Communication from Her Majesty the Queen of the UK, Microsoft 365 and much more

 Communication from Her Majesty the Queen of the UK

The Trust stood proud and humbled by the letter from Her Highness of the UK in acknowledgement of our invitation to her to visit the Trust. She expressed her gratitude over the invitation and was touched to receive the invitation.

Expressing her warmest wishes for the Trust, she, however, expressed her inability to accept the invitation to visit the trust as she no longer undertakes long distance overseas travels.

We had also sent her two pieces of decorative items prepared by the Trust as souvenirs along with the invitation letter, which also caught her fancy.

It was indeed a gesture of great pride and blessings for all the Trust members and all those associated with us directly and indirectly to have such a kind words in recognition to our work.

 

Culmination of Covid-19 Awareness Campaign

We successfully wrapped up our 3-month long Covid awareness campaign on October 31, which we are in partnership with the city administration and Municipal Corporation. We had begun this campaign with manufacturing of handmade reusable masks by our sewing center women primarily with a view to provide employment to them. These masks were initially distributed among police officials, administrative officials and mason labourers at different spots of the city free of cost. Later, the Trust made masks were also donated for the Mask Bank, set up by the Municipal Corporation.

Later, this mission of the Trust attracted attention of the city administration and together with the administration, the Trust launched a unique “Toko-Corona Roko” (Intervene and Stop Corona) drive with a view to spread awareness among the people about masks and social distancing.

We have achieved the target of manufacturing 15000 masks, of which over 10000 masks have been distributed free of cost and rest have been kept as reserved in order to meet any urgency in future.

 

Sambhali Nirbhaya Helpline

Our Helpline has received incredible response since its inception. In one month over 70 women have called up on Helpline for seeking help from our psychiatrist Ms. Abhilasha and legal expert Ms. Shivani. Victims of domestic and other gender-based violence or abuse, especially in the situations arising from pandemic situation that has hit the economy and family incomes, these women have suffered the male aggression in and out of their families.

Besides counselling on Helpline, some women have also visited our office in person to have one to one conversation with our counselors. The Trust has strived hard to satisfy them and provide them any assistance, the Trust could provide within its capacity.

Both Ms. Abhilasha and Ms. Shivani been walking door to door distributing flyers prepared by the Trust in Hindi language reaching out to more and more women apprising them about the Helpline and its objective. They are knocking on about 100 doors every week distributing these flyers sensitizing them about the gender-based abuse encouraging them to report it on Helpline instantly, even if it is happening in their neighbourhood or even with any unacquainted woman in their knowledge.

Simultaneously, legal awareness workshops are being conducted continuously at our centers sensitizing the women and girls about domestic violence and mental health.

This initiative of the Trust has also caught the attention of one of the leading global media houses, the 

CNN. The documentary made by the CNN over reported surge in domestic violence in pandemic era has covered our counselling sessions to the victims and spoke to our counsellor Mr. Abhilasha about the issue and its gravity.

 

Handmade products draw demand

Intensive efforts in developing new designs by our designer Ms. Kavita and hard work by our team of sewing center in converting these designs into a real product have brought desired results. We have fresh demands from overseas buyers for these products and we are presently working hard on ensuring timely delivery of the orders.

This growing demand of our products has infused a fresh lease in our sewing team as it has resulted in continuous employment for them helping them to support their family income, which has been hit by the pandemic slowdown.

With the deliveries of these orders, we believe that the stories and dreams of these underprivileged womenfolk will reach the homes of the buyers this Christmas and New Year. Each of these products is a signature product by our design and sewing artists and a testimony to their craft skills, we have inculcated in them.

These homemade ethical articles for home and Christmas decorative articles and gifts are also available at Sambhali Boutique, which had been shut due to lockdown but under revival now.

The products listed on our website, can also be ordered by e-mail at info@sambhali-trust.org. 

 

Microsoft 365 Business Premium Service for the Trust

In a major development, the Trust has earned the eligibility for free nonprofit donation from the global tech giant Microsoft. Our volunteer and Project Manager Mr. Aram Bishop signed the Trust up to Microsoft’s nonprofit portal and as a result, we are now entitled to use Microsoft 365 Business Premium services including full Office 365 Suite for computers and mobile phones and many advanced Cloud services with upto 1 TB of Cloud space.