Kicking-off Our Flagship Projects -Durjaya and Maya

Ever since I started working with Shivamaya, one of my major tasks was to coordinate and organize the launch of the twin projects - Durjaya and Maya. These projects are already operational in different parts of Kolkata, but now ShivaMaya is spreading out to the different districts across West Bengal to bring it's efforts to the rural population. Although West Bengal's urban areas are relatively developed, tribal communities dating back centuries still exist away from the cities. The tribal villages are generally detached from West Bengal as a society and are instead steeped in their own ancient traditions. Even British colonialism was either unable or uninterested in bringing these tribes into the more mainstream folds of Indian life and to this day, they have even largely resisted all three of India’s major religions, preferring instead to worship gods the rest of the country forgot long ago.

In the rural areas, Durjaya and Maya are aimed at providing a touch of modernity to these tribes without disrupting their lifestyles unnecessarily. Project Maya in particular is reaching out to the region’s women to provide vocational training and education, luxuries not often afforded to the women there. We are also seeking to connect the villages to the state government to provide basic necessities that have been ignored so far. At present, these tribes lack basic sanitation and hygiene and one of our many goals is to install functioning toilets in every home. In 2017, it can be easy to forget that there still exist many places without proper sewage, often at the detriment to the local health.

We began working on Project Maya in 2016 and now we have finally managed to launch some elements of the monumental project. Our vocational training center will be operational in October, 2017 in Kolkata and we have already started conducting periodic Health Awareness Camps in different parts of West Bengal. In terms of Project Durjaya, the idea is to make it easier for village children to access educational material such as maps, books, pens, papers and other necessary school supplies. We will continue to promote health and education in these marginal areas by engaging both with the government and locally, on the ground. There is still much to do, but providing material support can also be mentally uplifting for these poor people, encouraging a healthier, happier population.