Giving life to girls without a voice
What began as an international visit between two sisters several years ago has turned into one organization’s mission to raise awareness of female feticide and gender discrimination. While such terms may seem so distant to the many of us who have sisters, daughters, mothers, and aunts we value, for an unfortunate few, a baby girl is not a blessing, but instead a burden.
This belief, coupled with those that put a higher importance on a male’s position within a family and society, and the subsequent violence and intolerance against females has given purpose to the Mamta Foundation. The Surrey-based organization is a non-religious, non-political society that aims to “support the moral, social, cultural and economic uplift of orphan, unwanted, abandoned and poor children around the world” while standing up for gender equality and women’s empowerment both locally and globally.
Makhan Deo, president of the foundation, recalls the story his wife told him upon her return from India in 2009. A visit to Unique Home, an orphanage in Jalandhar, Punjab, saw young girls who had been rescued from bushes and ditches, babies found abandoned and brought in by the police, and newborns left anonymously outside the centre after birth – all because they were not boys; they were girls.
It didn’t take long before Deo was on a plane to India himself to see the outrage firsthand. “We visited the place and that really touched my heart,” he recalls. “To see the little girls in the cribs, some cribs had five, six girls together, they have three bedrooms and at that time they had 55 girls...they don’t have enough room to sleep.”
Active in several groups in the Surrey area, Deo was able to discuss the issues these girls faced with many others who became as dedicated to the cause as he was.
The purpose of Mamta Foundation is two-fold; helping the girls of Jalandhar through promotion and donations to the Unique House allows for a better quality of life and an increased awareness of those suffering from gender discrimination. Through this work, the organization also intends to bring awareness to the injustices faced by women and girls in local communities in the Lower Mainland and across Canada.
Deo refers to the story of Jassi Sidhu, a young Indo-Canadian allegedly murdered in an honour killing in 2000 – the case against her mother and uncle is still in the courts. As the Foundation aims to publicize, these unbelievable acts of violence and discrimination happen closer to home than many want to believe.
Mamta Foundation holds an annual function aimed at raising both funds and awareness for their cause. This year’s event takes place on Saturday, February 6, and will be held at the Dhaliwal Banquet Hall where the space, food and service for the 1,000 guests in attendance is generously donated to ensure all funds raised go directly to those in need.
Deo encourages the community to attend one of their yearly events in order to learn more about the cause. Community support is necessary to inspire a change in attitudes that will ultimately help stop the gender inequalities that see so many girls suffer needlessly.
In addition to attending events or making monetary donations, the organization relies on an important group of dedicated volunteers. “We need people who can support us locally,” says Deo. “We need volunteers at the parades and the functions, every month and every week when we go to the temples to distribute literature and talk to the people about this.”
Deo stresses how important the volunteers are, adding that none of the organization’s members are paid and all work done, including trips to India, is paid for by the members, not through funds donated to the Foundation.
The fight for equal rights for women can be a matter of life or death for some girls. For Mamta Foundation, it’s a battle they’ll continue to fight until everyone is equal.
