Thursday, August 18, 2016

One year anniversary of the Shravan Health Center in the slums of Mumbai

Gabriel Project Mumbai celebrated the one year anniversary of the Shravan Health Center in the Bhaskar Nagar slums. This was a very emotional and significant milestone for the clinic that caters to a population of 200,000 people in the slum.
Dr Alfred, Dr Kamran (DFY), Kenneth Dsouza
and Anju Mishra

The guest speaker at the anniversary celebrations was the Founder and Managing Director of Bethany Hospital, Dr. Stephen Alfred. His blessings for continued success of the Shravan Health Center were heartwarming. Elijah Jacob and staff from JDC India were also present as well as doctors and nursing staff of Doctors For You. But the greatest part of the occasion were the women, men and children of the neighborhood who came to celebrate THEIR community health center!

At the event GPM's latest health initiative was launched – malnutrition treatment program for babies diagnosed with acute malnutrition. See more HERE
Listening to a nutrition lecture for parents


The event also recognized the following accomplishments of the clinic over the year:
A medical survey and community health map of over 7000 families in the slums
A medical outreach program for bedridden and incapacitated individuals in the slums
The treatment of 12,000 individuals over the year
The implementation of night hours for working parents to bring their children
Subsidized onsite pharmacy (including free medicines)
Vaccination services in partnership with municipal authorities
Recognition as the only TB DOTS treatment center for cases of tuberculosis
Nutrition program for malnourished children


Thanks to all our supporters for making the Shravan Health Center such an important life-saving initiative for this underserved community.

To help support the Shravan Health Center, please donate HERE or contact us at GPM – info@gabrielprojectmumbai.org




Containers of 'Hyderabad Mix' high protien/vitamin nutrition
supplement

Celebrating 1 year: Shravan Health Center

Enterance to the Shravan Health Center

Kids at the event

Outside the Shravan Health Center



Launching Naya Women’s Paper Recycling Business in Mumbai slums

We are thrilled to launch a new women’s empowerment program that is not only sustainable but also good for the environment.
Ribbon cutting  at the launch of Naya 

Naya is a new innovative, grassroots paper recycling initiative aimed at empowering women to improve their community environment in the Mumbai slum of Kalwa. Naya, which means “new” in Hindi and which is run and implemented by women in the slums under GPM supervision, takes waste paper and turns it into paper products such as notepads, printing paper, coasters. The women employed in the initiative are locally trained in recycling waste paper and creating beautiful new pieces using imagination and skill.

Sales of these products will support the initiative, as well as develop facilities and awareness around waste and recycling within the slum. The recycled-paper products are sold to local offices, hotels and businesses.

The project, launched on 10 August 2016,  supports the community, cleans up the area, and promotes eco-friendly business. It is a sustainable social enterprise, empowering local women who also become ambassadors for recycling and cleanliness in the slum, improving the lives of the 200,000 people currently living in Kalwa.
The program was developed by Pears-JDC fellow Adit Goshalk from the UK.
Outside the Naya workshop in
Bhaskar Nagar, Kalwa slum

Adit, 29, joined GPM as a Pears sponsored JDC fellow for the year and worked half of the time with JDC and half of the time with GPM. Her passions are Art and development work, and she is an artist and art teacher in a Jewish school the UK. She has held many education related positions in development including a previous stint in Jaipur India and programs at Tzedek UK.

After months of speaking with people in the local community and working with GPM-JDC Entwine volunteers in the slums as part of her fellowship, she has combined these two passions of art and development to create the unique Naya program. The program takes two major challenges – women’s empowerment and environment – and combines them with a huge dollop of creativity. Scraps of paper are converted by women to develop useable products for sale to local businesses. The business has th potential to be self-sustaining and scalable, a fantastic model of socially—conscious business.

"My experiences this year in India and my work with the children and adults in the UK have shown me the powerful potential that the arts can have to make positive change", said Adit. "The Naya initiative brings together creativity and development, making something new and beautiful from what was once waste while empowering women to improve their lives and those within their community. I am thrilled to see the impact that we have had already and I cannot wait to continue this progress!"

GPM received initial funding from Paperback (a London-based, recycled paper supplier) to start the
At the Naya launch, 10 August 2016 with GPM staff,
representatives of  JDC India and Naya employees
project and has already received three small orders for products from a hotel and local businesses.
However, we need your help to get Naya fully sustainable by the end of 2018.

The program costs only about $450/month [Total: $8,500]
Please help support Naya by donating here: https://www.rootfunding.com/campaign/naya-paper-recycling




Recycled paper drying

Treating waste paper and creating quality recycled paper

Sign outside Naya's new workshop

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

GPM’s new JDC Entwine Summer 2016 fellows, now volunteering in the slums of Mumbai!

This GPM cohort is unique in that all 7 of the volunteers hail from the East Coast of the United States. Aliza, Ari, Andrew, Rachel, Tamara, Aryeh and Leora will spend two months providing literacy and nutrition support to children in the slums of Mumbai.

Here is a glimpse into the participants of the current GPM-JDC Entwine volunteer session:

Leora Huebner
Leora Huebner
Leora Huebner just finished her freshman year at Princeton. She is from Manhattan and went to Ramaz High School. She loves to play piano and sing, and sings in (and manages) Koleinu, Princeton's only Jewish acapella group. Though she has not yet declared her major, Leora will probably major in computer science. She also loves traveling and working with other people.



Rachel Markowitz

Rachel Markowitz
This year Rachel is abroad studying Judaism and Zionism in Jerusalem. Her studies have further opened her heart and committed her to the Jewish idea of Tikkun Olam- being responsible for those around you and making the world a better place. In one word, Rachel can best be described as an
optimist. Her view on the world is that everything has the potential to be changed for the better and improved from its current state. Rachel spent her summer volunteering in a children’s home in Israel and in a day camp for children with special needs. Throughout the year she volunteered in a hospital visiting the sick in her free time.

Ari Marder

Ari Marder
Ari Marder is a senior at Yeshiva University studying psychology with a minor in business. Upon graduation he plans to pursue a career in the nonprofit sector, where he hopes to utilize his creativity and energy to help positively impact those in need. In his extracurricular life Ari spends much of his time volunteering inside and outside the Jewish community venturing to gain a fuller understanding of the struggles of others and how to best address their needs. His other interests include intramural basketball, ukulele (he is average at best) and acting in the Yeshiva College Dramatics Society (he played the lead role in “A Few Good Men”).


Lisa Peyser
Lisa Peyser

Lisa realized that she wanted to be a teacher the first time she stood in front of a class of children as an intern at the Museum of Jewish Heritage. The responsibility of saying something to a group of eager, curious and impressionable children was humbling and unbelievable. After graduating from Barnard College. Lisa trained to be a teacher at the Bank Street School for Children, receiving a degree in Middle School Special and General Education. She worked in the middle school at Yeshivat Noam in New Jersey teaching both English and History. In July of 2014, Lisa became a founding teacher at The Shefa School, a school for children with language based learning disabilities. Lisa strives to create a classroom environment where students are active partners in their learning. The creative process of creating curriculum and projects which can meet the needs of all types of learners is one of Lisa’s favorite parts of this career. Lisa spends her summers in Israel and recently spent the summer teaching Israeli children English reading and creative writing.

Andrew Hirsh

Andrew Hirsh
Andrew is a student at Wesleyan University pursuing a major in History with certificates in International Relations and Social, Cultural, Critical Theory. Andrew speaks German fluently having studied German language and culture for the past two years. Andrew is involved with the Wesleyan Refugee Project where he assists refugees that seek to repatriate to the United States and he is an Eco Facilitator on campus in which he help improve environmental consciousness and sustainable development at Wesleyan. Andrew also volunteers with Eye-to-Eye, a Non-Profit created to help children learn to cope with learning disabilities.

Tamara Teplow 

Tamara Teplow
Tamara Teplow graduated from Ma'ayanot Yeshiva High School in June, 2016 and will attend Stern College in the fall. This year she is studying at Midreshet Harova, a seminary in the old city of Jerusalem. Tamara has a long history of working with children. She was a head counselor at FluteStars day camp at the JCC of Tenafly for two consecutive years in which she worked with children on an individual basis as well as leading group classes, teaching music theory and flute technique. Tamara is a fashion blogger who publishes weekly blogs that highlight her artistic fashion shoots. She dresses the models, organizes the shoots, and photographs the models. Last year she organized a fashion show at her local mall in response to the earthquake in Nepal, raising over 10 thousand dollars for the cause.

Aryeh Gold

Aryeh Gold
Aryeh Gold is completing Queens College with a major in neuroscience. He has always been passionate about providing direct care to those in need. When he was 16, he became a certified EMT and spent the next five years volunteering on an ambulance corp. Aryeh previously worked as a counselor for children with special needs in Camp HASC, and then decided to spend his weekends working in a group home for adults with special needs. Aryeh enjoys forming real connections with people from different backgrounds and abilities, and tries to make an impact whenever he can.