Women here carry a double burden, often with no income of their own.
MESKP was founded to empower rural women, and that is still at the heart of our work. When women have savings, skills and access to credit, their families, and their children, are better protected against the floods that cut off work every year.
Our Self-Help Groups bring together about 12 women each. Members meet regularly, save together, keep their own books and are linked to bank credit and government schemes. Alongside the groups we train women in tailoring, livestock, small trade and kitchen gardens, and hold sessions on health, menstrual hygiene, nutrition and women's rights. 920 women take part in 76 groups.
Over the years this work has also included a counselling centre for women and children facing violence, campaigns against dowry, scholarships for girls, childcare for working women and support for widowed and disabled women to become self-reliant.
What we do
Self-Help Groups
Groups of about 12 women who save together, keep their own books and reach bank credit and government schemes.
Livelihood training
Tailoring, livestock, small trade and kitchen gardens, so women can earn an income of their own.
Health and rights awareness
Sessions on health, menstrual hygiene, nutrition and women's rights.
- Self-Help Groups
- Savings and bank linkage
- Livelihood training
- Kitchen gardens
- Health and hygiene awareness
- Women's rights
920
women in 76 Self-Help Groups
12
women, on average, in each group
40+
years working for rural women
Women's meeting, from our archive
Handicraft exhibition by women, from our archive
COVID-19 relief kits
Support this work
Gift a Poor Kid
Help a child aged 6 to 15 stay in school with fees, uniform and books. ₹500 a month or ₹6,000 a year.
80G tax exemption on every donation
Other programmes
Education
Free schooling and the support that keeps children aged 3 to 15 in class.
Health
Free health camps and check-ups for women, children and elderly villagers.
Skill Development
Practical skills that help young people and women earn close to home.
Environment
Our goal is one million trees for the villages of north Bihar.
Rural Development
Roads, clean water and sanitation, built together with the villages of Bihar.
Give your time
Visit families, help at our Kathalia campus or plant trees with us. Our volunteers work in Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Delhi and Bengaluru.