Volunteers are Maitri's back bone. This section features the profile and thoughts of one volunteer every issue- to know them and to be inspired

Sonya Pelia
"A special place in my heart"

Seventeen years ago, when I decided to volunteer with a non-profit, I had vague ideas about volunteering with the Red Cross or a children's organization or something similar. It never crossed my mind to use my language skills or cultural competancy for an agency, such as Maitri. A few months into my search for a non-profit, I read a very enthusiastic and well-written article about Maitri in India Currents and it seemed like an interesting organization.

I called the hotline number and left a message. Chitra Divakaruni, one of the founders, called me and I attended my first meeting in Oct 1993 at her home and now here I am 17 years later still inspired, wowed, and passionate about the organization and the cause. At my first meeting at Chitra's house in Sunnyvale , there were 6 people at the meeting...Romadi, Anjali, Chitra, Joya, Medha, and myself.

Chitra asked to come over to her house one evening for the peer couseling and phone message training. All was going well as she explained to me the issues of peer counseling and how to answer the hotline, when suddenly her mother-in-law appear with two-year old Anand in tow. He had stuffed a green bud from a plant into his nose and it had gone way up and we could see a tiny bit of it. Chitra was so brave...she continued for another 10 mins with the training before rushing off with Anand to the emergency room!

Soon after my first meeting, I was invited to be on the board and became the General Secretary. When Chitra left the Bay Area, I took on being the President of the board for about 10 years then stepped down for Mukta. The years have flown by and I have enjoyed every bit of my volunteering for Maitri. I have done every type of job: creating the first volunteer spreadsheet, typing up the volunteer manual, training volunteers, picking up messages, setting up our first mail box at the post office box, hiring our first staffer, countless outreach events, speaking to the media, fundraising, and peer couseling clients. I still remember with great fondness the first radio interview Peshi Fernando and I did together at a San Jose State University radio station. The booth was so tiny that she and I could only stand in it.

Things have changed for me quite a bit as the years have gone by. In the early years, when I was not a mom, I sometimes worked with 8-9 clients at a time, did outreach on the weekends, and also worked with the office during the week. Now, I have a 10-year old and have to split my time between Maitri, my daughter, and work and sometimes my daughter's activities have to take forefront particularly when she is not well and refuses to go to bed without mommy on her side.

I have had a deep and fulfilling experience at Maitri. The cause, and the work I do here holds a special place in my heart and it continues to give great meaning to my life. Because of Maitri I have made so many dear and special friends for life, educated myself about issues that impact women, men, and children, changed myself to be compassionate and understanding about people's issues and needs, and learned many skills that have helped me in my life and corporate work.

Best regards and in solidarity,

Sonya Pelia