A Widow's Perspective

As the months have progressed, each widow has become more comfortable in her work and relationships are growing stronger each day with Abbie, Katie, Asha and Dinesh and now Gayle.  The income they are earning has become a crucial part of meeting their daily needs for food and medicine but more importantly, restoring their sense of dignity.

In recent interview, one of our widows, Muni expressed to Asha how the work helps to take way her pain and offers a welcome distraction from sitting alone on her bed and reliving the pain of her past.

Watch the video below to hear her heart wrenching story.

A widow's perspective from Gayle Lawrence on Vimeo.

Open House Celebration

Open House Celebration at Mahima Creations

After months of preparation the team at White Rainbow Project collaborated with the Mahima Creation team to make the widows feel special.  We shared good food, songs, testimonies, and love.  Pastor Dinesh beautifully translated Manju's witness to the women.

We reached a new level of intimacy and our relationship is stronger than ever, as they asked for prayer for healing.  A tender farewell was bid to Katie Gilliam, with a few fallen tears shed, but she promises to return and continue deepening the friendships.

For more pictures of this special celebration, please click here to visit Mahima Creations Facebook Page  (and don't forget to "Like" us).

During the celebration, we had so many widows come to us and ask for employment.  Unfortunately, at this time, we are unable to employ many needing and deserving widows, but with your help, we hope to never have to turn away another widow who wants to work.  Won't you please consider helping us help the widows?

Click here to donate now!

White Rainbow Project Service Team in India

White Rainbow Project visiting service team spends time at Sangita home for Orphanages and Widows in Chennai and Mahima Creations in Vrindavan.

Paul and Grace Moses
Sangita Charitable Trust

Linda Mandrayar, founder and Executive Director of the White Rainbow Project, lead a group of dedicated women on a two-week service trip to India.  First stop was in Chennai where they visited Paul and Grace Moses of Sangita Charitable Trust and saw all the wonderful work they are doing in the villages with the widows making handmade note cards and knitted scarves. 

The team then made connections in Delhi at the Delhi International Christian Fellowship and were hosted in the homes by the gracious parishioners.

The team then made their way up to Mahima Creations in Vrindavan to witness all the work and participate in the Open House Celebration. 

Open Letter from Our Current Team in Vrindavan

My name is Katie Gilliam, I am 22 years old, from Tennessee originally
and I am a recent grad from Pepperdine (Class of 12’!). After having
interned with White Rainbow last summer, I’ve stayed on board and have
been so blessed to continue to work with the widows of India. I also
have a fellow Pepperdine grad and best friend, Abbie Case, from
Concord, California working alongside me now! Abbie and I spent the
summer marketing for the White Rainbow Collection and now find
ourselves at the source. We are currently residing in Vrindavan and
are helping to kick-start a new chapter in the White Rainbow Story. We
are so happy you’ve decided to come along with us and that your path
has brought you to this organization.

Over the past month, Abbie and I have been teaming up with all the
gears that make White Rainbow Project possible. We started our journey
in Delhi, stocking up supplies for our necklace program and furnishing
the space we have now in Vrindavan for the widows to come work in
everyday. We are also continuing to serve widows living in the
surrounding village of Ramtal through the necklace-making program. As
we made our way to the City of Widows, I couldn’t help but think,
“How, exactly, is this all going to pan out?” But, I must say, God is
good like that. This past month has been a great transition. We went
from expanding our necklace making one widow at a time and we now have
a teeming house full of eager women, young and old, all of whom have
stories that have brought them to Vrindavan. Many are heartbreaking.
One has been cast aside as useless by her in-laws for being a mother
of four daughters (boys are preferred here in India) and two are less
than thirty-years of age and have marked abuse from their
late-husbands. This is commonplace in Vrindavan. All this is true, and
we have staggering needs to meet financially, spiritually, and
emotionally in this city. However, the first thing we notice after
Abbie and I greet our new friends in the morning: HOPE. It is in their
eyes, their beings cling to it. They are grateful, they are eager to
learn, and they want to improve their lives. It has been on our hearts
to no longer look at these women as pitiful creatures, but to empower
them and help them understand their worth and potential as humans, not
only as necklace makers or seamstresses. This is a beautiful thing to
be a part of.  We do not want to feed into the existent cycle of abuse
by ashrams and temples. We want to be something different. We want to
serve these women as friends out of love.

Beginning this process is easy and difficult at the same time. Even
though the language barrier is great, we are becoming fast friends. We
make lunch and chai and the ladies laugh at our inept Hindi into the
late afternoon. There are many hugs, salutations, and mutual acts of
service in our household. If we make chai for the women, we HAVE to
sit and have some with the ladies or there is too much protest. We are
staying busy trying to meet the needs of an increasing number of
women. There is more to be done, more lives to reach, and so much more
love to give. Soon, we will be adding scarf-making to our agenda here
at the house/workshop. So, stay tuned!

Abbie will be here until late November, and I will be returning home
right before Christmas. I know this journey has just begun for us, but
we’ve already seen such an impact that we can only imagine what’s to
come. Thanks for all your love and support!

Love,

Katie and Abbie

Laying the Methodist Compound to Rest

July 10, 2012

Today, Asha James, Dinesh Lal and I took the train to Agra to meet with the Rev. Sylvester Massey, Executive Secretary of the Agra Regional Conference of the Central Methodist Church.  We went to discuss the possibility of the White Rainbow Project renting a building or rooms in the Methodist compound located in the heart of Vrindavan.

We had toured the Methodist compound yesterday and were familiar with the conditions there.  At this point, we were following up on one of our option for setting up a vocational center for the widows in Vrindavan.

The  Reverend Massey was very cordial and soft-spoken; he immediately launched into the problems the Methodist church and school were having, painting us a picture of insurmountable issues should decide to try renting buildings or rooms in the Methodist compound for our vocational center.

In a very simplified nutshell:  the Methodist school attendance is way down, funds are down, resulting in teachers not being paid; squatters are encroaching at an alarming rate on all Methodist properties and no easy solution exists for extricating them; and perhaps the biggest issue of all, it is not clear the Methodist Church of India actually holds the title to the properties and they are at constant odds with the Episcopalians, who claim they hold the title.  A very messy imbroglio entangled by years of corruption and greed.

Add this on top of the amount of work that would be required to bring the buildings up to a safe and usable level….and we decided to pass on the Methodist Compound.

Linda Mandrayar Makes A difference in India

This is a scanned copy of the article in "The Greater Fallbrook Area Sourcebook"of an interview with Linda Mandrayar on the White Rainbow Project.  Unfortunately, there is not an online link to the article, so you'll have to try to read it here, or pick up your own copy of "The Sourcebook" at tomorrow's Avocado Festival.

We are all so proud of you Linda, for all the work you do!!

Interact Club of Fallbrook Presents "White Rainbow"

Fallbrook High School Interact Club to host a benefit screening of the award winning film "White Rainbow" - the uplifting story of four remarkable women and their journey to overcome the social stigma and grim reality of widowhood in India.  Showing is Saturday, April 28th, 7:00pm at the Bob Burton Performing Arts Center, 2400 South Stage Coach Lane, Fallbrook, Ca.

The Fallbrook High School Interact Club and the Interact Club of Chennai India have joined forces to help raise funds for the White Rainbow Project a non-profit organization that is helping destitute widows in India.

Interact is Rotary International’s service club for young people ages 12 to 18. Interact clubs are sponsored by individual Rotary clubs, which provide support and guidance, but they are self-governing and self-supporting.

Each year, Interact clubs complete at least two community service projects, one of which furthers international understanding and goodwill. Through these efforts, Interactors develop a network of friendships with local and overseas clubs and learn the importance of

developing leadership skills and personal integrity demonstrating helpfulness and respect for others understanding the value of individual responsibility and hard work advancing international understanding and goodwill

 Film producer and founder of the White Rainbow Project, Linda Mandrayar, will be there to give a short presentation on the newly formed social entrepreneurship that helps support the widows.  Items made by the widows will be available for purchase.  Refreshments will also be available for purchase and go to support the cause.

 For tickets ($10 each) or more information please email info@whiterainbowproject.org

Middle School Presentation

 Today we were invited to give a presentation on the White Rainbow Project to Valley Middle School in Carlsbad, CA.  What made this visit so uniquely special was that all of the 5 sixth grade classes we presented to had just finished reading "Homeless Bird" by Gloria Whalen, so they already had a level of familiarity with the plight of widows in India.

They had so many questions and were so eager to learn more.  Even though they had read the book, the movie trailer and Linda Mandrayar's moving presentation brought home the reality of  life for a widow in India.
                                                                         




They were ready to "Friend" us on Facebook, model new tunics for us, and host a "Party with a Purpose"!

When you can get a group of middle schoolers this excited about something, you know you've good a good thing going!

National Charity League Screening of White Rainbow

On January 29, 2012, a group of about 80 mothers and daughters from the San Luis Rey Chapter of the National Charity League got together for a viewing of the White Rainbow film.  The viewing was held in the Fallbrook County Library's new community room.  During the movie the moms and daughters snacked on goodies brought in by the membership.  After the movie, Linda Mandrayar answered questions about the movie and explained in more detail the plight of the widows in India.  One of the questions frequently asked is "if a man's wife dies, is he also considered 'bad luck' and subjected to the same societal ostricization?"  Well, the answer is no!



After the movie and question and answer, the girls and moms got to shop at the White Rainbow Collection mobile boutique!  A great way to support the widows through purchasing of merchandise with monies going back to India in the form of vocational training and payment for work such as making the beaded necklaces.

Oprah Praises Guild of Service, Says Vrindavan’s Widow Situation “Doesn’t Make Sense”

"Vrindavan Today" reports on Oprah's visit

"....Oprah, in her address at the Jaipur Literature Festival, spoke about the paradoxes that she confronted in India.

“On one hand there is a tradition of family and values and on the other these widows are thrown out of their homes by their own kith and kin. This doesn’t make sense to me,” said a baffled Oprah to Barkha.

Oprah was alluding to the plight of the widows of Vrindavan who, condemned by their families, come to the holy city, waiting to die. In this sacred city of 16,000 widows, Dr Mohini Giri’s Maa Dham provides shelter to nearly 200 widows, protecting them from a life of poverty, sorrow and misery.

On the cold morning of January 19, Oprah met with Dr Mohini Giri in Vrindavan. Speaking to this newspaper from Delhi, the head of the Guild of Service, Mohini Giri, said, “I met Oprah at 8 am on January 19, in the streets of Vrindavan. We went to Bhajan Ashram, a place where marginalized women have been exploited for the past 200 years...."

For complete article, see "Vrindavan Today."

Students from Pepperdine Host a Party with a Purpose

A note from one of our recent "Party with a Purpose" host, Heather Myrick, a Pepperdine graduate student.

Pepperdine's Social Entrepreneurship and Change program is full of people who want to change the world, and we want to change it RIGHT NOW.  We have only immediacy rather than patience when it comes to developing an idea, organization or product.  A perfect system to us would be to : See it, talk about it, make people see the light and change it in roughly 24 - 48 hours.  Of course, no matter how we fight it, life isn't like this and Linda is someone who blessed us with a lesson that change is worth waiting for.  Linda has patience for all of us,



and when she came to speak to our class about her film and ongoing work with the widows in India, not

only was her genuine love for these women apparent, but so was her patience for the time it takes to make an impact.  Linda spoke of making the movie, then working with the widows on their crafts, then creating the White Rainbow Project non-profit and then working from home on marketing materials and other collateral.  She spoke of time as if it were her ally whereas everybody in the class speaks of time as an elusive bad-guy always one step ahead of where we want him to be.  Linda's faith in her cause and in the need she sees is what propels her forward no matter how much time it seemly takes.  She believes she can make changes in this world, so no matter how long it takes her to do, it will get done.  She instilled this idea into class just within the short hour she had for her presentation.

After hearing about the Vrindavan widows from Linda, in true social entrepreneur fashion, most of us probably would have gotten on the next plane taking off for India.  However, from Linda's inspiration, we used our immediate resources to host a White Rainbow Project "Party with a Purpose" instead.  We could not all feasibly go to India, but we had another avenue to still offer support to the Vrindavan widows.  The party was a culminating celebration for the end of our first semester of graduate school.  We were excited to host this party in honor of the Indian widows and honored to delve a little deeper into their story.



Our "Party with a Purpose" started with a simple Evite.  Evite lets you upload your own picture to some of their invitations, se we used one from the White Rainbow Project website.

 We did cheat  little and ordered most of the food from a local Indian restaurant.  We were going to attempt to make the food from scratch, but thought since our skills re in the non-profit world and not in the kitchen, this one was better left to the pros.  Someone did attempt the good ol' brownie with an Indian flare though.

Our "Party with a Purpose" let us enjoy some fellowship with each other and give back to an amzing and enlightening cause.  I am grateful to have met Linda and will continue to hold the widows in my thoughts and prayers.









  Linda inspired me to continue to want to take a step back from the feeling of having to get every cause checked off my list right now and just have a simple faith that the work everyone is doing no matter how small or slow IS contributing to the greater good.  I think this is Linda's idea with these parties:  Do what you can, when you can and with how much you can; the rest is done through faith.

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