Sevika Sanghom Women's Centre

The Mar Thoma Suvisesha Sevika Sanghom, to give it its full name, is a large and diverse women's centre run by women for women. The centre has a wide range of projects which provide help and support to women at various times of need during their lives: as destitute young girls, as battered wives, during times of mental illness and during old age.       

The Mar Thoma church is an indigenous Keralan Church and although one of the aims of the Sevika Sanghom, founded in 1919, is to promote a Christian way of life, its main aim is social action for women.

Projects currently run by the Sevika Sanghom include:

• A Retirement Home
• Working Women's Hostels
• Halfway home for mentally ill women
• Home for disabled women
• Girls' Home
• Teacher Training School
• Upper Primary School
• Pre-primary School
• Bible School
• Tailoring Unit
• Bakery
• Curry Powder Unit
• Printing Press
• Snack centre

Volunteers are invited to work within the following projects, dependent upon their particular skills and interests:

• Vishranthi Bhavan, the retirement home: you might enjoy interacting with these older women, providing distractions and activities, for example, discussion, handicrafts, games or music sessions, etc. 
• Classroom Assisstant: if you have an interest in primary education, you might provide a range of extra-curricular activities for the children at the kindergarten and primary schools. English teaching may also be an option.
• Pre-primary Teacher Training: you might be able to teach the trainee teachers a range of extra-curricular activities suitable for the under-fives which they will be able to pass on to their future charges.

All the above opportunities are available at the Thiruvalla campus of the Sevika Sanghom. However, if you are looking for a bit more of a challenge and don't mind living far from the hustle and bustle of Indian town life, two projects will be very keen to hear from you.

15 minutes from Elanthoor, itself a small village some 45 minutes from the town of Thiruvalla, lies another Sevika Sanghom campus. Here you'll find Balika Bhavan and Sneha Theeram

• Balika Bhavan Home for Girls provides free boarding and education at nearby schools to girl students in the age group 5 - 18 years from "socially and economically backward families irrespective of their caste and creed" (quote taken from Sevika Sanghom literature). There are at present 75 girls and as they are all of school age, the volunteer will be most appreciated at weekends or evenings.
• Sneha Theeram is a half way house for mentally ill women which provides shelter, support and training for women who have been released from hospital but are not yet ready to re-enter society. A volunteer might enjoy spending time with these women, helping them in their chores or participating in their leisure activities: introducing new games and pastimes or learning traditional Indian games from them.

It is possible to share your time around several of the projects available if you so wish.

Placements are available from 6 weeks to 6 months in length throughout most of the year, except during April and May.

Please contact us for details of placement availability.