Vrindavan is located in Northern India in the state of Uttar Pradesh. It is also situated near the Yamuna River, which is one of the tributary rivers of the Ganges. Vrindavan is significant for Hindus because it was the site where the Lord Krishna spent his childhood. In this area, there are hundreds of temples dedicated to the worship of Krishna and Radha (the famous lover and companion of Krishna.) The religious value of Vrindavan attracts devotees and tourists from all over, as well as widows seeking refuge after being abandoned by family and community.
Vrindavan is sometimes referred to as the “City of Widows” because of the large population of women who migrate there after losing their husbands for various reasons. In India, there is a stigma associated with widows. They are often viewed as unlucky in society and are connected to their husband's death. Many of the widows living in Vrindavan originally come from West Bengal, where there are less opportunities for widows to earn money. Once in Vrindavan, widows are able to make a small amount of money by singing religious songs in temples, or by begging. Although the living situation for these widows is an improvement from their lives in West Bengal, they still live in difficult surroundings. Illness, poverty and hunger are common trials for these women, along with being removed from society.
Project Jeevan (meaning “life” in 
Hindi) was first inspired by a visit to Vrindavan by General Bhopinder Singh and his wife Mrs. Winnie Singh in 2009. General and Mrs. Singh were extremely touched by the living situations of the widows in Vrindavan and believed it would be a perfect environment to initiate a new project for Maitri. Project Jeevan will work to provide essential needs to these widows. Maitri has identified 300 widows who live in Meera Sehbhagani Mahila Ashram. Most of the widows are very impoverished and require a tremendous amount of nourishment. These women will receive identification cards to show their participation in the project. With these identification cards, the widows will receive a mid-day meal consisting of a seasonal vegetable curry, daal (lentils) and rice. This meal will be provided seven days a week. By December 2010, the Project hopes to increase the amount of widows from 500-700, in hopes of one day reaching the over five thousand widows in Vrindavan. This project will receive food from Akshaya Patra, which is an non-governmental organization providing food for millions of school children across India. Food will be delivered by Akshay Patra directly to the ashram.
Working in Vrindavan allowed us to see the struggle and poor living conditions of some of the widows in India. It was very saddening to know that many of these women have families who had completely cut ties with them. Some of the widows we met even had wealthy children living around the world who wanted nothing to do with their mothers. All of these women have to depend on themselves for survival. This situation has made them entirely focused on earning and saving money to gain some sort of stability. Women are even willing to starve themselves if it means they can save money. Project Jeevan will ease the burden for such widows who will not have to worry about using all of their expenses on food.
Trip to the Taj Mahal
The office provided a car to take us to Vrindavan and arranged for all the interns to take the car to Agra before beginning our work in Vrindavan. Agra and Vrindavan are both in the state of Uttar Pradesh and are about two hours apart from each other. Our pit-stop in Agra allowed us to see India's contribution to the wonders of the world, the Taj Mahal. We arrived at the Taj Mahal in the afternoon and were greeted by hundreds of vendors preparing to make a deal with some unsuspecting tourists, camels waiting to carry loads of passengers from the parking lot to the entry gate, and the biggest welcome of all was, of course, the blazing sun. 
The Taj Mahal was constructed in the mid-1600's by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as a tribute to his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal after her passing away during childbirth. The Taj Mahal serves as the tomb for the Emperor and his wife. The entire tomb is made of white marble with exterior decorations of paint, stone inlays, and carvings. The Taj Mahal attracts from 2 to 4 million visitors annually, with more than 200,000 from overseas.
Our visit to the Taj Mahal was definitely worthwhile. Even with the crowds of people taking millions of photographs and the feeling of hot stone burning your feet, it is surreal being there. It is almost as if that area is set apart from the rest of the India, it is special. We all were glad that we could get a chance to see this monument.
-Jeevan
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