About Us

Mukti trust became a registered charity in April 2005.

The Trust’s main objective is the relief of poverty, hardship and distress among orphaned and/or disadvantaged girls under the age of 22. We aim to achieve this objective through the provision of accommodation, support, education and day-to-day wellbeing.

The trustees found that in developing countries boys from families in the lowest socio-economic groups in rural areas are given more opportunities to move up the social ladder, be it through job opportunities or education. Girls however often lead difficult lives, regularly being forced into manual labour from a very early age; some may even experience physical and/or mental abuse. All the scarce resources that the girls have are engaged in obtaining the basic needs, leaving slim chances for education. It is very hard for a non-educated girl to climb out of a situation like this, and a cycle is produced for generations in which the girl remains in the same circumstances as her mother, as the girl is taught no different.

Mukti trust believes that educating girls will lead to social benefits not only for the current generation, but for those to come. An educated girl tends to marry later and have fewer children; her children are therefore more likely to survive. She will be more productive at home and better paid in the workplace. She will be able to protect both herself and her family from contractible diseases. Educated girls will be able to take a more active role in social, political and economic decision making throughout their lives.

The trust anticipates that by providing girls with a better start to life, it will break the longstanding vicious circle of hopelessness which exists in the rural areas, by enlightening and inspiring the girls.

Birth of Mukti Trust

After my children fled the nest a few years ago, I was pondering over ways in which to utilise my free time. A newspaper article of a Caucasian lady who had set up a small orphanage in Nepal, enthralled and inspired me to such an extent that it prompted discussions with Reena and my husband. From our travels we had all observed that in developing countries boys from families in the lowest socio-economic groups in rural areas are given more opportunities to move up the social ladder, be it through job opportunities or education. Girls however often lead difficult lives, regularly being forced into manual labour from a very early age, leaving slim chances for education. We therefore decided to help girls coming from underprivileged backgrounds in developing countries.

I started to talk to several people about my thoughts searching for some-one who would manage the running of a home for orphaned/disadvantaged girls. I reviewed a few possible leads based in India and Kenya but no one I met or spoke to fulfilled my criteria.

In 2004 one of the trustees of BEHT (registered UK charity) guided me to a self-realised spiritual guru based in an ashram in Chaparda, Gujarat, India.

Initially, I was sceptical about meeting this spiritual leader having heard stories of some spiritual sages in India that have exploited others. My husband and I went to Chaparda to meet Muktanand Bapu. We discovered that he was a humble, uneducated man who spoke very eloquent Gujarati and possessed a good calibre of business acumen. He revealed to us that his life goal is to help and educate children from rural villages and work in service of humanity. During our visit we were able to visualise his achievements; he had managed to raise funds, set up a registered charity (BET), construct schools and boarding houses for boys, old peoples homes and cow sheds in a number of villages/towns in Gujarat. It was also very noticeable the speed with which the projects were evolving, once the donations were deposited.

I spoke to Muktanand Bapu about the possibility of setting up a home and provisions for education for one hundred orphaned or vulnerable girls. Bapu was enthusiastic; this would be his first dealing with constructing a boarding house for girls in Chaparda. He was aware that boys from rural areas were given more chances to better their lives and that it is important to give similar chances to girls. He was hopeful that in the future we would be able to help him build a school for girls.

Back in London, we spoke to the now trustees of Mukti Trust and registered the charity.

Mukti Trust was born on the 25th April 2005.

Shobhna Shah