Maher (

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language Marathi (; ''Marāṭhī'', ) is an Indo-Aryan language predominantly spoken by Marathi people in the Indian state of Mahara ...

: ') is an

interfaith Interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions (i.e. "faiths") and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels. It is ...

and caste-free Indian

non-governmental organisation A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

based near

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

with remote homes in

Ranchi Ranchi (, ) is the capital of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern Odisha, western West Bengal and the eastern area ...

Ratnagiri Ratnagiri (IAST:Ratnāgirī ; �ət̪n̪aːɡiɾiː is a port city on the Arabian Sea coast in Ratnagiri District in the southwestern part of Maharashtra, India. The district is a part of Konkan division of Maharashtra. The city is known for ...

Miraj Miraj (Pronunciation: iɾəd͡z ) is a city in Sangli District and also in Maharashtra, India, that was founded in the early 10th century. It was an important jagir of the Adil Shahi court of Bijapur. Shivaji Maharaj stayed in Miraj f ...

and

Ernakulam Ernakulam () is the Central Business District of the city of Kochi in Kerala, India and has lent its name to the Ernakulam district. Many major establishments, including the Kerala High Court, the office of the Kochi Municipal Corporation an ...

. The objective of the organisation is to provide shelter and support to destitute women and children. It was founded by Sister Lucy Kurien in 1997 in the village

Vadhu Budruk Vadhu Budruk is a village in Shirur tehsil of Pune district. The place is connected to Chatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj - the son of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Kavi Kalash. Chatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj and his aide Kavi Kalash was killed i ...

History

The Beginning (1991)

1991, while Sister Lucy was working for the H.O.P.E organisation, a pregnant woman came to her, asking for help. She believed her husband was going to kill her to bring another woman into his house. Sister Lucy couldn't help her, but promised to try and do something for her the following day. After this incident Sister Lucy decided to found Maher, to help women in such a plight. It took almost seven years to get the needed support, but on 2 February 1997 in the small village of

, on the outskirts of Pune, the first Maher house opened its doors.

Further Development (1997 - 2017)

Maher began with Sr. Lucy, 1 house, 3 residents, and daunting odds. Today, Maher operates 43 houses served by a loving army of doctors/ social workers/ teachers/ trustees/ business people/ volunteers etc., providing homes for over 1,200 full-time residents (860 children, 300 women including 120 mentally ill women and 71 mentally ill/aged destitute men) in addition to the thousands more reached by community programs such as kindergartens, self-help groups, village libraries, and so on. All are welcome at Maher regardless of religion, gender, caste, color, creed, or social status. Over a period of only 20 years, over 38,000 people have been impacted with Maher's aid programs, 43 houses have been built (7 for women, 34 for children and 2 for men) and Maher expanded in other states of India:

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . It ...

(2008) and

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Canar ...

(2009) . Also the aid for Maher increased considerably. More and more people, mainly from Austria, Germany, the United States and the UK, came to support the project. For her work at Maher, Sister Lucy was honoured with the

Nari Shakti Puraskar The Nari Shakti Puraskar is an annual award given by the Ministry of Women and Child Development of the Government of India to individual women or to institutions that work towards the cause of women empowerment. It is the highest civilian hon ...

at the hands of the then President of India,

Pranab Mukherjee Dr. Pranab Mukherjee (11 December 193531 August 2020) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 13th president of India from 2012 until 2017. In a political career spanning five decades, Mukherjee was a senior leader in the India ...

, DCCIA Award for Excellence in Social Service 2010 Global Women's Leadership Award 2011, Paul Harris Fellow,

Vanitha ''Vanitha'' () is an Indian magazine published fortnightly by the ''Malayala Manorama'' group. It is the largest magazine in India by circulation according to Audit Bureau of Circulations, with average qualifying sales of 687,915 copies (as of D ...

Woman of the Year Award among other prominent awards. Maher and Sister Lucy Kurien have featured several times on

Indian television The television industry in India is very diverse and produces thousands of programs in many of the Indian languages. More than half of all Indian households own a television. As of 2016, the country had over 857 channels of which 184 were pay ...

, including the popular show Satyamev Jayate hosted by actor

Aamir Khan Mohammed Aamir Hussain Khan (; born 14 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director and producer who works in Hindi films. Through his career spanning over 30 years, Khan has established himself as one of the most notable actors of Indian ci ...

, and also on

Vatican Radio Vatican Radio ( it, Radio Vaticana; la, Statio Radiophonica Vaticana) is the official broadcasting service of Vatican City. Established in 1931 by Guglielmo Marconi, today its programs are offered in 47 languages, and are sent out on short wave, ...

. In 2015, Sister Lucy was invited to attend the

Clinton Global Initiative The Clinton Foundation (founded in 2001 as the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation, and renamed in 2013 as the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation) is a nonprofit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. tax code. It was es ...

. In May 2017, Maher was granted a " special consultative status" with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (UN-ECOSOC). Sr Lucy with Pope 512 Hi Res

Maher founder, Sister Lucy, has had the opportunity to meet with

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

, Indian Prime Minister

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...

and former US President Bill Clinton on different occasions.

Today (from 2017)

In 2017, Maher had its 20th anniversary celebration attended by 15,000 people from 10 countries. Former

President of India The president of India (IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murmu i ...

Pratibha Patil Prathibha DeviSingh Patil (born 19 December 1934) is an Indian politician and lawyer who served as the 12th president of India spanning from 2007 to 2012. She is the first woman to become the president of India. A member of the Indian National ...

, chairperson, Lila Poonawalla Foundation, Lila Poonawalla and eminent Buddhist nun Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo attended the event on 5 February 2017 at Maher Vatsalyadham, Avhalwadi, Pune.

Structure

Maher's activities are grouped into different projects - the three main projects are Mamtadham (

: ''a place of mother's love''), Kishoredham (

: ''a children's place'') and Vatsalyadham (

: ''a place of love''). The organization is led by women leaders - the founder Sister Lucy Kurien and the president Hirabegum Mulla.

Summary of all Maher projects

Philosophy

Most of Maher's children and women are

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

s, but there are

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

Buddhists Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gr ...

and

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

too. Maher's emphasis on

is essential in the everyday life, but also at special occasions. In November 2012, Maher celebrated the

festival of light -

Diwali Diwali (), Dewali, Divali, or Deepavali ( IAST: ''dīpāvalī''), also known as the Festival of Lights, related to Jain Diwali, Bandi Chhor Divas, Tihar, Swanti, Sohrai, and Bandna, is a religious celebration in Indian religions. It is o ...

- in a special way: people from different religions recited verses and prayed together. In order to promote peace, harmony and brotherhood, Maher celebrates all the major festivals of the different religions in India. Maher also takes steps to follow the idea of

sustainability Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livin ...

: In March 2013 the organization decided to play

Holi Holi (), also known as the Festival of Colours, the Festival of Spring, and the Festival of Love,The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) p. 874 "Holi /'həʊli:/ noun a Hindu spring festival ...". is an ancient Hindu religious festival ...

with natural colours instead of using the common synthetic colours.