If like me, you have uttered “nothing will ever change”, this article might just make you quit.
I was nervous before going to Maher- I postponed my visit twice. I don’t consider myself an especially warm person,
I’m not that good with kids and my last visit to a “home” was scary to say the least. After my stay there, I could not believe I almost didn’t go- I came back bursting with a desire to help and an optimism that things ARE changing- a tiny step at a time. Enought about me, to Maher :
Sister Lucy decided to build a home for traumatized, destitute women after a tragic incident- she was unable to provide shelter to a woman who was being maltreated by her husband and Lucy told her to return the next day. The woman’s husband burnt her to death that night. As a result, Maher was born in 1997 in the village of Vadhu ( 30 kms outside Pune ) as a home for outcast women and widows- with the women however came their children and soon, children outnumbered the women at Maher. The women were trained- some for positions within Maher and most as housemaids while the children were provided a stable, hygienic loving home to carry on with their studies and one day, become independent. More details of Maher and its programmes can be found on Maher’s website, in this post I will be sticking to my experience there and how we can help.
I was shown around by Puja*, herself a widow and living with her 3 kids there. She spoke fluent English and she introduced me to the Maher system. The kids at Vadhu are divided into about 8-10 groups, each having their own dorm ( named after flowers- Jai, Mogra, etc ) While the kids sleep on mattresses on the floor, I was struck by how clean and homely the dorm was. Each child has a labelled cupboard to keep her things, the mattresses are put away neatly, the toilets are spic and span- a lot of credit goes to the “house-mothers”. A housemother does what a mother would do in your family- make sure the kids are properly dressed for school, keep the dorms clean, take up studies, see if any kid requires medical attention, etc. The house-mothers rise up inthe organization based on evaluations and tests as Puja had herself done.
The kids here are so happy, inspite of the difficult circumstances they come from. You sense nothing but optimism and a love for their adopted home. They stick to a time-table
here- a time to wake up, do the gardening ( kids are alloted plants they take care of ), have their breakfast ( unlimited, nutritious, tasty- I loved it ), go off to school, have play time ( kabaddi, volleyball ), study, do their prayers ( Maher is a secular organisation- “Itni shakti hamein de na daata” is the most popular ),have dinner ( loved it too ) study again and sleep. This kind of schedule gives them the kind of stable home-life they have never experienced before.
It isn’t all hunky dory though- the kids learn at the local government school- while their Marathi is excellent, their English and Math skills are way off. While teaching the kids, I realised that while they 
could read English just fine, many did not understand what they were reading out. While this level of proficiency is suffiient to become a welder or a factory worker, to become an airhostess or a banker or an engineer ( as many kids said they wanted to be ) much better is required. While volunteers come from Austria and Germany ( where Maher is very well known ) they find it hard to impart English teaching without knowing Marathi, the local language.
Here is what I want to do :
1) Career Guidance : Because of financial constraints, these kids do not have the luxury of exploring their options like us. Beginning from the 8th std, I want to educate the children about their career choices, about the steps they have to begin taking now to make their dreams a reality, of the colleges where they can afford to study in. A 8th std girl told me that she wants to be an engineer as he gets to drive trains. What I’d like to do is have one of my friends ( say, Vigy ) come to Maher for a day and explain what being a software engineer involves. I want Vigy to do a little research of the colleges in the area, the type of fees involved. Most of all, I want Vigy to come and see first hand the change taking place and be involved in it. The same goes for Yash who can talk on hotel management, Alok on environmental studies, Darshan on the type of people he recruits at his factory. The only condition being that the person can speak in Marathi. I would recommend staying for an entire day or two, just to see and help and learn and teach.
2) English language workshop : I truly believe that learning to write and talk in decent English is the pathway to a better job and a better life for these kids. I have ideas as to how I can inculcate a reading and understanding habit in the kids rather the “popat-panchi” or “rote” metod the schools inculcate now. This will require a bigger commitment on my part, but I’ve quit my job and I have the time now. Heck, if not now, then when. I hope to kick this off in September and any suggestions, any help is most welcome ! Mail me !
Maher has grown from the centre at Vadhu and now has almost 30 homes distributed in many areas, the latest being in Jharkand. While I was there, I visited the center at at 
Bakori where a brand new building is coming up to help even more children find a home. I also visited the center called Vatsaladham which houses old and mentally disturbed women. They are picked up from the streets and put into a caring environment with requisite mediacal attention. I promise you that if you visit Vatsaladham, you would never recognise it to be a home for the disturbed. The premises are excellent ( and ecologically sound- bio gas and solar ) and the women are engaged in farmwork and crafts. A doctor visits once a week and so far, 32 women have been cured and sent back to their homes.
Other than what I have outlined, Maher is involved in a host of activities all of which can be viewed on the website, but the love and proffesionalism with which they are carrying these out will bowl you over if you visit
To wrap up, I’d like to thank Dr. Hamir Ganla who gave me the opportunity and the encouragement to visit Maher, Poornima and Manju for their hospitality and all the other volunteers, housemothers who were always eager to help, eager to chat. Most of all, I’d say thanks to the kids for the unbelievable love and affection they showered on me during my visit there and I hope I can help them out in return. Also, a big hello to my two new 
friends- Natalia and Eveline- your’ll are really amazing people and I admire your’ll for coming from so far away to help out.
Do visit Maher’s website to know more about this wonderful organisation, to volunteer or donate money or items.
Tip : move your mose pointer over the photos for the photo titles
