60 August 2015 www.bahrainthismonth.com india independence The first women’s expat organisation in the GCC, the ILA was founded in 1956 by Mrs Leela Jashanmal who, coming from a business family, wanted to give something back to the community. At that time there was little to do in Bahrain, so she and her friends would get together and stitch clothing and bake for under-privileged local families. The group was officially incorporated with the Ministry of Social Development in 1983 but, by that stage, it had already been operating for several years and regularly carried out good works in the community. Nivedita says: “I was privileged to meet Mrs Jashanmal, before she passed in 2001, and she told me about the group’s motto ‘service before self’ saying that when we do something, we should always think about how we can put service first and to the forefront and that is the motto we still operate by today.” The association has a very active community service subcommittee which works with both old-age homes and orphans — ILA members visit the elderly once a month to perform Indian dance and take traditional home-cooked food. The organisation also works closely with lowincome Indian expat workers making a monthly trip to selected labour camps taking either meals or dry rations, so the men can cook for themselves. Nivedita says: “We’re closely linked with the Indian Community Relief Fund, which operates through the Indian Embassy to help workers who are often living in very poor conditions so we try to help in any way we can whether it be goods, financial help, tickets home or whatever else we can do. We also offer ‘speakeasy’ classes teaching basic English to the workers – sometimes, when they see us, they will run up to us and speak to us in English, it’s a big achievement for them and can make their lives so much better when they are able to communicate more freely.” One of the organisation’s major focuses and longterm achievements is the Sneha centre for children and young people with special needs. Set up in 1987 after four ILA members noticed there was no provision for expat special needs children, the centre opened with just four or five young people registered. Today that number has grown and Sneha is registered to offer 20 placements. It is staffed by around 25 specially-trained volunteers, so the children have one-to-one attention, and offers educational activities alongside fun arts and crafts. There is also speech therapy and things like hygiene and basic cooking aiming to improve eventual independence. Attendance at the centre is completely free and, for those in need, there is also help with medical expenses. Now the big push for the future is to move the centre to a bigger premises allowing Sneha to help more children and offer a garden area for outdoor activities and, of course, to arrange a celebration to mark the 60th anniversary. Nivedita says: “The Ministry of Social Development and the Indian Embassy are two big pillars in what we do as all of our work is carried out through voluntary fund-raising. For the future, it would be wonderful if we were able to expand Sneha so we could help even more children and we hope to make that happen soon.” President Nivedita Dutta tells Bahrain This Month about the work of the Indian Ladies’ Association (ILA) which celebrates its 60th anniversary next year. Service Before Self
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