Maher

The first Maher house opened its doors in 1997 in the small village of Vadhu-Budruk on the outskirts of Pune and functions to serve as the main refuge for those in distress. Maher first started out as a single shelter for women in need but quickly met with an influx of underprivileged children also pressing for help and provision. These children quickly outnumbered the women and Maher found itself expanding to encompass an ever-increasing number of satellite centres within the state of Maharashtra and is now in 6 states in India with 63 homes for both children, women and men. Besides the homes, their services range from awareness programmes to creches, kindergartens, tutorials, workshops, and self-help groups. Maher was not only created to help victims of domestic violence but to train the poor and illiterate to become self-reliant and consequently independent of Maher. For the first time in their lives many villagers are being provided with a practical understanding of their rights, duties, and responsibilities within society and of how they can stand united against unscrupulous landlords and moneylenders. During the pandemic the lifted a huge task of providing food, mask and sanitizer for the poor. Today Maher is an officially UN registered NGO - Non Governmental Organization. Over 4000 women and children have passed through the Maher experience and come out brimming with self-confidence and dignity. Those who cannot be reunited with their families, because of a trauma or other complications, continue to be looked after under Maher's watchful care, and many stay on, fully rehabilitated to work as housemothers or assistants. All inmates receive the highest quality diet, medical attention and psychiatric counselling available, irrespective of their caste or religion. All human beings and all religious faiths continue to be given equal weighting and all major festivals are celebrated with the same fervor.