belonged to a poverty stricken background and used to sell vegetables in the local market to meet both ends. Despite her hard efforts, the volatility in the prices of vegetables and increased competition in the market, made it very difficult for her family to survive on her meager income. Her children had to drop out of the school and could not continue their education.

In 2009, she took the initiative and set up a small stationery shop with the seed capital support of INR 5,000 from ERDS. Chayarani made substantial efforts to increase the sales of her stationery shop and gradually the popularity of the shop increased. She gave up selling vegetables and started working full-time in her shop.  She has been very regular in repaying the loan installments and with the financial support from IDRF, she has been extended a credit of INR 30,000. With this extended credit, she has been able to add daily use products and a photocopier machine in her shop.

As a result of her hard work and support from IDRF, her family income has nearly trippled and their average monthly income is now INR 10,000. With this increase in her income she is now able to fund higher education for her daughter.

Chayarani Mondol’s shop setup with the loan funded by IDRF

Madhumati Saha’s success story:

Prior to joining IDRF and ERDS’ micro-credit program in 2010, Madhumati Saha’s garment workshop was making a loss in spite of her hard work.  Through ERDS, she obtained a loan of INR 10,000 to buy an embroidery machine and raw materials.  This initial investment paid off, and with the help of other loans through ERDS, she was able to expand the business to include hosiery products and children’s clothing.    After successful repayment of her loans, she was able to borrow larger amounts that allowed her to rent a place to house the business and hire employees. She is now a thriving wholesale supplier of clothing products to various retail outlets in Kolkata. Her family income has improved significantly to INR 25,000 ‐30,000 per month.

“We are now capable enough to fulfill the basic needs of the family like education, nutrition, and health.
We consider ourselves blessed to be members of this micro-credit program”, says Madhumati Saha, beaming with pride.

Madhumati Saha runs a successful tailoring business with the loan funded by IDRF

Please click on the following link to find more information about Economic Rural Development Society (ERDS)

http://erds.in/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__ZT5fzLlOI&t=2s

https://youtu.be/Aj3mRWZ4Bpk

NGO: Magan Sangrahalaya Samiti

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NGO: Magan Sangrahalaya Samiti

Magan Sangrahalaya Samiti (MSS) is a non-government, social-service organization that started its work in 2003 and is committed to the empowerment of women in rural communities in Seloo Block of Wardha district in Maharashtra. Over the years Magan Sangaralaya has supported several women’s Self-Help Groups and helped in starting up various eco-friendly micro-enterprises run by women in their own villages. Recently MSS has started a program, inspired by the national campaign of ‘Clean India Mission’ -to eradicate the problems of open defecation.

IDRF partner since: 2007

  • Focus Area: Women Empowerment, Health and Eco-friendly Development.
  • Location: Maharashtra
  • Project Title: Women Supported Small Business Activities, Construction of Farmers’ School
  • Details:  Due to extreme poverty, aggravated by adverse impact of climate change on its local crops, and lack of livelihood opportunities, Magan Sangrahalaya Samiti decided to form Self-Help Groups (SHGs) of women in the 100 villages in Seloo. These groups trained other SHGs in turn and started several micro-level rural enterprises in these villages. However, poor infrastructure facilities: bad roads, absence of public transportation, irregular electricity supply and shortage of portable water in these villages, hindered the setting up of successful operation of these enterprises. A budding story was turning into a tragedy about a decade ago, until IDRF came to their rescue.
    A decade of IDRF’s involvement in 10 projects has brought MSS to a level of sustainability where it has become a hub of women empowerment in the area. IDRF has funded:

    1) two buildings to house rural women enterprises
    2) transportation facilities to provide access to raw materials and markets
    3) introduction of organic farming activities
    4)women led enterprises for processing and marketing of outputs from organic farming
    5) setting up of a training center for organic farming that provided direct benefit to more than 3,000 farmers in 50 surrounding villages 6. training for more than 10,000 farmers from Maharashtra and other states and formation of 79 farmers’ federations with 450 members each
    MSS has been selected by the Government of India as a nodal training center for organic farming. At present the rural enterprises are providing sustainable livelihood to around 500 rural women and reaching out to thousands of women in 1,000 villages of Seloo block through 1,000 SHGs.
    In 2007, IDRF gave financial assistance for the construction of the building for the “Center for Organic Farming” in Girad village. This building accommodates the office, training and meeting hall, storage of organic farm produce, seed-bank, machines and equipment for processing pulses, cereals, spices and oil, and farm-tool workshop. Over the last few years the activities at the center have increased manifold and all the rooms have been occupied. Due to lack of space a few processing machines and farm-tool workshop had to be shifted outside the building in a temporary shed and the office space (hall) was used for the farmers’ school. However, this hall is not spacious enough to accommodate the increasing number of activities as well as the increasing number of participants. The use of office space interrupts with the office work and threatens the safety of the organization’s records.
    With IDRF’s financial assistance, MSS has tried to overcome this problem of space by constructing a separate building for Farmers’ School and other community based activities alongside the Organic Farming building. This annex is being constructed as an eco-friendly structure with the use of mud-terracotta technology and will be fully solarized to run lights, fans, computers and projectors on solar power. This eco-friendly structure will be able to showcase an elegant, durable, thermally comfortable and energy efficient building to the villagers and will be symbolic of holistic organic living.

IDRF: Winning Hearts and Minds
“We were reluctant to take grants from a foreign entity. But to our relief we found that IDRF was not a straight jacketed funding agency, but a family where sensitive hearts and constructive minds came together to shake hands with institutions and groups working in critical remote areas of India, supporting works related to alternative education, skill development, awareness generation. Empowering the powerless and constructive development work. Empathizing with our urgent needs for a safe structure to house our enterprises support came from IDRF in 2007 to construct the common facility center for rural women enterprises in Seloo village.” READ MORE

-Dr. Vibha Gupta
Chairperson
Magan Sangrahalaya Samiti

Please click on the link to learn more about the various eco-friendly programs run by Magan Sangrahalaya Samiti.

http://www.gandhifootprints.org.in/

NGO: Sewa Bharti Madhya Bharat

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NGO: Sewa Bharti Madhya Bharat

Sewa Bharti Bopal – Madhya Bharat is a nonprofit organization that serves the deprived and needy through educational, vocational, healthcare and socio-cultural programs. The organization has conducted a number of diverse programs for the past two decades in an effort to empower and engage the most disadvantaged of Madhya Pradesh.

IDRF partner since: 1995

  • Focus Area: Women’s Empowerment
  • Location: Madhya Pradesh
  • Project Title: Sagar Girls Hostel & Midli Project
  • Details:  The literacy rate among tribal females in the region is very low (6-7%). Furthermore, for middle and high schools girls are required to go to towns. Lack of lodging and boarding facilities and economic constraints of parents keep their girls away from continuing their education. In order to tackle this problem, Sewa Bharti is running separate hostels for tribal boys and girls and IDRF has funded the construction of the hostel for tribal girls at Sagar.
    In the past, IDRF has also supported several of Sewa Bharti’s educational programs, including the construction of a tribal boys’ dormitory, a separate dormitory for disadvantaged girls, an orphanage for abandoned infants, as well as the setup and upkeep of a medical van to provide health care to poor people living in remote rural areas.
    IDRF has also provided financial assistance for buying computers and providing vocational training to the economically disadvantaged in Midli village in Madhya Pradesh.

Tribal Girls’ Hostel at Sagar

A Room in the Tribal Girls’ Hostel

Please click on the link to know more about Sewa Bharti, Madhya Bharat.http://www.sewabhartimadhyabharat.org/index.php

NGO: Vatsalya Trust

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NGO: Vatsalya Trust

Vatsalya Trust Mumbai is a non-profit organization that was established in 1983, with the primary objective of caring for and rehabilitating destitute children through its orphanage as well as other social programs. The name ‘Vatsalya’, a Sanskrit word meaning affection, was considered appropriate for naming the Trust, as it works for the welfare of children/young adults and provides various facilities for their social and economic upliftment. Over the years, the Trust’s focus areas have extended beyond just the caring of destitute children/young adults, to include women’s empowerment and education efforts.

IDRF partner since: 1998

  • Focus Area: Women’s Empowerment and Education
  • Location: Maharashtra
  • Project Title: Patient Assistant Program and Drive with Pride
  • Details:  IDRF has been funding Vatsalya Trust’s Patient Assistant Program, which began in 2005, in order to create skill development among girls from rural Maharashtra. Under the guidance of qualified nurses and doctors, over 700 economically disadvantaged women have gained quality technical education in the medical field. A unique feature of this program is to focus on the participation of girls from tribal areas. Each batch of students has included around 10-12 tribal participants who receive free lodging, boarding, medical facilities, and tuition. After four months of the theoretical training, the participants are sent to reputed hospitals for a period of six months to get practical training.
    Almost all the participants have been able to get employment in various hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes after the completion of the courses. The growing demand of trained patient assistants in the society, especially for looking after of aged parents of working adult children, has encouraged girls from underprivileged sections of the state to attend this program, get employed and become self-reliant.
    Another skill development and empowerment initiative Drive with Pride that IDRF supports for school dropouts, started in 2016. This project imparts driving training for commercial vehicles to women who are then able to earn a living and support their families by becoming delivery van or rickshaw drivers and chauffeurs. Participants are also provided interpersonal and digital skills to improve their employability.

Please click on the following link to learn more about Vatsalya Trust’s programs for destitute children and women.
http://www.vatsalyatrustmumbai.org/uwep.html

Patient Assistant Program Trainees

Patient Assistant Program Training Session

Drive with Pride program participants