On 16th September 2009 Project DEVI (Development and Empowerment of Vrindavan Girls’ Initiative) was born. This venture is a  partnership between Food for Life Vrindavan Charity and Vivek Oberoi’s personal charity The Yashodhara Oberoi Foundation.

The partnership was born after witnessing the extraordinary achievements of Sandipani Muni School’s female students and learning more about the challenges faced by poor girls in rural India, where empowerment of women and protection of their rights continues to be an ideal, not a reality. 

Development studies have consistently shown that investing in girls’ education and  helping women become economically self-sufficient are among the most effective means of bringing individuals and communities out of poverty.

Girls who attend the Sandipani Muni schools come mainly from families that earn less than 1 USD a day and live in Vrindavan’s slums and shantytowns where they have little or no access to nutritious food, clean water and basic sanitation.

The aim of Project DEVI is to assure dignified upbringing, safety and medical care, and improve the conditions in which so many Indian children live, especially the girl child that is considered the lowest of the low in the rural patriarchal society.