Happy Anniversary to US, Sambhali U.S.
Five years ago, Sambhali U.S. was born.
On July 2, 2019, on a steamy day in Baltimore, we filed our articles of incorporation. My reward for making it through the bureaucracy was a (now melty) chocolate chip cookie waiting in the car. With the first bite I was surprised to taste the spices of masala chai, transporting me back to India. It was a good sign—and an excellent cookie.
In early October, the Sambhali U.S. Board of Directors met for the first time. One member had an accident and couldn’t travel so we figured out how to use Zoom to link her in, which we thought was a bit novel. A sign of some sort? Little did we know it would be our last in-person meeting for two years.
Then on November 15th, Sambhali U.S. officially launched with our first email and social media messages sent to friends, family, and those who had visited Sambhali Trust. We were ready to go…but would anyone be ready to go there with us?
So much to say about changes and growth between then and now. But for now, two stories…
Aasu
Aasu was featured on our first Sambhali U.S. Facebook post:
I met Aasu early in 2019 when I volunteered for two months at Sambhali Trust. One of my roles was volunteering at the Sheerni Board Home. She was a 9th grade girl I thought rather rude because when I was doing workshops she would interrupt to talk to the rest of the girls. Finally, I figured out she was translating for those whose English wasn’t as strong as hers—and was both grateful and struck by her leadership skills, knowing what needed to be done and doing it.
Aasu was a terrific student, dancer, artist, and leader. She had already begun sketching out the clothes she would design someday. The next year, she told me she was sorry she didn’t have as much time for hanging out as she was studying for her important 10th class board exams. As with all exams, she did extremely well, ultimately graduating from secondary school at the top of her class.
Over the years I’ve written about Aasu’s many accomplishments and her many obstacles, including being pressured to marry during her first year of college—and how the day after her wedding she traveled three hours back to Jodhpur to take a final exam, which she aced. She was able to continue to live at Sambhali’s Abhayasthali Boarding Home the year after her marriage but this year, her final year of college, she is living with her in-laws and studying remotely. Will she graduate with honors? I’m betting on it. She also has a job teaching at a private school and earns additional income sewing for women in the village.
The teenaged girl who helped the other girls understand me is now a young woman who teaches children and helps other villagers communicate via WhatsApp. The broad smile and sparkle in her eyes are still there. She has many challenges ahead, to be sure, but with both the skills and the self-confidence to take on those challenges.
Aadarsh
One of my other roles when I volunteered in 2019 was to help with the No Bad Touch workshop to teach young children about sexual abuse and how to protect themselves. I was tech support and played the evil uncle in the puppet show (which I was much better at than tech support). I was also on the team that developed a workshop for teens about both sexual abuse and the mental, physical, and emotional changes of puberty. Together these two workshops make up Sambhali’s Aadarsh program.
One day after we finished the last session at a school, I saw the principal walk Vimlesh Solanki, the project lead at Sambhali Trust, down the street to talk to the principal at another school. The goal was to convince that school’s leadership that this was a good program that would benefit their students, even though it included topics that otherwise weren’t talked about. That’s how Vimlesh built the program, convincing one school at a time.
Then came the pandemic when schools were closed for a very long time. After they reopened, schools needed every moment to catch up on all that time lost—adding new challenges to Vimlesh’s efforts to reach children and teens with this vital information.
Still, since Aadarsh began in 2013, Sambhali has reached over 25,000 children and teens with these vital programs including over 1100 just last month. What changed? Government authorities have come to know and trust the work of Sambhali. When the Trust recently reached out to the local administration about recent high-profile cases of sexual abuse of children and its new “Suraksha Ka Haath, Bachpan Ke Saath!” (the hands of protection with children) campaign, the Education Department responded enthusiastically with a call to all of the government schools to participate in the Aadarsh workshops. As a result, Sambhali Trust worked is now partnering with the local government to raise awareness on child abuse, empowering children to speak up and stay safe.
Both of these stories of growth and perseverance begin with “Aa”. Just imagine how long this letter would go if I reached all the way to Z! Indeed, Sambhali Trust continues to grow and expand, with one beautiful example being the launch of Sambhali Sarai, announced in this newsletter, which brings together the many parts of what makes Sambhali’s holistic approach to empowerment so powerful.
But back to the first question I had nearly five years ago to the day: The Sambhali U.S. Board of Directors was ready to go…but would anyone be ready to go there with us?
The answer was—and is—yes and for that I thank each person who is reading this letter, who has donated, volunteered, or heard the stories of the women and girls of Sambhali with an open mind and an empathetic heart.
Over 75 volunteers, including our three extraordinary new board members introduced in this newsletter, have donated their time, creating our communications, engaging volunteers here and in India, raising funds, and providing technical support to Sambhali Trust. And over 750 individuals, companies, and foundations have donated their treasure, together enabling Sambhali U.S. to become the largest funder of Sambhali Trust.
Five years ago, we didn’t dream we were on the precipice of a world-wide pandemic or that we’d face bureaucratic issues that would prevent Sambhali Trust from accepting foreign funds for eight months, as happened in 2022—hurdles we may not have been able to leap over, but somehow scrambled over and around. Because the women and girls of Sambhali—Vimlesh, Aasu and so many others—all facing many obstacles, were showing us the way.
With gratitude,
Aasu recently messaged me with some sketches she’d done, including the one that is now on the back of her mobile, from a photo taken when I visited her home in Setrawa in 2020. (Aasu is directly to my right.) I am honored.
