Old age home for 300 abandoned elderly women

Through the tremendous generosity of yours, Maitri is well on its way to scaling up the type of services provided to ensure dignity of 100 widows and ultimately end their plight.

In India the status of widows in the family, community and society at large is that of destitution, ostracisation and marginalization. Widows face legal, religious, cultural and traditional constraints including barriers to inheritance, land ownership, remarriage and acceptance in community and society. They are deprived of their basic rights of identity, finances and right to live in their own home but there is also discrimination against them for livelihood opportunities.

Since the inception of our programme to promote identity, respect and dignity for the widows and empowering them with information and education about their citizenship rights etc, we have recognized their frustration with their status. At the same time, we realise they have resigned themselves to their fate and have been unfortunately accepting humiliation as part of their destiny.  Maitri has been empowering them with empowerment and giving them information about their rights which they can claim from their families and the Government. While Maitri ensures their wellbeing with nutrition, supplements, milk, fruits, clothing and healthcare, we ensure they learn skills to regain their identity, respect and dignity.

Oppression of widows is an extreme form of women’s oppression. Women account for the majority of the poor, and widows are the poorest of women… - Widows Without Rights

Your generous support has enabled Maitri to continue caring for abandoned and destitute widows in Vrindavan in a big way. Check out how funds collected this quarter have been utilized:

Maitri has managed to complete major construction of the 1^st floor of the second old age home that is located in Radha Kund (Mathura, India). This includes complete electricity provision and water supply.  Currently, white washing of walls, flooring and tile work is underway. Completion of the 1^st floor will allow for 35 more widows to be sheltered.

As part of our main activities, Maitri continues to provide daily mid day meals to all resident widows and other widows living in the neighbourhood and in need. Health check ups have been done once each month for the last 3 months to ensure the well being of all widows in our care. One of the major outcomes of the project has been enabling the widows to stop begging because their everyday needs are now taken care of within a safe and comfortable living environment.

India is currently in the midst of its festive season and towards this revere Maitri celebrated “Janmashatami” and “Radhashtami” with the widows at Maitri Ghar. Widows, culturally and customarily are not allowed to partake in festivities, BUT the widows under Maitri's care have had the opportunity to celebrate with great joy with the community and in Maitri Ghar, their home. On 12^th November 2015 our widows will celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights, by lighting Maitri Ghar with earthen lamps, bringing light into their lives too, discarding the dark which they had been living in.

Moving forward Maitri is engaging in self-empowerment projects for widows. Engaging widows in activities of the like would contribute to their economic wellbeing and dignity while giving them opportunity to pray and sing hymns in praise of God.

Surrounded by people who love and care, seventy seven-year-old Kalli cherished her husband’s companionship from the age of fourteen as she was married at a very young age. Her husband died about seventeen years ago. Kalli felt rejected, dejected and  lonely. Things turned bad to worse for Kalli after her husband passed away. Her sons didn’t give her food to eat and many times, she was forced to beg for food from the neighbors. With nobody willing to support her or take care of her, she came to Radha Kund and has been here for about twelve years.( Radha Kund is a small town in Uttar Pradesh, India known as a holy place) Widows come in pursuit of peace and to sing hymns in praise of Krishna. Abandoned by her own children, she wandered the streets of Radhakund begging for survival, making a mere Rs.5-10 a day. She rented a small room with no electricity and lived on the generosity of the temple.

Since January 205, Kalli has been cared for by Maitri, where she recieves mid-day-meals provided by Maitri Ghar, a safe home for abandoned and destitute widows in Radha kund. Maitri also provides her regular health check ups nd essential items like soap, shampoo, blankets and saris.

At first, Kalli spoke reluctantly and was shy. She interacted little with the project team or other widows in Maitri Ghar but now that trust building has taken place with the Maitri staff , Recognising that she was part of the Maitri family, she requested for , a-liter of milk, advised by the doctor which she takes and consumes everyday when she comes for mid-day-meal. Now she loves to stay back after lunch, sing hymns with other widows, and even take a nap in Maitri Ghar before heading to her rented room. Maitri Ghar will soon be a home for her, as soon as the construction etc is over

"Thanks to Maitri, at least I get one square meal everyday and never have to go to sleep on a  hungry stomach", she says.

Now, Kalli doesn’t feel lonely as she has  found friends in other widows, who are now her new family. She can always turn to our team whenever in need without feeling obligated. In Maitri Ghar, the warmth of family and friends surround her. Though she speaks very little, her ease and comfort in being a part of Maitri Ghar shows the freedom and acceptance she has experienced.

The Little by Little match funding campaign on GlobalGiving.co.uk is on until the 2nd of November. We invite you to have any donation of yours up to 50 Pounds matched at 50%. 

Once again, thank you for your invaluable support. Without generous donors like you, none of this would be possible. If you are ever in India, Maitri welcomes you to visit our widows in Maitri Ghar and see the difference YOU have made.

"Widows in India no longer throw themselves on the funeral pyres of their husbands. But life for them can still be hard. " - Anthony Denselow, BBC News

Thousands of widows continue to make their way to Vrindavan in north of India. Discarded and abandoned by their families, they lead a life of destitution and humiliation miles away from their home.

Maitri India with support from your donations to the Old Age Home for 100 abandoned elderly women is working to provide respect and dignity to widows by taking care of their wellbeing as they live the sunset years of their life in Vrindavan .More than 100 widows in Vrindavan are being permanently sheltered at Maitri Ghar in 2 co-located old age homes. Efforts to complete construction of the second shelter is underway and the roof of the 1st floor currently in place.

• All widows are being provided with a daily mid day meal, nutritional supplements, biscuits tea and fruit as part of our nutritional programme
• Further more, cotton saris have been distributed as comfortable Indian apparel to brace the summer heat. In addition, cans of talcum powder have also been given to each widow to keep themselves cool 
• Maitri collaborated with Shroff Eye Centre to hold an eye camp for widows. The camp provided eye check ups for all widows and necessary general treatment
• Maitri has been able to open 15 zero balance bank accounts for widows so they may accumulate savings, and 13 Universal Identification cards have been distributed respectively. More over, we continue to help widows understand their rights and raise awareness of their government benefits
• Maitri has facilitated our 2nd old age home with a fridge and water cooler
• Maitri is ensuring the development of an Ageing Resource Centre within the existing old age home. This centre will serve as a training and education hub for geriatric care. We are also networking with other institutions in order to better equip Maitri in this aspect
• As the monsoon season began in Vrindavan, the solar system installed in one of our old age homes was destroyed. Maitri has recently been able to replace this system which helps in ensuring stable electric supply at Maitr Ghar.

Maitri is happy to inform you that we completed 10 years of serving abandoned and destitute widows in Vrindavan on the 4th of July 2015. More over, It has been a joy to see that the widows enrolled with us no longer have a need to beg in order to sustain themselves. In addition, their safety and health has greatly improved and they now live with dignity and respect.

Moving forward, Maitri is working towards a widows economic empowerment programme that can provide them with dignified earning opportunities. Your committed generosity and support is making sure that sustainable help reaches widows in need and IS making a world of a difference in their lives. Thank you!

Sarla got married at the age of 14 to Chunni, a 40 year old man. He was extremely agressive in nature and was an alcoholic as well. Under the inflence, Chunni was often violent towards Sarla even after the birth of their only daughter. Due to the domestic violence she was suffering Sarla left her husband with her daughter a year later. She came to Alwar and started working in a shop as a helper. Unfornately a few months after she left, her husband found her wherabouts and took their daughter along with Rs 10,000 from the shop. Later, after working for three years at the shop Sarla married the shopkeeper who was a father of 1 son and 3 daughters. He was very good to to her and treated her well. Out of his love for her, he bought a house in Sarla's name. To Sarla's surprise, a few years later, her daughter came back and convinced her to go and be with her in Jaipur. Being her only daughter, Sarla decided to go. How ever, in Jairpur Sarla’s daughter took all her money and threw her out onto the streets. After this humilating incident, Sarla had no choice but to return back to her hometown. On returning, she fell sick and to make matters worse, her step daughter made her sell the house to pay for her treatment. Now, Sarla was left with no place to stay, nor did she have her husband later as he had passed away. On the death of her husband, the step children refused to allow her to stay with them. A well wisher, fortunately introduced her to Maitri a few months back. She now lives here and feels secure and happy at heart. 

Lastly, Maitri is pleased to inform you that 2 of our photos from this project has been selected as a finalist in GlobalGiving's 2015 Photo Contest! Voting will begin at 12pm EDT on August 3rd and end at 12pm EDT on August 7th.  During this time, we urge you to vote for our leading photo so that Maitri can win a $1,000 prize and the opportunity to be featured in social media promotions. You can vote here.  Please share the link with family and friends so that we can gain as much support as possible. All funds won will go towards the old age home for 100 elderly widows.

Links:

• Vote for Maitri's photo on Global Giving's photo contest