Project Gujarat Mahila Housing Sewa Trust 2023

Campaign Story

About the project

In Ranchi, Jharkhand, the urban poor face myriad challenges – inadequate quantity and poor quality of water, unequal access to toilets, semi-permanent shelters, lack of legal ownership over their lands and low capacities of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in engaging their constituents. Working through a federation of women’s collectives, MHT aims to make urban development more inclusive by ensuring that the most marginalized have a representative voice in governance, as well as access to sustainable livelihoods, legal housing and affordable basic services.

This Project is fully funded by the Oak foundation.

Making a difference

By amplifying the collective voice and agency of women affected by poverty, MHT empowers them with the knowhow and confidence to address habitat issues in their own communities, and to engage with and influence key city-level decision-makers. Secondarily, MHT promotes expansion of slum upgrades and housing improvements by connecting households with available social benefit programs that provide for water, sanitation and electricity. The organization continues to adapt its outreach to women’s groups based on specific, individual needs.

The Way Forward

● Link 239 households to legal electricity connection.
● Ensure maintenance of four wells dug in urban slums.
● Link 324 beneficiaries with housing construction.
● Train 167 women construction workers toward enhanced employability and income.

The way forward

● Identifying vulnerable children and bringing them to children collectives
● Regular child participation and life skill session with adolescent groups
● Ensuring the progress of community action plan developed based on interface of children collective/adolescent girls group with community
● Meeting with parents of children groups on life skills and child protection issues
● Regular interface with the community to create space for children and community leaders for exchanging and sharing their ideas and experience related to child marriage

Project Impact

461

Households received access to electricity connection

611

Households received legal water connections

458

Women construction workers completed employability training

866

Beneficiaries received government subsidies and completed housing construction

168

Households received formal housing under government slum redevelopment program

1281

Individuals benefited from water conservation intervention

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Last year’s budget: $233,070

Current Year’s Approved Grant: $251,868

Missing child reunited with the Family

A 17-year-old boy Mohhamad Shami lives with his family in Puranapul at Pulkohla. His father works in a powerloom factory in Varanasi.

One fine day, a missing child information was given to the SRF team, they quickly started spreading the word in the community and nearby locations. After a few days, Shami was identified when found at the Railway Station by the ChildLine team. Shami was tracked from the Railway Station and information was given to SRF as they were looking for the child along with the family. Same day Shami was sent to a shelter home run by SRF in the Varanasi district. Through a professional social worker counseling session he expressed the reason for leaving home. It was informed that the child had lost his eyesight at the age of 2 years due to severe illness because of which he couldn’t pursue his education.

During a counseling session with the child, it was revealed that Shami left the house in anger. Later after completing all the documentation, presenting the child to the child welfare committee, the child was sent back to home with parents. Currently, regular follow ups are done of the child by the SSRF team through home visits. SRF is also trying for his enrollment in school. Hopefully, very soon, the child will start pursuing an education and will be supported for his eye treatment too.

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