Pipal Chhaya, Trilokpuri
Primary Objective
To uplift marginalized communities by providing sustainable livelihood and skill-development training, while engaging young women in a safe space that supports their personal, mental, and social development.
Overview
The Pipal Chhaya Project is located in Trilokpuri, New Delhi, an area deeply affected by the anti-Sikh violence of 1984. The settlement originated as a resettlement colony for socially and economically disadvantaged families who had been displaced from their homes during slum-clearance drives in the 1970s.
Since 1984, YWCA India has been actively involved in providing vocational training, formal and non-formal education, and remedial classes for school dropouts in Trilokpuri. Its work has also included raising awareness of legal rights, HIV and AIDS, and adolescent sexual and reproductive health.
The Pipal Chhaya Project continues to focus on empowering women, young women, and children through:
- Access to health and education for children, including remedial classes
- Education for women and girls on their rights
- Mental health awareness and counselling
- Awareness of social issues
- Recreation and life-skills training
- Vocational training and skill development for employment, including mehendi design, beauty culture, tailoring, and baking
Background Note
In 1976, YWCA of India approached the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for space in the resettlement colony being established at Trilokpuri, with the aim of continuing its work with more than 1,000 families being resettled there. In response, the MCD provided a 150-square-metre plot of land on which a building was constructed. YWCA of India began addressing issues related to relief, counselling, shelter, and skills development for women and children.
Trilokpuri became a model project for YWCA of India because it was self-sustaining, proactively addressed community needs, and empowered women to take on leadership roles.
Intervention Centre for Growth
YWCA of India piloted a Mahila Cooperative Society that engaged more than 35 women in skills training in bookbinding and the production of stationery items such as files, folders, and writing pads. The Milan Mahila Cooperative was recognised as the best cooperative, and the women generated livelihoods by marketing their products while developing their marketing skills over time.
Over the years, Pipal Chhaya has partnered with organisations such as Oxfam India, Habitat Learning Centre, Amba Foundation, Council for Child Welfare, Shehnaz Hussain, Nehru Bal Samiti, and the Directorate of Civil Defence. These partnerships helped expand community programmes for children and young women, including Better Life Option (BLO), adult literacy classes, adolescent reproductive health, civic rights awareness, skill-development training, beautician courses, mehendi-design courses, basic computer classes, proposal-writing classes, and remedial education.
The We Can programme under Oxfam was launched in 2005 to address domestic violence. This was followed by Civil Defence training conducted in collaboration with the Government of Delhi and the Crime Against Women Cell. Through these efforts, a base of 150 Civil Defence volunteers was developed, and some of these volunteers later initiated defence training and workshops across the state.
Rehabilitation through economic empowerment has remained a key focus of Pipal Chhaya. A baking unit was established to provide women with training and access to a facility they could use for income generation.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought an unprecedented halt to classroom activities at Pipal Chhaya. As households struggled with reduced incomes, women in Trilokpuri were organised to produce masks, sanitisers, and soaps. A limited number of women continue to make and tailor products, with the revenue generated contributing to household incomes. A day-care centre, functioning as a crèche, also operates at the project to support young mothers in accessing employment opportunities while providing care and basic education to children.
SARAAH Project, Aizawl
Primary Objective
To broaden the concept of rehabilitation for women living with HIV, single mothers, and children by providing livelihood opportunities, and to empower young people living with HIV to advocate against the stigma associated with HIV and AIDS.
Our Approach
YWCA India implemented the SARAAH Project in Aizawl with the purpose of developing leadership skills and empowering people living with HIV (PLHIV), with a particular focus on women and children. The project identified communities living below the poverty line and implemented interventions addressing literacy, health and hygiene, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), medical support where required, and livelihood assistance for PLHIV or, in cases of extreme ill health, another member of the family.
Through regular lifestyle-intervention programmes in two identified communities, the project promoted behaviour-change communication and encouraged positive behavioural change among women living with HIV (WLHIV), while stimulating community dialogue.
The project also focused on building Y Deepa Clubs through awareness-building, behaviour-change communication, exposure activities to reduce stigma, and leadership development. Participants were encouraged to share information and promote positive behavioural change among their peers.
In addition to these interventions, the project provided health and hygiene education, emergency support, assistance for people lost to follow-up (LFU), leadership training, vocational skill development, and mental health and welfare support.
Providing seed money to HIV-positive women to start their own enterprises proved to be a successful approach to financial empowerment and addressing poverty.
Impact Story
The community project in Aizawl has supported people affected by HIV/AIDS since 2013. The story of Chanchinmawii has been particularly inspiring. She was one of the project’s initial beneficiaries in Aizawl and received training through the Rise Up leadership programme.
A young mother living with HIV and a mother of two, Chanchinmawii had long faced social stigma in her daily life. She had excellent crochet skills and was able to support herself financially through this work, but she was initially hesitant to showcase her talent because of the stigma she faced.
Through regular awareness-building activities, she gained confidence and eventually opened her own shop, named after her daughter, Isabella, where she sells her crochet work. After receiving training, she went on to train several young women in the community and later began counselling with an NGO in Aizawl.
Khareberia Project, Calcutta
Project Overview
To encourage the proactive participation of women from marginalised families by providing livelihood opportunities, and to provide quality education for children from marginalised families.
Background Note
The YWCA in Calcutta began in 1878. The vision of the YWCA has always included the empowerment of women and girls, and the YWCA in Calcutta has carried out extensive work in the region over the years.
The Khareberia Project is one of the YWCA’s longstanding examples of community engagement and takes its name from the village where it is located. The Bengal famine of 1943–44 pushed many families into severe economic hardship, particularly in rural areas. At that time, the YWCA of Calcutta developed a rehabilitation plan that established a rural welfare centre at Khareberia.
Around five bighas of land were purchased by YWCA of India after adopting the village and developing a sustainable programme. Khareberia is located on the 15th mile of Diamond Harbour Road, approximately seven kilometres from Calcutta, opposite Bhasa Station.
Intervention Strategy
The Weaving Centre
This initiative began in 1944, providing training in spinning and weaving cotton fabric to women who were widowed, deserted, or otherwise destitute. The programme helped them generate an income and become more economically independent.
The centre continues to provide training as well as a regular source of income for women in Khareberia. The women are predominantly from marginalised communities, and several are elderly or otherwise vulnerable. Those who have families are often the sole breadwinners despite facing difficult circumstances. Some elderly women also support the families of their children.
Several women have health concerns that have received limited attention as part of the project. The centre also provides one nutritious meal to the weavers. A small number of vegetables are grown on the premises, providing an additional source of food.
Nursery School
The free nursery school began around the same time as the weaving programme to meet the needs of children from lower-income families affected by the famine in West Bengal. The programme provides basic education and has supplied children with uniforms, woven and sewn at the centre, as well as combs, towels, and soap to support basic hygiene. The children have also been provided with fresh uniforms each day at school.
The premises are used for community programmes and meetings with villagers. The children attending the school come from families living below the poverty line, and many parents are unable to provide sufficient food and other basic necessities.
The school provides children with a free midday meal. Through this support, the project also contributes to nutrition-related programmes aimed at addressing malnutrition among children from marginalised communities.
Teachers meet parents regularly to share information about basic health and hygiene. The school also ensures that children have clean and comfortable clothes and maintain basic hygiene.
The children follow the regular curriculum prescribed by the government, helping them transition into mainstream government schools after completing their studies there. The programme also supports regular nutrition and health check-ups, with the centre working with doctors who volunteer their services.
Kandhamal Project
Project Objective
To empower women from Dalit and Adivasi communities in Kandhamal, Odisha, by strengthening sustainable livelihood opportunities and leadership skills.
Overview
Kandhamal is predominantly inhabited by Adivasi and Dalit communities. The original project description reported that about 80% of the population lived below the poverty line. Agriculture, physical labour, and the collection of minor forest produce are among the main sources of income.
The land has low agricultural productivity, partly due to limited irrigation facilities. Surrounded by hills and forests, the area has relatively little cultivable land in relation to its population. Low yields contribute to poverty and food insecurity, including among farming households.
Young women have also faced limited awareness of basic legal rights and domestic violence. The lack of livelihood opportunities has contributed to distress migration to other cities among young people and women. Many people are compelled to work in difficult and unhygienic conditions. Illiteracy and limited awareness further restrict opportunities. The project description also identifies trafficking, forced marriage, and sexual exploitation among the risks faced by women in the area.
Impact
The project was implemented with the aim of using leadership and skill-development programmes to help young people build safer families and access government provisions and schemes available to them. It also sought to create opportunities to prevent distress migration and promote safe migration. The community maintains records and tracks people moving into and out of the area with the support of the local police.
The project supports the reorganisation and strengthening of women’s self-help groups so that they can develop sustainable income-generating activities. Some groups promote kitchen gardening as a source of income and to improve household nutrition.
Women’s groups are also trained in value addition and marketing of non-timber forest products. Alternative livelihood options are identified to help women earn an income. Products produced and sold include ground turmeric powder, dried fish, leaf plates, candles, livestock products, bamboo products, and sanitary napkins.
YWCA supports these groups with seed money and guidance to establish enterprises and make effective use of available resources, with the aim of achieving sustainable, long-term results.
Young women receive awareness-building on women’s rights and ways to engage within their communities to address increasing cases of abuse and violence against women. They also receive training in personal development and social growth, enabling them to explore opportunities in higher education and vocational training.
Dehradun Project – Badhte Kadam Project
Project Overview
To support the holistic development and progress of children who have dropped out of school or come from vulnerable communities, while providing a safe space for women.
Our Approach
The Badhte Kadam Project in Dehradun began as an education centre for children who had no means to continue their schooling. The students are divided into two batches: one for school dropouts and another for children who are currently attending school.
A nutritious meal is provided daily. Computer-literacy programmes provide children with free access to computers, while workshops and regular sessions on health, hygiene, child rights, and related issues are conducted.
In collaboration with NIIT, certified computer courses were provided for students. Although these programmes were conducted before the pandemic, efforts are being made to revive them through online sessions and classes.
Resettlement Project in Dadu Majra
Project Overview
To provide better livelihood opportunities and promote economic independence for women and young women.
Our Approach
Dadu Majra is a resettlement colony located about 4 km from the university campus, west of Sector 38 in Chandigarh. Approximately 2,000 residents from Sectors 25 and 14 were rehabilitated in the area by the Chandigarh Administration.
YWCA began working with 300 rehabilitated families in 1979 and established a tailoring and sewing centre, literacy classes, and childcare and nutrition programmes for their benefit.
In February 1981, the Chandigarh Administration allotted land at Dadu Majra to YWCA of India to run the community development programme.
Anugraha Project, Salem
YWCA of India supports projects run by the YWCA of Salem that contribute to the economic and social empowerment of children, young people, guardians, families, and communities affected by HIV and AIDS.
The YWCA of Salem has worked in the field of HIV and AIDS for more than 15 years. Its work has included spreading awareness, providing counselling, and addressing discrimination across the district. It has also been involved in providing a ward at the Government Hospital in Salem for counselling people diagnosed with HIV and AIDS.
The YWCA has actively worked to provide livelihood opportunities for young people living with or affected by HIV and AIDS.
The interventions aim to improve social well-being by reducing discrimination and stigma, strengthening livelihood opportunities, increasing resilience to economic hardship, and reducing risky sexual behaviour.
Project partners are working to make livelihood initiatives more HIV-sensitive, accessible, and relevant to families. The Anugraha Project of the YWCA of Salem provides nutritional supplements and other support for people living with HIV and AIDS.
In addition, the YWCA provides access to a trained dietitian and nutritionist to assist people living with HIV who visit the Government ART Centre, which is part of the Government Hospital in Salem. This support includes individualised nutritional counselling and regular follow-up.