A Different World

The Emancipation Network
http://madebysurvivors.com/content/different-world

Sarah's blog

Submitted by Sarah Symons on Mon, 02/01/2010 - 12:23

Today we visited 10 of our school sponsored kids who have been placed in Ram Krishna Mission Boarding School. It was absolutely amazing! The kids looked so good, so happy and healthy and clean, that I almost did not recognize them. These girls, aged 6-13, were all born into the Kidderpore red light community of Calcutta. Their mothers were trafficked as young girls into brothels, and are still working the streets, kept captive now by a complete lack of other options, and by the extreme stigma hanging like a cloud over the whole district.

When the children lived at home, they shared a tiny room in the brothel with their mothers – it was a dangerous situation in the extreme, as there is always the risk that a client would tire of the mother and reach for her young daughter instead. Our partner agency Apne Aap, which runs a prevention program in Kidderpore, eventually took these 10 girls into the night shelter because they were at especially high risk or had already been exploited. The Emancipation Network began paying for their schooling three years ago and this past spring, they were enrolled in the Boarding School.

We have worked with these children for the past four years, and it has been such a gift to watch them grow up and to be part of their lives. The Boarding School, which educates thousands of children in multiple campuses, is one of the nicest places I have been in Calcutta, or anywhere. Gardens of vibrant flowers and huge trees flourished on every campus. Groups of children in tidy uniforms run and play in complete safety. The staff are exceptional in both their expertise and in their gentle kindness. Our children are getting a top quality education here. They are able to communicate with us in English now, and all have become literate.

But the most dramatic change is in their personalities. Kali, who was depressed and severely underweight before, could not stop smiling for the whole 2 hours of our visit. She is willowy but healthy, whereas before her skin was sallow and she was so thin we worried she would not survive to adulthood. All of the children were more confident and full of energy and hope. They plan to become doctors, teachers and social workers. These futures are now much more likely for them – with an RKM education, they will be able to go to college and become professionals. The stigma of forced prostitution is no longer theirs
to bear. Here they are just ten girls among the thousands of lucky children from all different backgrounds at the school. If you could have seen their lives before, you would be as stunned as I was by the contrast.

The red light area is a scary place for a child to grow up. There was never enough food, clothing, supervision or attention and these kids had to become self-sufficient at a very early age. Seeing their mothers hurt and exploited on a nightly basis was the hardest part. Without intervention, girls growing up in red light areas almost always end up in forced prostitution themselves.

We drew pictures, chatted, toured their bedrooms and classrooms, sang songs, and shared in their nightly routine of prayer and study. There were some sad moments too - holding Pinky when she cried about her mother’s death just 2 months ago from TB, and learning that one of our girls’ mothers, who is mentally unstable, had freaked out and pulled her child from the Boarding School.

We hope to get this little girl reenrolled when the new semester begins in April. The Director of the Mission made us an incredible offer during our visit- he has promised to accept 100 girl children from red light areas into the Boarding
School. If you saw the movie ‘Born into Brothels’, you will understand how difficult it is to find good quality school placements for red light kids due to stigma and their lack of birth certificates or other documentation. Although we aren’t ready yet to sponsor 100 more kids for school, we will begin laying the groundwork so that we can do this in the future. Please contact us using the contact form on this site if you want to be told when we have new kids available for this sponsorship.

Education is a surefire way to end the cycle of intergenerational slavery. Educating girls is the fastest way to transform a society from within. Thanks to our school sponsorship donors, to the dedicated Apne Aap staff members who made the relationship with Ram Krishna Mission School, and to all of you whose support of our work allows us to continue. For this group of girls, the future is indeed

* Sarah Symons's blog