The Sahyog team comprises a dedicated group of professionals and dynamic women recruited from the very communities in which we work, some of who were once students in the Sahyog Schools! As Sahyog has evolved, the team has had to evolve to assume roles and responsibilities that they may not have originally been recruited for. Their ability to adapt has been the strength of Sahyog.
Ruvina joined Sahyog in 2013 as Coordinator for Umang, a skills training programme for young women in the communities of Gautam Nagar, Govandi and Chikuwadi, Mankhurd. Prior to joining Sahyog, she worked at Childline India Foundation and International Justice Mission. In addition to a BA degree, Ruvina has a Post Graduate Diploma in Special Education and is currently pursuing her Masters in Social Work. Wearing the broad hat of Community Coordinator and with experience of working with women and children with special needs, Ruvina is pivotal to grounding Sahyog’s programmatic initiatives and establishing creative linkages between them. She mentors the Sangharsh and Sankalp teams and provides valuable insights to them to enhance the quality of day-to-day activities and expand the scope of the programmes. She plays an important role in organisational development as well.
ruvina@sahyogchehak.org.in
Swati Gije joined the team in 2008 and attends to Sahyog’s accounts-related and administrative tasks efficiently and briskly. She has steadily developed her computer skills. Whether it is from banks, the auditor, or the Charity Commissioner’s Office, Swati is the one we depend upon for answers to our queries. Swati has completed her SYBCom and has picked up many skills on the job.
swati@sahyogchehak.org.in
Jabin, once herself a student in the Sahyog School, was recruited as a teacher in 2007 to teach Hindi and Accounts to the Sahyog School girls. She is now a Senior Programme Assistant (Accounts and Communication) in Sahyog. She attends to accounts, documentation and engages with all media-related tasks meticulously. She also assists with the day to day operations and outreach work energetically. Keen to expand her repertoire of skills, she completed a Basic Counselling Certificate Course and Paraprofessional course from Nirmala Niketan College of Social Work. She has completed her BA through distance education.
jabin@sahyogchehak.org.in
Sandhya Maghade has completed her BA and MSW and joined the team in 2011 as a Social Worker in Sahyog Sangharsh. In 2013, she completed the the rigorous Child Development Aide course at Ummeed which built her capacity to work directly with children with disabilities. Sandhya heads Sangharsh and supervises the centre-based and home-based interventions undertaken by the team. In addition, she takes the lead for community-based programmes that contribute to creating an inclusive community. Sandhya is also studying law and is in the 3rd year of the LLB course.
sandhya@sahyogchehak.org.in
Ganesh Kharat has a BA in Economics and a B.Ed and M.Ed in Special Education from the Ali Yavar Jung Institute for the Hearing Impaired. He joined the team in 2015 and works in the area of remedial education and rehabilitation of children attending Sahyog Sangharsh. He teaches vocational and functional skills to older children with special needs. His patient, gentle and firm interactions with them make him a good role model at this critical stage of their development.
ganesh@sahyogchehak.org.in
Aasiya was in the first batch of students of the Sahyog School in Jari Mari. Being a scholarship student, she was required to contribute time to Sahyog Sangharsh, the disability programme. This experience shaped a career path for her and she is an integral part of Sangharsh since 13 years. She was also the first member of Sangharsh to complete the Child Development Aide course in 2011. As a Senior Programme Assistant in Sangharsh, Aasiya has spearheaded the home-based therapy initiative and ably guides speech therapy for children in need of it at the centre in addition to everyday teaching responsibilities. She has completed a Basic Counselling Certificate Course and Paraprofessional course from Nirmala Niketan, College of Social Work. She has completed her BA through distance education.
aasiya@sahyogchehak.org.in
Gulshan was enrolled in the Umang program in 2011 at our Dindoshi center, she seemed to show a natural inclination towards working with children with disabilities. In 2012,she enrolled for the Child Development Aid (CDA) Course-Ummeed Child Development Center and soon began the Early Intervention Center at Dindoshi in 2013. The center remained active for 2 yrs whole years and Gulshan took the lead in the planning and implementation of this program. In 2015, after an internal decision was made to close down the programs at Dindoshi, the EIC center was also closed down.During this period, she began assisting the Sangharsh team in the activities. She is the first alumni of Umang to have acquired a specialized professional degree after she enrolled in the 2 yr Diploma in Special Education Deaf Blind from Helen Keller Institute 2016 to 2018. Gulshan takes on the role as a special educator at Sangharsh center, where she plans the remedial education and teaches the children from the primary section. She is patient and loving, a quality most cherished by parents whose children have just begun school life.
gulshan@sahyogchehak.org.in
Zahida is an alumnus of the Sahyog School and completed Class 10 through National Open Schooling in 2006. As a mother of 2 young children, Zahida first worked from home, tutoring neighbourhood children. Once her children began to go to school, she decided to step out of the house and was drawn to the work carried out in Sahyog Sangharsh. She joined in 2014 and works with the older children, teaching them vocational and functional skills. Zahida’s firm and focused manner instills a confidence in the older girls and they feel comfortable sharing their personal concerns with her.
zahida@sahyogchehak.org.in
Hina got acquainted with Sahyog in 2011 through the Umang program, she later joined the EIC center as a student volunteer and showed an interest in pursuing a career in working with children with disabilities. After the EIC center closed down she enrolled for Child Development Aid (CDA) Course-Ummeed Child Development Center in 2016. Hina worked with Muskaan ngo for a few years as a teacher before joining the Sangharsh team back in 2021. Hina teaches the primary section children. Her years of working outside the community has helped her develop a professional attitude and maturity in dealing with complex situations.
hina@sahyogchehak.org.in
Saba was a student of the Sahyog School in Dindoshi and graduated from the first batch of Umang in 2012. She began working in Sahyog in the same year and helped to set up the communty-based library programme, Roshan. Four years later, Saba is a Senior Programme Assitant and an integral part of Roshan where she reads stories to young children, conducts book-based activities and is involved in adminstration and outreach as well. She is a port in the storm for many children who share their concerns and confidences with her. Saba has completed her BA and is working to improve her skills as a library educator.
saba@sahyogchehak.org.in
Bilquis joined as a teacher in the Sahyog School in 2002 and for almost a decade taught English, Business Studies and Economics to students appearing for their Class 10 exam. Her passion and perseverance to learn and teach English won her the opportunity to conduct spoken English classes for young women from the community in 2011. Since 2013 she has nurtured the growth of the Sahyog Roshan Library and now as Library Educator, handles the day to day operations of the community–based and mobile library with vigour and creativity. Bilquis can be trusted to venture into unknown territory and emerge successfully, eagerly awaiting the next adventure.
bilquis@sahyogchehak.org.in
Pooja was a leader of the Self help group in the community and would participate actively in the women’s program organized by Sahyog. She therefore got acquainted with Sahyog’s program as a beneficiary and later joined the Sahyog team in 2017, as a community health worker in the Sankalp Early Childhood and Disability program. Pooja had the skill to forge local networks and identify resources in the community with her connections through the self help groups. She began showing interest in the Roshan community library program and was taken onboard as a program assistant. Her journey from home maker to full time working women has been inspiring to other women in the community.
pooja@sahyogchehak.org.in
Shivani graduated with a BSc (Home Science) from Smt.P.N.Doshi College for Women in June 2017. Her association with Sahyog began in 2016 while she was in the last year of her graduate programme and participated in the skill-building and career preparedness programmes organised by Sahyog in her college. Shivani's interest in the social sector became apparent when she volunteered to escort two adolescents from Sangharsh, Sahyog's community based rehabilitation programme for children and adolescents with disabilities, to a vocational training centre for a month. In August 2017, Shivani came aboard the Sahyog team as Coordinator for the Scholarship-Mentorship programme which provides intensive support to a group of high school and junior college students to pursue their career goals and develop skills for their personal and professional growth. Shivani coordinates activities through the year which broaden the horizon of the scholars and within a short span of time she has built a strong relationship not only with the scholars but with their families as well who play an important role in encouraging their daughters' education.
shivani@sahyogchehak.org.in