GPM once again receives Candid's Gold Seal of Transparency (2023)

We are so happy to have achieved, once again, Candid’s Gold Seal of Transparency status for 2023

(previously recognized as GuidStar’s Gold Seal of Transparency)! 

Gabriel Project Mumbai’s top priority is to utilize every donation it receives for the benefit of the communities we serve and to make the biggest impact on the health, education, livelihood and health of these underserved communities. Candid’s Gold Seal of Transparency highlights the high standards of responsible fiscal management and accountability we have running our programs in India!

GPM and IsraAID promoting mental health in vulnerable communities in India

IsraAID mental health professional Anva Ratzon is delivering Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) trainings to Gabriel Project Mumbai teams in order to equip them for working in the tribal communities in India. The two-week training will provide GPM staff with skills and techniques for supporting the community in regulating stress and promoting self-care.  

Ms Ratzon delivering trainings on MHPSS at GPM Center

The critical issue of mental health is often overlooked in marginalized communities that are experiencing the emotional and psychological stresses of living in extreme poverty. 

“How can we talk about mental health in a community with no food or livelihood security?” posed Ms. Ratzon, a social worker specializing in community MHPSS, to the participants. “These communities are the ones that most need resources to manage their own mental health,” she emphasized.

“There is a general fear amongst community members that working on mental health is akin to having a

GPM Social Protection Team in a break during trainings

mental illness, and that has its own taboos,” explains GPM Programs Director, Thaiza Dias. “Thanks to these IsraAID trainings, our staff will be able to bring awareness of the importance of mental health, dispel myths and taboos, and encourage mental self-care.” 

Ms. Ratzon has visited several primary health centers in the sub-district of Mokhada that GPM is working with, and has sat with government health workers, village leaders to evaluate a general needs assessment of the villages in Mokhada. 

The MHPSS trainings will be taking place over the next few weeks, with follow-up throughout the year. GPM staff, who have been engaged in community social protection awareness campaigns through an ongoing partnership with IsraAID – will now be able to offer mental health and psychosocial support to 56 tribal communities.  

Anva Ratzon visiting Washala Primary Health Center, Mokhada

Innovative STEM tablets educate children in rural India

For the first time in the tribal villages of Mokhada, Israeli created ‘Einstein Tablets’ with innovative measurement censors have been used by Gabriel Project Mumbai team of educators to teach science, chemistry and physics in rural government boarding schools in India.

Over 2500 children aged 12-16 are part of GPM’s ‘SCI-MA’ program, spending the academic year with GPM’s creative science curriculum, performing advanced science experiments using the Einstein Tablets and 16 different internal and external measurement censors from Fourier Education. 

Big thanks to the Israel Consulate in Mumbai, Deputy Consul Dahlia Neumann and trainer Eyal at Fourier Education for donating the “built-in science lab” tablets and censors and for the trainings that took place at the Israel Consulate, Mumbai and via zoom in the rural villages of Mokhada. GPM is also grateful to the local educational authorities for adopting the GPM science and math programs in their schools.

“It is wonderful to see the intersection of corporations, local and foreign government bodies and GPM coming together to provide vital STEM education for children from marginalized tribal communities”, said Rohit Jadhav, SCI-MA Supervisor. “Science education is so very important for the future careers of the children and important for the sustainable growth of the communities.”

We hope to use more Einstein Tabs to advance science learning in underserved communities in India.

Deputy Consul, Israel Consulate, Mumbai Dahlia Neumann with GPM educators during a training on the Einstein Tablets

GPM launches groundbreaking environment action program in Indian schools

Gabriel Project Mumbai (GPM) has been selected to launch an exciting new Environmental Educational Program in order to redress the issues of environmental injustice that profoundly impact the tribal communities of Maharashtra.

 The Environmental Education Program, which is being launched this month in the district of Palghar in the state of Maharashtra, aims to embed environment awareness, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and climate action within the existing primary school curriculum (grades 1 through 8) across 10 districts in Maharashtra state. This project, which is being initiated by the Centre for Environment Education and UNICEF Maharashtra India, is a collaboration with the Indian Government education department. Gabriel Project and its local entity, the Grameen First Development Foundation, were selected as the lead coordinator for the Palghar district of four million people.

“This initiative promotes joyful and experiential learning around crucial environmental issues,” explains GPM Director Kenneth D’Souza. “In embedding environmental education in rural development, we are addressing several key intersecting issues, as well as several SDGs at once. Often, the most vulnerable communities, who struggle with poverty, health neglect, and lack of infrastructure, are also the most negatively affected by climate change. We see that, for example, with issues of

drought and extreme weather and their devastating impact on rural communities. We are looking to address root causes of environmental justice where it is most needed, first by investing in education for awareness.”

The Environmental Education training, which takes place over four months, has already trained 11 Master Trainers who in turn are training 1100 teachers in their sub-districts (talukas). The next stage will be to select “Lighthouse Schools” who will be leaders of this project in each district.

Other schools and teachers may consult and seek guidance from the ‘Lighthouse school’ to implement this project in their own schools. The program will eventually reach thousands of master educators in Palghar and create a comprehensive systemic change.

“This educational initiative will not only bring awareness of the climate problem to tribal children but will also see a generation of new thinkers and changemakers from within the tribal communities who will be environment-advocates and climate-action-warriors for their homeland and their communities,” Mr. D’Souza adds.

The program also anticipates rewriting parts of the government’s syllabus to include environmental
awareness, sustainability, and climate change.

“The Environmental Education Program will have a long-term impact on climate, sustainability, and communal development,” says GPM Founding Director Jacob Sztokman. “It will influence the health and well-being of marginalized communities for generations to come.”

This program also forms a powerful model for collaboration between GPM the Indian government, Ministry of Education, UNICEF, and local grass-roots partners, which is a core GPM value. It also uses a climate action mindset while respecting local culture, customs and tribal heritage, which also form core GPM values.

The 1100 schools in Palghar district participating in the current pilot are almost half of the government schools in Palghar. When the pilot is finished, plans are to expand to the entire district. The program is scalable and ultimately has the potential to be implemented in school districts throughout India.