MUST Silver Jubilee Projects

As a part of our Silver Jubilee initiative, we are glad to introduce a special project which aims to provide a sustainable livelihood for the most deserving women from our slum communities. For those who are going to be covered under these will bring a lasting impact and most importantly relief in their present context.

1. WOMEN EMPOWERMENT & SUSTAINABILITY PROJECT:
The primary objective is to provide sustainable livelihood for the urban women by giving opportunities for their skill development and employment.
Generally the women in the slums are the bread winners for the family. Without education and lack of skill development, some work as house maids and others engage themselves either on daily wages or as waste & rag pickers with very low income. In the past we have trained them in job oriented skills like Tailoring. However we noticed that many who were trained in tailoring are not able to pursue a job in that field due to lack of infrastructure, marketing options and financial requirement.

The plan is to train them in more inclusive areas and create job opportunities for them that they can have financial freedom, have a satisfaction of their creative abilities and also be able to meet the needs of their children and family.

As a part of this project we are training the deserving women and young girls in more inclusive areas of Tailoring & Fashion designing, crochet, Craft & Painting, Baking, cooking etc. Now the challenge is to create infrastructure and job opportunities for them that it can turn into a sustainability model.

2. MUST SAKSHAM SAMAJ:
The urban poor go through rough and tough relationship issues, violation of basic rights, mental and physical torture and breaking down of marriages. Most urban poor women and children live in abuse, fear and depression due to the pathetic conditions that prevail within their families. Most of the women are the bread winners of their homes but become victims to different types of abuse including physical violence. Alcohol, gambling and immoral behavior are usually the reasons for such violence.

A progressive society can be built only if the men and women are responsible and committed to uphold the rights of each other for honorable living. Unless such an atmosphere conducive to live with dignity and honor is consciously nurtured within the families and society by the men and women, morality, ethics and security will continue to crumble.

The creator expects us to love, honor, respect one another. We need to be protective of each other, so that we will grow and be responsible and productive citizens. Men, women and children need to feel secure and protected.

The Plan: MUST, would like to see Urban poor live in a healthy social environment. To enhance this, we need to condition/train up/orient such men and women for peaceful living. Awareness about the Spiritual, legal and mental framework can be used to season such people to be peace lovers and people lovers within the families and the society where they are living in.

We have a team of people, men and women who are convinced and passionate about healthy families, who pledge to support, counsel, teach, train or if necessary, take legal steps to achieve the purpose of a healthy familial environment – MUST Saksham Samaj (MUST SaS). MUST SaS will involve where there is a necessity of social sanitization and peaceful living is difficult or when there is a danger to life.

20th Anniversary Projects - Running

On the 20th anniversary of MUST we have launched out two very important projects. The 20th anniversary projects MUST Shishrusha Yojana (financial assistance for medical treatment of terminally affected) and MUST Pratibha Scholarship (Supporting student education) continue to create lasting impacts in the life of the most deserving.

1. MUST SHISRUSHA YOJANA: This is a FUND for medical emergencies, from where the terminally ill patients can get financial assistance for their treatment expenses.  Most of the terminally infected and affected have prolonged treatment, at times costly. None of them are covered under any medical insurance schemes. It is extremely impossible for them to find resources for prolonged and costly treatment, therefore Shishrusha Yojana is a great help for the suffering friends.

2. MUST PRATIBHA SCHOLARSHIP: This scholarship is a more personalized, mentoring based to the children for their holistic development in partnership with their parents. We want to prevent children especially girls from being pulled out from schools by their parents due to financial challenges. Through this project we want to see each child become a ‘Pratibha’ - champion.  Every year a group of students are being supported as per the availability of the resources. This is a defining programme for many students who find it difficult to continue their education due to financial constraints.