Welcome to Our Guild of Service!
About Us
The Guild of Service (North India) was born in 1972. Today, under the leadership of Dr. Mohini Giri (Former Chairperson of the National Commission for Women and Founder/President of the War Widows Associations), the Guild works for the empowerment of marginalized women and children. Since then the Guild of Service has launched multidimensional programs aimed towards vocational training and education of women--both through advocacy and grass root work.
All members of the Guild of Service give their services and talents ex gratia. These voluntary commitments are the culture, strength and vision of the Guild of Service. The rewards are plenty, in the smile of confidence when a destitute woman earns her first income, the sense of satisfaction when injustice is recognized and corrected, the sense of pride when a shy woman makes her maiden speech and wins the Panchayat Elections.
The rewards are plenty but the effort is stupendous to build capacities of marginalized women and children. This is not just a mandate at the Guild of Service. It is the core belief, the character and the vision. Initiatives of the Guild of Service
The movement for giving status to widows and bringing back dignity and joy to their lives has been spearheaded by the Guild of Service. In North India, the Guild has been working for women’s empowerment for the last 36 years. It has come to the succour of the marginalized, the poor and the distressed. It works for their economic as well as political emancipation. But the Guild’s work for widows is exemplary. It seeks to change public policy as well as the attitude of traditional society to women, who through no fault of theirs, become widows and are ostracized by society.
The Guild runs Amar Bari, a home for over 100 widows in Vrindavan, just three hours from Delhi. Another home for 500 widows, Ma Dham, is being inaugurated later this year by the President of India. In fact there are five categories of widows that the Guild is working for. Widows who have lost their life partners in wars, in communal strife, women who have donned white robes after natural calamities wiped our their husbands and families, children who were married early and became widows and other widows.
Shelters in Vrindavan, Srinagar & Godhra (top)
Today, in addition to the home in Vrindavan, it runs a shelter in Srinagar as well, where it looks after not just widows who have lost their husbands to terrorism or are widows of terrorists but their children too. It seeks to remarry young widows and educate their children and wean them from influence of terrorists. Rahat Ghar in Srinagar, started in 2000, is home to 70 children and their mothers. The home at Godhra for the riot affected, ran for several years, providing hope and a new life to over a hundred widows.
Group Marriages (top)
Low cost group marriages are another unique service provided by the Guild. Twice a year these marriages are arranged not just for widows but for the poor and the marginalized that do not have the resources for the trappings of a modern marriage in India. The Guild not only does the groom hunting, but provides a set of new clothes for the bride and the basic facilities to set up a home. Some 20 to 30 couples get married simultaneously and there is music and rejoicing. The couples are blessed by the members of the Guild, all volunteers providing their time and service for the cause of those not so well off.
Economic Empowerment (top)
At Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan, it runs a vocational training center for empowering young women. In Najafgarh village, Delhi, the Guild has organized self help groups and Mahila Panchayats. The self helps groups make mouth-watering pickles, exquisite lac bangles and stitch and embroider garments. This has empowered women economically and socially. Their savings have gone up to Rs 600,000 and they no longer have to go to moneylenders when under financial stress.
At New Delhi and Mathura, the Guild runs Family Counselling Centres and deals with a variety of problems ranging from domestic violence, marital conflict to drugs and alcoholism. Health camps and legal literacy sessions are held almost every month in different cities.
Women in Peace Initiative (top)
The Guild also played a major role in the Women in Peace South Asia (WIPSA) initiative. Seeking to bridge the political and religious divides of the region, groups of women crossed the borders to Pakistan, Bangladesh rooting for peace in the region and harking on the cultural oneness of the people of the sub-continent. The people to people interactions have helped strengthen political ties too.
The Mahila Millennium Mobilization was organised in 1999 with the making of peace chains at multiple locations across India and the neighbouring SAARC countries of Nepal and Bangladesh. Such initiatives are a symbol of solidarity of women from across the rural and urban divides. Workshops for building cordial relations with neighbouring Pakistan and Afghanistan were also organized.
Purely Voluntary Work (top)
The services rendered by the Guild are purely voluntary. Most of the members are professional women, many of them senior citizens, who have come together to keep alive the Gandhian ideal of service before self. Today it is working in seven States and has homes and facilities in twelve rural and urban settings across the country. Under its gentle stewardship women are taking charge of their lives and rebuilding their futures; hundreds of children are going to school.
