“Experience God in daily life situations through contemplation in action.” – SAL spiritual guideline.
In India, especially in villages, women are never considered on par with men and are often mistreated, exploited or abused. Rape victims, unwed mothers, and abused women find refuge in two homes set up by SAL. One is the Meyer’s Home in Mangalagiri (Andhra Pradesh) and the other is at Sneha Bhavan located in Chakan, Pune (Maharashtra).
When women are left to fend for themselves on the streets after being abandoned by their husbands/relatives, the police turn up with them at the doorstep of one of these two homes. These women have no means of sustaining their livelihood. Some of them have mental illnesses and are vulnerable. They are disturbed, confused, and distrustful. At times, in this distressful state they contemplate suicide. For such women, the Sisters provide moral and therapeutic support.
SAL also provides these abandoned women with counselling and a way to get on with their lives by learning different modes of livelihood like:
- Tailoring
- Embroidery
- Or any other courses that has a duration of 6-8 months (as this is the time spent at the homes)
At these homes, women are given refuge and taken care of till all legal formalities (as per the case) are finalized. In case the woman is from another state, then the Sisters work in co-ordination with non-governmental organisations (NGO’s) located in the woman’s home state for rehabilitation.
As for unwed mothers, SAL tries to reunite them with their family, or get them married, or set them up with financial schemes. For reunited families, the Sisters follow up on the women regularly to make sure there are no pending issues and if so, they are taken care of amicably so that the subject of abuse/abandonment does not arise.
