Welcome to Our Guild of Service!
Projects
Caring for the Underprivileged
The Guild of Service is sensitive to the need of marginalized women to feel secure in a safe environment. With the support of the Government of India , the following homes have been established for destitute women. In all these homes children are able to accompany their mothers.
Ma-Dham in Vrindavan: (top)
This home has a capacity for 500 women and was constructed with a one-time Government grant, as well as private and corporate donations.
A small hospital is available on the premises, as well as a centre for practical medical/nursing training and education. The older women who live here find a safe refuge with a healthy environment, and dignity of human life. They are taught some basic cottage industry skills to keep their hands and feet moving. The younger women are taught valuable skills for earning so that they can take control of their lives. These skills range from auxiliary nurses' training, to improving computer skills, to training in embroidery skills, etc.
Boarding and lodging
Another wing in Ma Dham is created for the accommodation of women from middle income group who do not have any support system. We would be providing them with secure, clean and hygienic accommodation with food on the double room basis.
The rates are Rs.10, 000/- per month
All those who would want to avail this facility can contact us on the Address given below:
Guild of Service
C-25, Qutub Institutional Area
New Delhi-110016
# 011-41013416/17
Email: guildofserviceni@yahoo.com
Activities carried out in Ma Dham:
- Health camp
The Health camp was a great success for the entire Guild family. The Camp was attended by 300 people who were benefited by the comprehensive Medical Care by the most top-notch, well-reputed doctors.
- Legal Literacy Program
- Dental Camp
Raahat Ghar in Srinagar (top)
In the state of Jammu and Kashmir, despite military conflict and a challenging geographical terrain, the Guild of Service has kept the doors of Raahat Ghar open for the last eight years. This has been accomplished with the support of the Swadhar Scheme of the Department of Women and Child Development, Govt. of India.
In Raahat Ghar, both widows and children are provided shelter, food, clothing, medical aid, educational opportunities and vocational training. Raahat Ghar is a unique intervention for conflict-affected women and children, providing much needed shelter and safety while they try to rebuild their lives.
The women are provided with simple skills like weaving and embroidery, while school education is given to the children. Over the years our interventions have helped these individuals by honing their education in a variety of ways, from improving traditional skills to providing auxilliary nurses' training, computer education and legal literacy.
The interventions have proved very effective in securing the lives of children and weaning them away from the influence of conflict and terrorism, as well as rebuilding the lives of conflict widows who were left to fend for themselves after their husband’s death.
Conflict widow receiving seed money for Empowerment
Apna Ghar in Godhra, Gujarat a home accommodating 48 women with 64 children who were victims of the communal riots. The home was closed after the Guild had economically empowered the women with earning skill. The younger girls were married off to grooms of their choice at a mass wedding conducted at Fatehpura.
Tailoring at Godhara Centre
The Guild ran a short stay home for tsunami victims in Nagapttinam till such time they were able to pick up the threads of their lives.
Education for Earning (top)
Auxiliary nurses training program at Mathura and in the militancy affected districts of Kupwara and Srinagar in the state of Jammu & Kashmir. Women who resorted to begging are now earning Rs. 250/- per day as nursing aids. This is an ongoing program with the Guild.
Auxiliary Nursing Training Program
Learn & Earn Scheme
Generation of cottage industry skills for the older widows of Vrindavan. All products are marketed through the Guild outlets and NGO network.
Widows at Work
Widows Making Aggarbattis
Tailoring unit at Najafgarh (top)
Enhancement of embroidery skill among the minority community in Gujarat and Kashmir and among under privileged women in Sawai Madhopur
Embroidery Skills at Sawai Madhopur
Learn to Earn scheme in Kashmir. A twin E learning program is ongoing through which training is imparted to young adults in Computer literacy and working English. The whole program running in partnership with Smile Foundation is aimed towards quick employment
Computer skill class in Srinagar
Girls from Jammu and Kashmir r who have completed their schooling are given training at the Shahanaz Hussain Institute of Beauty Culture. Most of them find immediate employment on completion of the course.
Rahaat Ghar girls graduated in beauty training
Imparting Formal Education (top)
The Guild has undertaken the complete educational responsibility of 75 militancy affected children in Kashmir. They reside in our home Raahat Ghar in Kashmir and study in the local Government schools. Some of the children who have finished schooling/are incapable of continuing beyond 10th class have been put into vocational training to enhance their earning capacity.
Nursing class at Raahat Ghar
The Guild in the aftermath of the Godhra riots established a home for riot affected widows and children. 50 riot affected children were supported in their education by the Guild. After their personal and financial crisis was tided over the Guild through vocational training helped to establish the mothers comfortably so that the children could go back to normal homes.
Apart from formal education the Guild through the support of a generous civil society takes all the children on educational tours so that they are aware of their country. For example the children from Kashmir have visited Delhi, Jaipur, Agra, Amritsar, Ajmer, Jallandhar, Pune and Hyderabad. They also interacted with the President of India, the Home Minister, and the Chief Minister of Delhi and the Chief Justice of India.
Raahat Ghar Children on the India Tour
Rahaat Children Act as Messengers of Peace
Kashmiri Children with the President of India
Rahaat Ghar Children with Chief Minister of Delhi
Rahaat Ghar Children Interacting with Delhi Public School Students
Political Empowerment (top)
Full support and political training to women members of the Panchayati Raj (the smallest elected political body) is given. Training is given to empower them with the knowledge of legal support, functional responsibilities and to hone their communication skills. Panchayat training workshops have been held by the Guild of Service in the Chchatha and Madh Blocks of Mathura District. A Mahila Sarpanch Training workshop was held in Delhi at which more than 400 women from 8 states participated.
Mahila Sarpanch Workhop
The consistent advocacy is made for an equitable representation in the Parliament. An all India mobilization programme was done to generate support for 33% reservation in the Indian Parliament.
Legal Empowerment (top)
Legal literacy programmes are conducted to make women aware of their legal and property rights.
Legal awareness camps with a focus on violence against women are conducted among young adults to give them the necessary legal knowledge 11 such camps have been conducted in Delhi colleges and among minority groups.
A full-fledged project is undertaken to ensure that widows, divorcees and marginalised women get their rights. The Guild is represented on the various committees that investigates cases of sexual harassment at work places. Generation of public opinions is catalyzed by the Guild through publications advocating Uniform Civil Code and Amendment of Rape Laws.
Family Counselling Centres record ,advice and counsel on cases of domestic and gender based violence. This is pre legal counselling. If the need raises the Guild guides through the complainant through the legal process. Lawyers are on The panel who give their services ex gratis.
Family Counseling
Family Counseling Meeting
Advocacy (top)
A planned strategy to change age old social attitudes is undertaken by the Guild.
Gender Resource Centre: The Gender Resource centers are envisaged as instruements to bring about Social,Economic and Legal empowerment of women particularly those belonging to the under priviledged sections of society.
Gender Resource Centre, Najafgarh
Guild of service is operating a Gender resource centre at Najafgarh, near Delhi supported by the Delhi Government under their Samajik Suvidha Scheme. The activities of the Gender resource centre are the social empowerment of the underprivileged women and to educate them about their legal rights, their skill building, micro enterprise and entrenuership development, the Health aspects of women of the area and sharing with them information and networking aspects.
Advocacy of elimination of social ostracism of widows. This is done through seminars, articles and publication to generate public opinion. The Guild of Service organized with the support of UNIFEM, the first international seminar on Widows. Delegates from South Asian Region as well as all over India attended the conference. The immediate impact of the conference was that for the first time the problems of widows was taken at a separate panel discussion at the CSW meeting at the United Nations. GOS brings out books and monographs on the issue of widowhood so as to generate public opinion.
International Widows Seminar
The Guild with the support of UNIFEM conducted a conference on the role of women, particularly widows of armed conflict in peace negotiations and reconstruction. This focused on the riot widows, widows of armed conflict and war widows
Conference in Progress
The Guild holds mass marriages twice a year to discourage ostentatious unproductive expenditure. This is done to advocate dowry less simple marriages to turn the public opinion against lavish expenditure which India can ill afford. The mass marriages also provide a platform for the very marginalised to enter into a socially acceptable relationship rather than live in arrangements.
