Visited by: Padmanava Sen (Asha
Bangalore/Atlanta Volunteer and Ashawide project partner coordinator) – padmanava.sen@gmail.com
Date: January 2nd,
2015
Snapshot of the visit (In the words of Padmanava Sen):
On 2nd January, I have traveled
from Kolkata to Baruipur and received by Minadi around 9 am. Nishtha office is
10-15 minute auto drive from the station. We discussed the current projects and
site visit agenda for some time, and then we went to the Night shelter area. This
is my third visit to Nishtha, so I could notice the children growing up in
Nishtha Night shelters. I can confidently say that the conditions have
significantly improved after Nishtha got its own building to run the Night
shelter (Asha WAH funds used to build it).
Most of the children go to local
schools and the shelter is used as a residential home. The mothers can visit
them here but the goal is to separate out children from the horrific
environment of Brothel. Before Nishtha took charge, the children were usually
thrown out of the rooms at nights and they have to sleep on the road. Also,
given the anti-social activities around Brothels, they were more vulnerable.
Now that they have a home to sleep, study and live their lives, they are much
happier. However, as they reach teenage years, Nishtha started taking special
precautions to make sure the children can continue their studies and live a
respectful life. Already two of the girls are receiving Govt job training for
nursing and are role models of the children.
I discussed different issues with the
caretakers and teachers in the centers. Children performed some dances and I tried
to get a sense about their academic standards. I talked to their mothers
regarding any issues they are facing. Then I took some photos near the Night
shelter for Girls. Later Minadi took me to the new center for boys and the new
center is quite close to the main center that Nishtha has been running for last
3 years in the new building.
Key Members
of Nishtha Night Shelter
After visiting the
Night shelter, we went back to Nishtha office. I had some delicious sweets and
then went upstairs to check the self-defense training that was already started
for that day. It is one of the last classes and everyone was beaming with
energy. The center had around 50 girls as they combined multiple batches for
the last class. Kasturi-di mentioned about how the girls opened up over last
few months. They used to be very shy and won’t say a word, now they can talk
about their problems and can express themselves in a much better fashion. The
students showed some self-defense skills as well that they learned as an
integral part of the program. Minadi also expressed a very positive feedback
regarding the training as it helped so many girls in remote rural areas.
Girls seating during the training and some demonstrations
Some
candid moment with a super kick
The following
poster drew my attention that signifies the role Nishtha plays in the lives of
so many girls in rural west Bengal. The poster states clearly the false notion
that haunts many families in villages. When a girl does not do well in exams,
parents try to marry them off as there is no other alternative future they can
see. This leads to early age marriages, domestic violence and in many cases,
tragic endings for many girls. Justice is not served like in cities for
violence against women as the law and order is not strict in remote villages
when it comes to women abuse. The poster states, there are many ways a girl can
live independently beyond degrees and make the parents aware not to get their
daughter married off at early ages thus ruining all future possibilities.
Poster
from Nishtha to give girls a chance to live an independent life
My next stop was
Jagaran centers. I had a good conversation with different age groups. We had
very frank discussions since they have been seeing me for last 3 years. Jagaran
is a little far from the main office of Nishtha and we crossed many paddy
fields. In January, it is the start of new paddy cultivation. Minadi also showed
me some destruction in remote villages that happened due to floods in 2014.
Many people lost everything and many fields are devastated. So they need to
change their profession to survive.
I spent some time with the girls under Jagaran program. Since most of them attended the self-defense training, computer and spoken English workshops, I collected some feedbacks. Their English speaking skills have definitely improved. They also started learning computers which is like a luxury in remote village in sharp contrast to cities. However, the job placements demand them to be proficient in computers. The girls also started sharing different stories from their friends/seniors who got married and faced domestic violence. Also, some of them shared their horrific eve-teasing stories and how they are tackling them as a group with the help of Nishtha. They presented a short cultural program mostly involving dances. I took photos and videos.
I spent some time with the girls under Jagaran program. Since most of them attended the self-defense training, computer and spoken English workshops, I collected some feedbacks. Their English speaking skills have definitely improved. They also started learning computers which is like a luxury in remote village in sharp contrast to cities. However, the job placements demand them to be proficient in computers. The girls also started sharing different stories from their friends/seniors who got married and faced domestic violence. Also, some of them shared their horrific eve-teasing stories and how they are tackling them as a group with the help of Nishtha. They presented a short cultural program mostly involving dances. I took photos and videos.
Girls dancing in Tagore songs
Girls in Jagaran Center.. Initially they were camera-shy :-)
Me with
Girls from Nishtha Project Jagaran
Minadi
with Jagaran Girls
After that I
attended a Matri-dal meeting which is a self-help group for adult women, most
of them mothers of Jagaran Girls. They enacted a drama which is based on a real
story of their village where the in-laws burned the girl alive. The domestic
violence and women abuse cases are very common in these areas and Nishtha is
doing marvelous job to bring unity among the women and girls. A lady raised
questions the group about a dilemma she has been facing given her daughter was
18 yrs old and she got a good family to get her married off. The group
explained why her daughter should continue studies and why 23-yr old
independent women can be more successful in life compared to 18-yr old school
drop-out. Every meeting, there are one or two such cases discussed. This also
reminds me about the importance of tuition support for girls at higher classes
so that they do not drop out and their parents see potential in their academics.
There were around 60 women in the meeting and Nishtha has many such groups
across villages impacting almost a lakh population.
I came back to
Nishtha office after that and had detailed discussions with Ms Kasturi
Mukherjee who was leading the self-defense and self-development training. She had
shared concern regarding Night Shelter children who are exposed to the dark
sides of lives too early and are extremely vulnerable. Over years, things have
improved but we have to take utmost care of them. In some cases, Nishtha is
trying to put the older girls in a boarding school but it is difficult to find
good Government boarding schools and there is a dearth of hostel facilities for
teenagers at low-cost/mid-cost sectors.
To summarize, this is my third visit to Nishtha. As
always, the dedication of grass root workers, the compassion in the eyes of
youth groups, the determination among their mothers, the positive changes brought in the lives of
marginalized communities moved me a lot. In a society, where girls are
dominated, side-lined, abused and killed every day, when I look at the young
girls beaming with energy, strength and hope, I salute them and Nishtha’s
efforts. I came back home with their smiles in my mind.
To know more about Nishtha projects,
Night Shelter (focus on running the night shelter and support-a-student for higher class students) : http://new.ashanet.org/project/?pid=756
Jagaran (focus on running Jagaran project and training the girls for a better future) : http://new.ashanet.org/project/?pid=1018
