Deepgriha

DEEP GRIHA, meaning “Lighthouse”, was registered in July 23, 1975 to address the health and welfare needs of the poor and neglected inhabitants of the urban slums. The Society began its work from one small dispensary but rapidly expanded as the needs of the community it served increased.

Today a staff of 130 (which includes doctors, nurses, social workers, school teachers, pre-school teachers, technical instructors, and accountants) operates within an area of many thousands. The Society serves slums around Pune with projects such as a medical clinic, nutrition education, rural development, vocational training, day care, and early childhood education.

Deep Griha’s latest project is City of Child. A place where orphaned, and abandoned women and children can recuperate and go to school in a rural setting.

DISHA – Deep Griha’s Integrated Service for HIV/AIDS began in February 2005. DISHA has a sixteen-member team from Project Manager to Nutrition Centre cook, and the team of 10 field workers are predominantly from the Tadiwala Road community. The whole team received training on HIV/AIDS and basic counseling techniques. This training included ‘exposure visits’ to other HIV/AIDS projects, some of which are staffed entirely by People Living with HIV/AIDS.

DISHA is a Prevention, Control and Care programme and they work with the sexually aware, the sexually active, and those who live with HIV/AIDS and their families. The support of the community is crucial for the success of this project and we work closely with the youth mandals (groups), the mahila (women’s) mandals and other community groups.