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Saheli Van....a dream come true !
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A long standing requirement of ours was fulfilled in November when we got a van in donation. The 8 seater vehicle will be used for rescuing women in distress, for teaching girls in villages & for use in the Saheli Shelter for women & children. It was donated by Mr. A. Verma in memory of his son, who died a few months ago from cancer.
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The first professional woman driver of Uttarakhand
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We are really happy that along with our van, we were able to find a lady driver. Mamta, it turned out, was the first professional driver in the entire State, and this figured in press quite widely. 33 year old Mamta belongs to a small village 250 kms away from Dehradun in remote Himalayas.
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We were in Muslim Colony, Lakhibagh in Dehardun, for this month's outreach program. The area is a semi slum colony in the heart of Dehradun, accessed to through very narrow lanes. What was surprising is that we found the women here to be the most suppressed in all our experience so far. Going out of their lane, even with their husbands, was frowned upon. Most of these women accepted their limitations as normal.
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Education @ Your Doorstep
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Two new batches of girls under the E@YD program started this month with 32 girls, in two different locations. This was our 12th & 13th Batch and this brings to 191 the number of girls who have gone through this program.
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Children's Day Celebrations
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14th November is celebrated as Children's Day in India. This was the birthday of the first Prime Minister of India, Jawahar Lal Nehru and he loved children a lot, so his birthday is celebrated as Children's Day. This year, we took part in an awareness rally organized by Child Helpline, an official Government helpline for children, against Child abuse. The rally culminated with a candle light march, picture below.
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Message from the Secretary
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Dear Everyone,
November has been a month when one of our dreams came true. As you must have read, we finally got a van. Being without a four wheeler imposes limitations on anyone's work and when we finally got it, the reach of Saheli really increased. We are now able to access villages and slums much far away. Previously while rescuing women in distress we were handicapped by a rescue vehicle, this all will change now.
This year we have helped over 33 women in distress, the picture above is one such time, when we had to rush, late evening, when a crying lady called us up as she was being beaten. We publicize our Women's Helpline Number through our outreach activities and almost all the women we talk to, actually save our number in their mobiles. Our helpline numbers are now also written on both sides of the van we got.
I know we keep asking everyone for help in almost every newsletter, and this just underscores the fact that without support of every single person, we would not have been here today. We do what we do, because of everyone's support. Today also, I would humbly request support for paying our driver and fuel for one year. We are to give our driver a salary of Rs 10,000 per month ($227) and roughly our fuel bill should be around Rs 5000/- per month ($114), so we would need Rs 1,80,000 for one year ($4000). This is a huge sum for us, considering that we do not get any government or corporate funding. I would humbly request for support, if not full, then atleast partial, for a few months or for the driver / fuel only. I can assure you that each rupee you give us, will be very very wisely spent and fully utilized. Please reply to this email if you would like to help. I'd like to thank you in advance.
Finally, as I always say, we would love to have your feedback, both negative and positive, because that is what helps us grow. Please do not hesitate to comment, all you need to do is to reply to this email. Your words mean a lot to us, so please don't hesitate.
And the invitation to visit our shelter is there for everyone. Please do spare some time and come and feel the spirit of Saheli.
With regards,
Shruti Kaushik,
Secretary, Saheli
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