What Is She Doing Now?: Maher

So I didn't quite manage to write this blog post on my last day off, but here it is. Better late than never, hey?!

We work with a lot of partners here at Sangam. Some we work with on a day to day basis: Deep Griha, Mobile Creche and Anand Gram are the three our Tare are working with currently. Some we have worked with in the past, and still have some links with, for example Green Tara. For some, we sell their products in the shop, Door Step School for example (Although I believe some Tare are going there in the next set of Tare, so we'll be getting more closely involved again!) and there are those that we work with regularly, but not every day, maybe once an event, once a month...

Maher is one of those partners. We don't send any Tare there, partly because it's 45 minutes drive away, and partly because they already have their own volunteer program. We invite some of the children from there to perform in some events, they do a fantastic play based on the life of Gandhi, and they've even been invited to come to Glasgow next June! One of their performers has been short-listed to be one of the next big acts in India.

I have visited there twice now, and each time I have been astounded. Here is the story of Maher...

Maher was founded by Sister Lucy, back in 1997, just 15 years ago. In the early 90's, she was living in a convent. One evening, a woman came to her, 7 months pregnant and asked for shelter. At the time, Sr Lucy couldn't provide that shelter because of the rules of the convent. She asked the woman to come back the next morning, when she would be able to help more. That night, Sr. Lucy heard a commotion in the village, as it wasn't far from the convent. She rushed down to discover an argument had occurred between this woman and her husband. The husband had poured kerosene on the woman and set her on fire. To make matters worse, the woman was 7 months pregnant. Sr Lucy tried to save the woman, she took her to hospital, but because of the rural area, and the lack of cars, it took her 6 hours to get the woman to the hospital. She couldn't be saved, and neither could the child.

From this event, Sister Lucy decided to do something. She wanted to set up a place for people to come, somewhere without barriers that would force Sr Lucy to turn these people away. After a few years, and with the generous help of some Austrian backers, Maher was set up.

15 years later, Maher has at least two sites in Pune, a site in South India, and one in the North. Sister Lucy is also trying to set up a site in Delhi. Maher takes in anyone, one of their mottos is "always room for one more". Sr Lucy said to us when I was there this last time "When we are full, we open another house. God sends us the funds from somewhere."

As we arrived for my second visit, a child of around 6 weeks was brought in. It's parents had poured tobacco, kerosene and compost down it's throat, in an attempt to kill it. Why? It was female. The family had already had 4 or 5 girls and the parents were desperate for a boy, and couldn't afford to have another girl. Luckily, this baby was brought to Sr. Lucy in time. She sent it to hospital, and when they have made the girl better, it'll be brought back to Maher to live a really happy life.

So that's the story of Maher, here's the website and here's some photos from the day!