Story of Sabhyataa Foundation – NGO by Geetika
Sabhyataa Foundation is the NGO founded by Geetika from Delhi NCR. TechnoVans team interviewed the founder of Sabhyataa Foundation NGO and came up with this great social work she is doing.
About Sabhyataa
Sabhyataa is a team of Life Coaches intended to oust Stress and Depression from lives of people thus adding to Peace and Harmony in society and world. Our slogan is “Don’t fight it alone, talk to us”. With the mission to help maximum people attain Sound Mental Health and with a vision to restore Spiritual Culture along with Environment of Earth, we use simple Cognitive Tools and Therapies that can be performed by anyone and everyone without cultural or religious obligations.
Mile Stones – ( As of today )
- 2702 Personal counseling sessions
- 580 cognitive workshops
- 1600 trees planted
- 27 Meditation programmes for Delhi Police
- Monthly distribution drives for the underprivileged. ( mostly books, stationery and footwear )
- We distributed about 500 masks to kids in slum dwellings across NCR Ghaziabad and educated people about Corona.
About the founder
Geetika from Delhi NCR have done her MBA in Marketing and HR. Before starting this NGO, her last job was Branch Head ( BD and Training ) for one of the leading brands in the animation industry. First job was in 2007 after completing my MBA. She is experienced is in education sector in training and marketing domain. In 2014 she left her job and focused on starting Sabhyataa Foundation and so after 2014 she took up as a freelance trainer for ESOL examinations including Ielts Toefl and SAT.
What inspired you to create an organization like Sabhyataa Foundation?
I had decided at the age of 17 that one day I wanted to open an NGO by the name of Sabhyataa. However the purpose became clearer when I myself fell prey to extreme mental health issues in 2013. They were almost near death. I emerged out of them on my own without any external help and purely by maintaining strong will power. Or may be I wasn’t lucky enough to have that provision of having someone to help me heal or get over with it. I didn’t have a choice to seek help.However, later, it made me sit and think that there is 90 percent of population which knows nothing about what is even wrong with them. So that was it. When I started working, I realized that it was an ocean and mental health was as serious an issue as malnutrition or poverty is or may be worse.
How do you manage and run your organization?
I am blessed with amazing selfless youngsters who are always there to team up and work. They are 8 of them. And then 56 more members who volunteer based on availability. So there is no structure or hierarchy. We call ourselves “Change Makers”. None of us are working for money.
How does Sabhyataa Foundation sustain itself?
As I mentioned earlier I was an ESOL freelance trainer so till early 2019 I spent whatever I earned on operating the mechanism. However in 2019 we set up our own home based units of hand made products which include – Essence Oils, Handmade Soaps and Medicated Tea Spice(they are all end products of my own research). Now we have ventured into Spices as well. Everything we craft is handmade and chemical free due to which the product took over the local market in no time which was good enough for me to leave the pressure of freelance training and focus on the NGO completely and so from 2019 onwards our products raise funds for the NGO. ( We still do not accept donations ). Soaps and essence oils are the best sellers.
What was the most challenging problem you faced in the leadership and management of your NGO?
Leadership and Management have never been a problem for me thanks to my past work experience. However we faced a lot of issues when Ambitious people joined us with different agendas altogether. The balance of selfless work shook at that time. We learnt with time and are more careful now. Also being a woman in field for a change in society is very difficult. There are vultures all over and at all levels and genders too. I refused to succumb to local political pressures and they were difficult times.
What plans do you have for the future?
Well we are already working on multiple projects.
- Cognitive Training Programmes
- Sabhyataa Happiness Programme.
- Delhi Police Meditation Programme.
- Youth Employment Project called “Rozgaar”
- Green Tree Project of tree plantation.
- Door to Door workshops for children and women spreading awareness for mental health.
- Distribution drives for the needy and underprivileged(esp Leaper)
- Sabhyataa School for underprivileged kids ( put on hold due to Corona ).
In what ways can our readers contribute to Sabhyataa Foundation?
We always encourage people to volunteer to perform as parts of our projects in their respective areas. Be it plantation of trees or teaching kids for free they can do it at their end and send us details and keep us posted. There is just one form they need to fill up as volunteers for data base. This is the best part of being an ngo that works on principles and Not funds. It keeps us flexible and thus we work much more than many other ngos of our size.
Any other message you would want to provide or talk about?
When we give back to the society selflessly we invite abundance. Give back to the needy what you have in abundance. Be nicer and kinder.
Geetika on Twitter | Sabhyataa Foundation website | Sabhyataa Foundation on Twitter
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Sabhyataa is doing a great job. They have planted many trees and when people like us are sitting inside the four walls, they could go to slum and distribute masks. Appreciable!