Aarti for Girls(Registered as Vijay Foundation Trust Association)

This programme strives to support and strengthen women's human rights defenders(HRD’s) identified by the Mana Bidda programme. It facilitates union and networking amongst women to continue the fight against gender discrimination at the Mandal level.

The HRD’s are enabled to get together and discuss solutions, supported by Government and legal agencies, engage and encourage college-going women to join the movement, form advocacy groups of law students to fight for women's rights, set up an open resource centre and safe house to train the coalition and provide refuge to HRD’s facing serious physical or psychological threats.

Aarti’s Mana Bidda Programme aims to fight gender discrimination by following a seven-step action process of baseline assessment, village meetings, sensitization projects, leadership training, volunteer recruitment, advocacy efforts and psychosocial support.

The programme engages project officers each of whom is accompanied by a group of counsellors from each village Mandal. The officers and their teams work on various initiatives including trying to change community behaviour for the better.

To enable women's empowerment and self-reliance, the organisation trains destitute women in various income-generating skills like tailoring, fashion design, hand and machine embroidery, massage and handicraft training such as toy making and block printing.

It also started the Lalitha fair trade co-operative to provide design and marketing support to the products manufactured by the women.

The Aarti home programme is the organisation's effort to provide safe shelter and protection to neglected girls. It attempts to provide good accommodation facilities along with extra-curricular activities like meditation sessions, reading, watching movies, field trips, crafting and a garden.

The home has now grown to become the Aarti Village which houses six cottages each managed by a house mother and houses destitute girls living as a family. The girls are encouraged to do well in life, many are absorbed as teachers while many others have qualified and work as engineers, medical technicians and social workers.

To arm the girls with the appropriate skills to face the world the organisation runs a school which is attached to its home. The girls who come into the home usually come from underprivileged backgrounds and have been exposed to painful experiences.

The school started as a bridge course identifying each girl’s current level of education and trying to bridge the gaps. It has now grown to an English medium school with both girl and boy students learning through kindergarten to grade ten. Underprivileged students are charged no fees while those who can afford it, are charged very minor fees.

The school features a large library donated by supporters and also a computer lab where online courses are taught along with teaching computer skills to older students.

Provide breakfast, lunch, evening snack and transportation to and from school to their homes

Provide shelter, education and food for abandoned and destitute girls.

Aarti English Medium School

Wellness centre provides a safe place for women in distress and provide counselling and also skills training

Provide training to women to develop sustainable livelihood skills