10 May 2004

California: The Jagriti Foundation seeks women to volunteer with non-profit organizations in numerous development projects that help alleviate women's living conditions in south Asia.

Under its Bridging Worlds programme, the foundation is encouraging women from North America, Europe and Australia to assist women’s groups in developing countries like Afghanistan, India, Nepal and Pakistan in providing local women with useful skills.

Volunteers’ tasks may include teaching the local women English and basic computer skills, creating web sites, developing publications or enhancing nurse-training programmes for the organizations. Volunteer assignments usually last from one to six months.

Among the beneficiary organizations are:

• Aanchal Aanchal, in Mumbai, India, an organization which supports lesbian and bisexual women;
• Kamdhenu, in Kathmandu, Nepal, a group which teaches income-generating skills to women, also providing them with information on maternity and children's health, nutrition and proper hygiene; and
• Sach-Struggle for Change, in Islamabad, Pakistan, works towards rehabilitating and reintegrating survivors, particularly women and children, of organized violence and torture.

The Jagriti Foundation was initiated by a group of American and European women who traveled to Nepal to work with indigenous women's organizations back in 1998.

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From: Jagriti Foundation