About Us
The
Mahila Mandiram is one of the oldest non-profit making social organization in
Kerala, India. The main location is in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala.
It was founded in 1920 in connection with the sixtieth birthday celebrations of
His Highness Sreemoolam Tirunal, the then Maharaja of Travancore. The founder Smt. K. Chinnamma was an inspectress of schools who pioneered social work among
the women of the State. Aware of the problems of
girl
children,
she visualized an
institution to contribute to their welfare and progress and toiled for many
years to canvas public support and collect money necessary to realize her
dreams. Land was gifted by the Maharaja and buildings put up through public
donations.
During the 89 years of its
existence, it has brought relief and succor to hundreds of hapless girls and
women of South India especially Kerala. It also has one of the oldest
educational institutions. Its secondary school celebrated its Golden Jubilee in
1999-2000. Mahila Mandiram is an
autonomous, non-political, non-profit and secular organization.
It is democratic in its
functioning, with its general body electing the executive committee for a 3-year
term
Aims
Broadly, the aim of the
Mahila Mandiram is to work for the betterment of women in every area of their
life. More specifically, it provides shelter for poor women and orphan girls
irrespective of
religion and caste.
It is concerned with care, education, empowerment and rehabilitation of needy
girl children and women
Service Units
At
present, the institution comprises the following units in 3 locations, in
Thiruvananthapuram district.
UNITS IN THE CITY
Home for destitute
girls
The first and foremost is a
home for destitute girls between the ages of 3 and 18. Many are orphans, many
others
have one parent
alive, but he/she is not in a position to care for the child due to financial
problems or social evils. They are brought to the home either by relatives, the
police or some other agency. At a time we take care of 110-120 girls. All of
them go to school or to some vocational training centre. The diet is totally
vegetarian. They are provided clothes to wear at home and uniforms to school.
They sleep in dormitories with common bathrooms and toilets. They offer prayers
in the prayer hall twice a day and do yoga in the morning. After school, they
are directed to the academic stream or skill development centers according to
their merit and choice. Our aim is to equip them to lead a self reliant life in
the society. A few of them find employment in the institution itself, while some
others are help to find jobs in government and private agencies. Many others
have been married to eligible young men who have approached the institution now
and then.
A differently abled child
attends a special school in addition to classes in the primary school. A vision
impaired child of one of our former residents is given care and special
education in our day care center with the help of International Federation for
the Blind.
Differently abled women children we have helped
Over the
years, Mahila Mandiram has provided relief and shelter to many poor and helpless
women out side the target group. The following are some examples that we are
particularly proud of.
 |
A
47-year old woman who was admitted at the age of 7 developed
obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. She was treated by a psychiatrist
and rehabilitated. She now helps out at the primary school. She has also
been trained as a weaver and spends all her spare time spinning yarn.
|
|
A
blind lady was trained as a music teacher and now gives lessons to children.
|
|
Three
young girls with low IQs from disturbed families have been trained in
book-making. |
|
A
polio victim
has been trained in hand-embroidery and book-making and lives a useful and
productive life. |
Funding
Our main funding is through
solicitation. A small amount is raised through marketing of services and end
products. This being an institution recognised by the Kerala Government, each
school going child receives Rs.150/- per month, which is inadequate for giving
proper care and education. There is an on-going sponsorship progamme which is
our main support for child care.
A
hostel for working women
of the low-income
group. The hostel has 25 residents, it is run on a no-loss-no-profit
basis and is self-supporting.
A
creche
provides day-care for 14
babies whse mothers work in units of the institution or in the neighbourhood.
An English medium pre-primary
and primary school
provides education to local
children from Std. I to VII
A full-fledged secondary school
aided by the government from
Std. VI to X has nearly 750 day scholars in addition to girls from the Home.
Ambulance service
The State Bank of Travancore
donated an ambulance to be used as a service in the locality. It is available
all 24 hours.
RURAL UNITS
Care centre for the elderly
The Care Center for the
aged, 35 kilometers from Trivandrum, started in 2002 has 12 residents. The land
and the heritage building were donated by a generous lady. They are all
destitutes who do not have any one to care for them. Four of them were handed
over by the Government General Hospital when their relatives failed to claim
them long after their treatment was over. The center is looked after by an
efficient staff. Funding is mainly by public donations. Medical care is given by
the government hospital 4 kilometers away. The residents whose health permits
are encouraged to help in the daily chores of the home. They also maintain a
vegetable and flower garden.
In the next phase of this
project we plan to build a two-storey building as a Multi care Center for The
Aged, which will include day-care activities as well as outreach programmes.
This will include medical care and counseling.
Vocational Training Units
A weaving
center
with 10
looms produces bed-sheets,
towels, dhotis, cloth for school uniforms, mopping cloth
etc.
The tailoring
unit
employs
grown-up girls of the Home and a few others in the neighbourhood. Here tailoring
orders are undertaken to fabricate all types of ladies' and children's garments.
Training in tailoring and embroidery is given to grown up girls of the Home and
the locality.
Book binding and notebook making
center gives training in
book-binding, notebook-making and screen printing. Here training is given to
groups of women from Government and private agencies.
Offset printing
execute multi colour quality printing orders.
Catering unit
a vegetarian catering unit provides snacks and meals according to demand.
A Desktop
publishing center
with
photo-copying, lamination and spiral binding
Computer
application classes
provide girls with basic training in the use of computers. Courses offered equip
the students to find jobs as middle level managers and accountants.
All the
vocational units trained grownup residents of the home as well as young women of
the neighbourhood. The income generated from these units are ploughed back to
train new groups and to upgrade the units.
New Projects
There are many needy and
desperate women in
Trivandrum. Although it is impossible for us to help them all, we are constantly
trying to come up with new creative
ways to help as many as we can. Here are some projects that we are about to
initiate:
We wish
to start a training program for unemployed women as home nurses, baby-sitters
and health visitors to attend the needs of the mentally-ill in their homes.
How you can help
Most of
our activities are supported by good-hearted friends or service-minded
organizations at home and abroad. Fund-raising is a matter of routine for us,
but at times lack of funds delay or even cancel some of our programs and
projects. The following are some of our immediate needs:
1.
Sponsor a
schoolgirl by paying US$75.00 per year. A quarterly report will be sent to you.
2.
Sponsor
educational support including development of artistic talents, at a cost of
US$15.00 per resident per year.
3.
Skill development
for our grown-up girls, at a cost of $15.00 per child per year.
|
We invite general sponsorship as follows: |
-
Sponsor a resident schoolgirl by paying Rs.3600/- (US$75.00) per
year. A quarterly report will be sent to you.
-
Sponsor a day scholar is our school by paying Rs.2400 (US $55)
-
Sponsor educational support mainly coaching is weak subjects at a
cost of Rs.600 (US$15.00) per resident per year.
-
Skill development for our grown-up girls, at a cost of $15.00 per
child per year.
-
Support an elderly person at a cost of Rs.1500 (US$55) per yea
|
|
Taking into account the importance of computer literacy as a
requirement for all jobs and educational programs, we wish to
introduce the children of the home to the PC as an instrument for
furthering knowledge and skill, and developing a sense of
exploration through the internet. At present, we have 5 PCs (pentiums)
being used is the school computer lab. We need to have at least 10
PCs to conduct effective classes for 850 children. The cost of one
multimedia PC is approximately $500.00. Would you and your friends
together like to sponsor a few |
|
State
Bank of Travancore (Transaction in Indian Rupees only)
NAC Branch , Poojappura ,Trivandrum, Code 70502
Account No. 57007716457.
Friends in the USA
Sreedharan Vijayan
Phone:
(513)871-7658
e-mail: sreevi@gmail.com
Mr. Vijayan is a well-wisher
of Mahilamandiram. He manages our web
site Mahilamandiram.org website.
Contact us
Smt.
M.Sreekumari
Hon. Secretary
SMSS HINDU MAHILA MANDIRAM
Poojapura,
Trivandrum - 695 012
Kerala State,
INDIA.
Phone: 011-91-471-2351243, 2356870, 2358164
E-mail:
info@mahilamandiram.org,
mahilamandiram@eth.net,
mahilamandiram@asianetindia.com