BHAMINI
How it all began…
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The Beginning
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Three Years Later...
The beauty of this home was that we have seen the women grow. Babies being born is wonderful, but it gets even better. Through counselling and learning, these women used their pregnancy time to learn and grow themselves. These activities included learning parlour skills, developing self-esteem, and learning different crafting skills. We have been honoured to be a part of their journey, taking the next step in developing these young mothers. There have even been beautiful stories of redemption that have happened through this place.
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In 2020…
Towards the end of 2020, we learned that the house we were currently staying in needed to be vacated. With three pregnant women in the house, we began searching for a new place to call our own. We would rent if we had to, but buying our own home would be the best scenario. After searching for a couple of months, a friend told us about a man with a property. After we first met him and told him our story, he informed us he wasn't actually interested in selling this property. He had in his mind to create a home for elderly people. About a week later, we felt the urge to ask him again if he was interested in selling. To our great surprise, he said YES! We were shocked! What provision we had seen when we needed it most! By the end of September 2020, we were able to move in with five of our girls who were expecting.
After a year and a half, we were given the property and now claim it as our very own. Thanks to the generosity of those who donated and all we worked with, we now have a permanent place for our crisis pregnancy centre. A place for our girls to feel safe, babies to be welcomed, and see these girls' empowerment as they become mothers.
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To start Mekhi's Home was a challenging task. On the one hand, neither the local authorities nor the local people understood what we had in mind. So there were inquisitive looks from district authorities and suspicions from locals about the project. They simply did not get it. We were met with cold stares when we approached people for a house for lease. No one would lease their property for such work. Finally, it took around two years to meet a man willing to give us his land and house. He did not live there, as he and his wife were employees at a Government Medical College in Lucknow. They lived on the Hospital campus and did not have plans to live in this house until their retirement in 2020.
For around a year, it was challenging for us. We were so discouraged that we thought we would have to leave the project. But wonderful people were encouraging us not to stop but press on. But by the end of 2018, we received the first expectant mother in our home. Soon, we were thrilled to see five babies born here, with the next two babies due the following January, 2021. Although we had only seen six babies born, we could work with eleven ladies up until then. In a few cases, the women had to return home before giving birth. Most women come from tough situations, often their families disowning the pregnancy and lacking the support they need.
To our wonderful surprise, in 2019, we were connected to and recognized by the Child's Welfare Committee. This committee specialized in helping young children in trouble. Our partnership with them meant that if they discovered a pregnancy case in jeopardy due to the young mother's circumstances, they would refer the young girl to come to Mekhi's Home. From there, we were able to enroll them into our program. This partnership had been a mutual blessing.
In 2022 -
We received "Fit Facility" recognition from the Child Welfare Committee and the Women's Welfare. This enabled us to help many minor girls who struggled due to their pregnancies.
We moved forward each and every day in obedience to the call that we received to serve the impoverished and those that seek help to save the unborn.
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