Sambhali Trust (in Hindi, Sambhali means "strengthening of the deprived") is a nonprofit organisation based in Jodhpur, India. Founded in 2007, the organisation aims to empower Dalit women and children in Rajasthan through educational programs, vocational training, and social services.
The trust is active in Jodhpur, Setrawa and Jaisalmer and reaches approximately 800 people per year. Since its founding, it has worked with more than 12,000 children and women in Western Rajasthan.
History
Sambhali Trust was founded on 16 January 2007 by Govind Singh Rathore, after experiencing violence and discrimination against the women of his family.
Hence, Sambhali Trust was created to help alleviate Rajasthani women out of poverty and financial dependence on their families. This was initially done by creating a platform to teach basic Hindi, English, Mathematics and sewing for free to women and girls in Jodhpur, and later Setrawa and Jaisalmer, through "empowerment centres". The aim of this training is to enable women and girls to acquire the skills and knowledge required to find or create employment for themselves.
On 23 July 2015, Sambhali Trust was granted Special Consultative Status by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
Structure
The trust now consists of 20 projects: nine empowerment centres, two sewing centres, two educational programs and scholarship funding, the "No Bad Touch" and "Aadarsh - Save Youth, Save Nation" projects, one Rural Schools Project, one women's shelter service, one self-help group and a toll-free helpline. Each project is headed by a project manager, with additional support from subject teachers or assistants. 10 teachers in Hindi and Sewing, many of them graduates of the Sambhali program themselves, are employed by the trust, with approximately 15-30 other teachers working on a voluntary basis from all over the world. Predominantly, these volunteers teach English and Mathematics with some specialising in fashion and design and others working within the administration of the trust.
The trust has seven trustees, with Govind Singh Rathore acting as Managing Trustee. A national and international advisory board also partake in decision making.
Sambhali Trust is financed mainly through foreign donations and grants. Since 2013, the Trust has been affiliated with Austrian, German, Swiss and British sister organisations. Nowadays, Sambhali's Associates are Sambhali Austria, Sambhali Germany, Sambhali U.S., Sambhali France and Sambhali UK respectively. Donations through these sister organisations are all directed to the central, Indian based Trust.
Projects
Empowerment Centers
Located across Jodhpur, Setrawa and Jaisalmer, empowerment Centers are the core projects of Sambhali Trust. These centers provide underprivileged women from deprived areas of Jodhpur an opportunity to have a good primary education and vocational skill training in sewing and embroidery. This enables women to manufacture their own products after training or to go on and work for Sambhali Trust in the sewing centers. The sewing centers employ over 20 women to produce handmade fashion and accessories for the Sambhali Boutique, based in Jodhpur, as well as bespoke orders overseas.
Boarding Homes
Many underprivileged girls have the potential to be exceptional students but aren’t given the opportunity or encouragement to explore their capabilities and discover their unique talents, especially if they live in rural areas. Their parents bring them to Sambhali for better and healthy living and education, which their parents are not able to provide in their living circumstances.
At the three Sambhali Boarding Homes girls in elementary secondary school and young women in college receive a good education, free meals and accommodation, daily tutoring, computer training, develop self-defense and leadership skills.
Self-Help (microfinance) Groups
This project was established in October 2009 to help women, by providing them with a means of saving money and having access to loans, thus enabling them to create small enterprises of their own and work towards financial independence. Under this programme women are given financial and business management training.
Currently, the programme includes around 85% Dalit women, many of whom are widows, whose husbands have died working in the stone quarries, a common but dangerous occupation in the area.