Erev Banot Women's Giving Circle Showcases GPM

The ‘Erev Banot Women’s Giving Circle’, a Jewish women’s charity collective in Denver, Colorado, generously hosted a gathering on behalf of Gabriel Project Mumbai. Thirty women came together to learn about GPM development work in the slums and villages of India, focused on the challenges faced by the marginalized and vulnerable communities living in these areas, and raised funds towards the nutritional health of these communities.

 “We are so pleased that our program to raise funds for the Gabriel Project Mumbai was meaningful and successful,” relayed Sheryl Feiler, who, along with Joanne Kleinstein and Vicki Trachten-Schwartz, coordinated the event.

Jenny Samad, a former JDC-Entwine GPM Fellow in Mumbai who is now living in Denver, shared some of her experiences and insights with the group. “GPM is making a meaningful difference in the lives of the children in the slums,” she says about her time teaching in the GPM Joshua Greenberger Learning Center – in the heart of the Kalwa slum. “It was a privilege for me to be part of this vital work.”

The Erev Banot Giving Circle’s mission was created in 2018 as a way for women in the community to connect socially while at the same time doing something innovative and meaningful.  The multi-generational group of women decided to use the giving circle model for giving to Jewish women and children, and to organizations they might not have otherwise heard about locally, nationally and internationally. Their mission is “to ensure the health and well-being of women and children by nourishing each other through food, friendship and education.”.

“We are very grateful to Erev Banot for their passion and love of women and children living in vulnerable communities around the world, sad GPM Director, Jacob Sztokman. “It is heartwarming to see a group of people who deeply care for others who they have no direct connection other than their shared humanity.”

The fifth cohort of post-army 'Heroes For Life' volunteers with GPM

For the fifth year in a row, Heroes For Life (HFL) לוחמים ללא גבולות, a group of recently-released army soldiers who are dedicated to "giving back" to vulnerable populations around the world, are back in India volunteering with GPM. With their largest cohort thus far of 36, the HFL team are teaching in the Kalwa slums and rural village schools, and creating an eco-friendly vegetable garden to showcase farming innovations such as rainwater harvesting, solar water pumps, and drip irrigation techniques being implemented by the GPM rural nutrition program.

"The HFL participants bring a lot of passion and excitement to our classes," said GPM Project Coordinator Dennis Moses. "They create innovative lessons that the children love and are energized by."

Above, the fifth HFL cohort with GPM.
Below, HFL participants teach middle-school students at the GPM Joshua Greenberger Learning Center in the Kalwa slums.

Two Australian-Israeli doctors visit Mumbai to upgrade GPM healthcare

Dr. Jordana Hyman and Dr. John Borowski, a married physician couple from Jerusalem, spent three weeks in India delivering healthcare and medical training to the GPM community. John, a family physician, medical educator, and global health expert, works with Maccabi Healthcare Services as a senior resident trainer in Jerusalem and has deployed with international teams in refugee camps in Africa. Jordana, an Ob/GYN who specializes in IVF, works at Shaarei Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem and as a senior member of Jerusalem’s sexual assault crisis team. The couple, who spent time in both the GPM Shravan Health Center (SHC) in Kalwa and the villages around Ashte where GPM operates, came with their five children aged 2-17, who also participated in GPM activities. 

In the Kalwa slum, the doctors delivered a series of health-care workshops to the community on topics such as addiction, common emergencies, contraception, pregnancy health and nutrition, and breastfeeding. Dozens of people – both community members and local GPM medical staff – attended each workshop. John audited the clinic’s main services and led several training sessions for SHC medical support staff on topics including wound care, universal precautions, and malnutrition.

Jordana ran a two-day women’s clinic in SHC in which she treated nearly 100 women for gynecological issues. She also conducted home visits with prenatal and postnatal patients in the Kalwa community, checking on the health needs of mothers and babies, identifying additional opportunities to improve the care of local women, and working to empower them with important knowledge in the area of reproductive health.

“Dr Jordana’s treatment, training and home visits were so well received by the women,” said GPM Healthcare Coordinator Savita Mane who accompanied Dr Jordana during her time in Kalwa.  “Her patients were excited to have a woman doctor expert give over her expertise.”

Jordana also trained local staff on patient diagnosis by revising patient intake questions to better assess women’s health. For example, Jordana found that many doctors ask patients how many children they have rather than how many pregnancies they have had. The switch to questions about pregnancies revealed a vital component of patients’ gynecological histories that local doctors may have previously overlooked. Sadly, she discovered a high rate of accidental death in childhood, which highlights an opportunity for GPM to develop programs in the field of child safety in a slum environment.

In the remote village of Ashte, the doctors conducted school health checkups for the 250 children enrolled in GPM Love2Learn educational programs. They tracked growth measurements, screened all children with a focused history, and conducted a brief physical examination. “We found kids with pneumonia, gastroenteritis, intestinal parasites, bacterial and fungal skin infections, bronchitis, anemia, acute and chronic malnutrition, dental caries, and more”, John reported. 

The doctors also helped strengthen GPM’s ties with the local Base Hospital/Primary Care Center near Ashte where two physicians and their teams serve more than 55,000 patients. The hospital sees 150 patients daily, including 45 births per month, 70 vasectomies a year, and over 200 tubal ligations per year. Jordana held a gynecological specialist clinic there. “They have no gynecologists on staff, no instrumental deliveries or c-sections. Most mothers weighed under 40kg,” she reported.

John gave a talk for the entire staff on the growing problem of non-communicable diseases, like ischemic heart disease and diabetes. “The lecture was very well-received and hopefully will help with closer cooperation between the government services and GPM,” he reported. John also gave a talk on first aid to the local village men.

John used his breadth of experience running regional medical services in Jerusalem to help evaluate the services of SHC and to create protocols for best clinical practices. He wrote a comprehensive report which is now being studied and implemented by the staff on the ground. He also had a special meeting with the administrator of the clinic where he delivered his findings. 

“We are so grateful to Dr. Jordana and Dr. John for offering their invaluable knowledge and experience on behalf of the community here,” said GPM Program Director Thaiza Dias. “Now our job is to use the insights gained in order to improve our health and medical services for the entire community.”

Chabad Mumbai Brings Volunteers and Joyous Murals to GPM's Nursery School

It is with a great deal of gratitude that GPM acknowledges the fantastic work of Chabad Mumbai and their teen volunteers who joined GPM for a day of volunteering in the Kalwa slums. Chabad volunteers joined us to bring light, joy, and color to our nursery school classroom.  Chabad's CTeen group under the guidance of Mushky and R. Uri Blau created a beautiful mural which will surround the pre-school children in the Joshua Jacob Greenberger Learning Center(JLC) every day.

Each week, the JLC is home to 9 classes from nursery (pre-school) to 8th grade. Not only do the children attending the JLC receive the education that they need to end the cycle of poverty, but they also receive warm, nutritious meals that keep their minds and bodies healthy and strong. The GPM solution of providing meals for children in school addresses both short-term and long-term needs of the children. The immediate need of hunger relief is achieved, malnutrition is abated, and a sound education is established to help promote a better life for children of the slums. 

We extend much thanks to Mushky and R. Uri Blau as well as the directors of Chabad Mumbai, Chaya and R. Israel Kozlovsky.

GPM prioritizes creating a warm environment that is fun and educational, and volunteers such as Chabad Mumbai help us to keep the center vibrant for the children! 

​

Explore GPM's Work Through Our New Website!

We are proud to announce the launch of our brand new website! Thanks to dedicated volunteers and professionals GPM has officially launched a new site, with special thanks to Jackie Lebwohl, our web designer.  Our new site has features which allow you to seamlessly explore our programming by topic, such as Nutrition, Education, Health, Community Development, and Women's Empowerment.

As GPM has expanded in the last several years so too have our projects. By organizing them by theme you are able to focus in on the areas of our work which interest you most. Additionally, our new site features a section for getting involved, ways to become a GPM ambassador, organize site visits, and of course ways to support our work!

Our site also has a special page dedicated to our Friends and Partners. It is thanks to our supporters that we are able to feed over 1,000 children each year and provide them with quality education, healthcare, and nutrition support as well as clean drinking water, soap, and hygiene supplies & education. We are enabled by your support to continue to expand our holistic development approach, promoting thriving communities and ending the cycle of poverty.

It is our hope to expand the new site to include an online store for purchasing products from our women's empowerment projects, such as hand-made soap, Masala Mama's cookbooks, recycled paper, hand-made sewn garments, and Warli art. While we are still building the infrastructure for this, if you are interested in purchasing any of these items please get in touch with us, the proceeds from the sale of these products support our women's empowerment projects!

We hope you will take a look at our new site and explore the ways in which GPM has grown and expanded, and ways in which you too can get involved with GPM's work!

India Trip Participants and Volunteers Raise $15,000 for GPM's Educational Programs

In May, Maura Koenig and Miranda Lapides, recent participants on JDC Entwine’s latest “Inside India” trip, organized a fundraiser for GPM. They hosted two Shabbat dinners, one in New York City and one in Washington, DC with a goal of raising $10,000 for GPM’s educational programs at the Joshua Jacob Greenberger Learning Center (JLC) in the slums of Kalwa, and the village of Ashte.

Between the Shabbat dinners, the sale of Masala Mama cookbooks and paintings by local artists from Ashte, and sharing the campaign link across social media, $15,000 was raised! These funds will support our local teachers for the year, monthly teacher trainings, teaching aid kits for classes and desks for children.

The May 3rd NYC Shabbat dinner hosted 70 people, and in DC 30 people attended. Both events provided a delicious Indian meal, a presentation on GPM’s initiatives and the work we do, and caring communities that came together to contribute to a cause that spoke to them. Attendees, whether they were from the Jewish community, the Indian community, friends of GPM, or participants of a JDC Entwine trip, all had one thing in common: they were passionate about the cause.

(Photo Credit: Becca Siegel)

Maura, a Jewish educator in New York, relates her trip experience to the Hebrew word “hineni,” meaning “here I am.” “Hineni means ‘I felt this, I saw this, I was there’,” Maura explained. “Our visit to the slums in and around Mumbai meant so much, with so much to be done, and I wanted to do something about it…and we did. It’s incredible how many people can care about something when you share your story.”

(Photo Credit: Elizabeth Leff)

Miranda, a communications professional in Washington, DC, knew from her first day in the slums that she wanted to help raise money for GPM. “I was inspired by GPM’s work the moment we set foot in the slums, seeing the smiles on the children’s faces in the JLC classrooms, the mothers receiving medical care at the Shravan Health Center, the daily nutritious meals being served and women’s collectives providing financial empowerment to women in the slums,” Miranda said. “I had to bring this experience back home with me and get others excited about it as well.”Maura and Miranda decided that hosting Shabbat dinners would be the most effective way to engage the community and to raise funds. “There’s a very low barrier to entry: come and eat good food and drink good wine (and whiskey!) with good people, and hear a message that is important to the world and the Jewish people,” Maura said.

Thank you so much to Maura and Miranda who conceived these events, and all the Entwine volunteers who helped turn them into a reality. Additionally, a special thank you to Michael Braun, for his generous matching grant. Lastly, many thanks to Greenberger and Cortese families.

A special thank you to all those who contributed as sponsors for the dinners:

Ayurveda Cafe

Breads Bakery

Bread Furst

Coffy Cafe

Indian Delight

JDC Entwine

Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan

Moishe House Without Walls

Nachman, Phulwani, Zimovcak (NPZ) Law Group, P.C.

Rasika West End

Trader Joe’s

WeWork