Real Impact

There are NGOs that help one cause or another, but few that commit themselves as wholeheartedly as Maitri does to helping everyone that they can. Their holistic approach, combined with an attention to actual impact, has been inspiring to witness firsthand. Widows, children, women, migrant workers- all downtrodden in their own way- are uplifted and supported by Maitri's work.

Tired of seeing so many groups in the US that committed themselves to help but ended up talking a lot more than actually doing, I left for Delhi, in the hopes of finding work with a nonprofit that legitimately cared about the causes they were involved in and could create actual change. I was pleasantly surprised to find Maitri exceeded all expectations. The gratitude expressed by weathered widow mothers and jubilant slum children has been evidence that this work is not going unappreciated.

I'm very grateful to Maitri India for allowing me to participate, for just a few months, in the wonderful work they are doing. The devoted staff of the organization work tirelessly to create a platform to lift people out of hardships that they cannot escape on their own. With barely more than 10 years in existence and already so much accomplished, I look forward to see what Maitri can do in the next decade.

Thomas Whitworth

University of Utah '16

To make Change you must Take Charge

I will never forget...

the sound of leaves, dust, and trash being swept up first thing in the morning; the busy streets starting to buzz at quarter to 8:00, the chirping of birds and finally the feeling of sun on your face as you step outside to walk to work--a peaceful walk--and when you arrive, the sweat forming on your forehead from the muggy Indian heat. As I return home to my busy and comfortable life in quiet and beautiful Utah, I will miss these things. 

There are many things that I have learned during my time here, exploring Delhi and all of it's beauty and liveliness, working as an intern with Maitri, and learning about what it takes to make change among social issues and break social stigma.

To make Change you must take Charge: 

While cars fly by not even 5 feet from where children are running the the street playing with monkeys while their mothers make lunch from whatever food their family can afford for the day, instead of being safe in a school getting an education--you may feel helpless or overwhelmed with sadness. No one likes feeling helpless, so perhaps it would be easier to close your eyes and pretend that social inequality, lack of clean water or sanitation, health problems and poverty as well as social issues, violence, gender inequality, etc. exist all around you. Right? 

Luckily, you do not need superpowers to take on any one of these issues, you simply need passion, drive, and dedication to creating a better life for others. 

NGO's do important work in mitigating these social issues that. It
is with passion, drive, and dedication that as a community, we can make change.

Now, I have learned many travel and life skills, what foods will make me sick, how to create a curriculum for an after school program, how to organize and lead efficiently and effectively. But of these skills that I have learned, it is still the passion, drive and dedication to a cause that I believe, will prove to be the most useful in my time to come, in whatever career I end up in.

To make a Change, I must take Charge. 

Keep your eyes open, hearts hurting, and relationships flowing for these are the basis of what drives people to make change in their communities. Remember that by yourself, or as a team, with a vision for a better world and the dedication to something that seems impossible at times, to quote Indian guru Mahatma Gandhi , you can indeed "be the change you wish to see in the world". 

Not only will I remember the buzzing markets--bargaining my way through them, or the rich culture I have been lucky enough to experience, I will remember that I am capable of incredible change.

Thank You, Maitri India NGO for hosting my stay and introducing me to these valuable lessons.

By Stephanie Gladwin 

University of Utah 

Migrant Labour and the Big City

As if a symbol of the immense inequality that characterizes life in any big Indian city, large buildings with jewellery shops that cater to the affluent classes conceal a community of migrant rickshaw pullers from the sight of passing cars on the busy road. These migrant workers are integral to urban socioeconomic life but excluded from the benefits of citizenship. Living in slums, they are harassed by the police and ignored by an apathetic government. Yet, as they tell me, despite all of the issues it entails, living in the big city is far preferable to life in the dry countryside from which they come. “My village was very dry this year, as the rains never came”, says Ram Vilas, a rickshaw puller who came to Delhi merely six months ago. Despite having completed secondary school in his village, plying rickshaws was the only job he could find when he came to live in Delhi. Back in his village in Datia District in Madhya Pradesh, there is no government support for poor farmers. His family remains in the village, but he is not satisfied with the education his two daughters receive there.

Yet all is not stark. Conditions appear to be improving, even if slowly. Thanks to Maitri, Ram Vilas now has a Ration Card, UID Card, and Below the Poverty Line (BPL) card that enables him to access government benefits. Health camps are regularly organized. Awareness about HIV, and the importance of safe sex is spreading among the rickshaw pullers because of Maitri as well. The shelter built by the Delhi government for the homeless in the community is well maintained, mostly thanks to its caretaker, Fotolal, a jovial middle aged man himself a former rickshaw puller. Under government schemes, two flush toilets were recently built for members of the community. There is an anganwadi and free food is provided to the children of some of the rickshaw pullers who have brought their families to live with them in Delhi.

On my way out, these observations leave me with a sense of cautious optimism about the future. I am optimistic because of the concerted effort on the part of non-profit organizations such as Maitri, amongst others, to improve the lives of migrant workers in big cities. However, the structural conditions of an iniquitous economic system that oppress migrant labour continue to exist. Immense wealth has been created for a tiny sliver of the Indian population because of rapid economic growth. However, much of this growth is jobless, with large sections of Indian society left out. Many of those excluded come from rural areas, since Indian agriculture is in deepening crisis. For a basic livelihood, farmers need to migrate to the big city, where jobs are scarce. As I see it, only when all levels of government assume the democratic mantle of working for all people, by investing in housing, healthcare and education for all citizens, can the conditions perpetuating poverty and inequality be eliminated.

Shatrunjay Mall
Connecticut College
small@conncoll.edu

My experience with Maitri

Involved in this professional world we tend to forget our social duties towards our society and do something for those people who are underprivileged and have needs to be take care.

Working with Maitri as an intern has been a life transforming experience and has shown me the wider view of our society.  A view that shows how to help those people who are underserved and underprivileged. Maitri’s initiatives and various projects involving domestic violence against women, helping the underprivileged kids, providing food and shelters to old widows of vrindavan has been worth a learning for me. Having the chance to teach some of the students of programme Maitrigram was an incredible experience. Spreading awareness against domestic violence through social media which is a major concern of our society has also given me a lot of learning. I am thankful to the dedicated staff of maitri who helped me through my internship and are working whole heartedly for helping the underserved people and giving their big contribution in eradicating social problems like domestic violence against women. I feel honored to be a part of this NGO and would want to be associated with it in future.

Abhijit Bagchi

Maitri Intern

Do good things and talk about it!

It is probably almost everyone's desire to find work where he/she is able to leave own footprints. But how should they look like? What does the impact look like that you want to make?

Working for Maitri offers two distinct ways of working for social causes:
1) Directly with victims, the very poor or underserved communities
2) Improving processes to make projects even more effective

The latter aspect should not be underestimated. Each project and programme needs people being able to oversee everything which is being conducted in the field and it's their responsibility to have the big picture in mind all the time and align the activities accordingly.
By transferring some of things I've learned so far about programme and project management into Maitri's organization, I get the feeling of helping other people on a high scale.

Having the chance to teach some of the students of our programme Maitrigram was an incredible experience. Here you get to see the real impact of all the work that is being done in the field AND in the head quarter. I really like and appreciate the mix of exploring both sides of working for a NGO!

As a refresher, some of us went on a trip to Mussoorie for a few days. In the mountains of the Himalaya, a charity run took place where four of us represented Maitri. 

The October, being the month of our domestic violence campaign, ended on Monday with an incredibly powerful play in the heart of one of largest malls in Delhi. A couple of hundred people could witness the intense demonstration of how prevelant domestic violence still is in this country and what we can do about it.

These events and all the work that is done, has to be spread around the world to multiply all the effect that is already been made!

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Kenneth Alexander Grodotzki, 28
Self-employed / Freelancer from Germany

First steps into the real world

Coming from a country and a profession allowing me to live a decent life with no limitations, I've been carrying around the feeling of having to step into the world characterized by real problems for many years now. Maitri made this possible.
For two weeks now, I've been working voluntarily in Delhi and from the beginning I knew that this was the right step to take.

It is great to see and to work with people being dedicated to a good cause (or many of them). Beside the office-based work which currently focuses on developing consistent approaches to setting up programs and projects and to measure their success, I was already able to visit two of the current projects.
First, I co-interviewed two of the girls being benefitiaries of the Maitrigram programme dedicated to female teenagers and young women who have finished the basic education but still struggling to find a decent job. It was great to see which great success stories can be created "only" by learning English more properly.
Second, the last week finished with a visit of both sites where the Jeevan project is being executed. Two self-built houses where abandoned, destitute and elderly widows find shelter and everything else they need for the everyday life set the frame for tremendously improving the lives of in total around 100 women who would have no other place to go otherwise.

When I told people back in Germany, especially colleagues or other people I've been working with, what I'm about to do, I got a clear proof of what I supposed: "Wow, that is really impressive! While working for this bank (or any other profit-oriented organisation) is quite satisfying, it doesn't fulfill me entirely since there is a huge lack of meaning in it. But it is so hard to really step out of it for a while and work for a good cause. You just get too stuck and don't dare to break out of your comfort zone and daily routine..." was probably the response I've heard the most. However, many employers actually offer the possibility to take some time off in order to spend it for different causes. I therefore propose that each one of us should start and continue encouraging people around us to think about what the real problems are and that slightly delayed flights, a scratch on the expensive car or a missed deal at the favourite store are things people living in the slums would be happy to consider their issues...
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Kenneth Alexander Grodotzki, 28
Self-employed / Freelancer from Germany

Lessons to Last a Lifetime

Ten weeks ago I was sitting on the floor of my bedroom playing Tetris with everything that needed to be stuffed into my suitcase for India, worrying about the bugs, the beggars, the dirt, the danger. I would never have imagined that today I would be returning to the United States with more clarity on the strength of my inner power. Never did I think I would be able to haggle for a better price on a scarf, never did I think I would be able to stand my ground when change was miscounted, never did I think I could endure the sweltering heat of New Delhi in the summer. But not only did I learn about my personal strength, being in India this summer interning for Maitri, I’ve gained a better understanding of my career goals as well. 

I wanted to work for a nonprofit humanitarian organization that served the needs of survivors of domestic and sexual violence. I hoped to one day establish my own such agency that not only served physical and legal needs but also mental health through esteem-building workshops. To better understand the needs of women, I needed to understand their plight and therefore understand their lives, understand their position in society, in their homes. Thus came about my project to better understand the perspectives of married men towards sexual violence and their opinions of marriage. I learned a lot about men's perceptions of a woman's role in the family. Maitri has helped me get one step closer to my goal of becoming a resource for women in need and understanding what it takes to address sensitive issues like domestic and sexual violence. 

Not only that, I am most grateful to Maitri for giving me perspective on the inner workings of a nonprofit organization, the central crux being a passion for your work. I’ve met some of the strongest women at Maitri; women who live to challenge the ingrained beliefs of patriarchy, women who have a piercing voice against the notion that a woman should be silent. But what I’ve found to be most touching at Maitri is that it is truly a family. Whether it is eating lunch together or catching the newest Bollywood movie in theaters, Maitri is held together by a thread of love and support. And I feel honored to be able to say that I too am connected by this thread, forever connected to some of the greatest people who are working everyday to provide all with identity, dignity, and respect.   

Rebecca Miah
MPH Candidate 2016
Hubert Department of Global Health
Rollins School of Public Health | Emory University
rebecca.miah@emory.edu