Empower 100 Girls in Asia's Largest Red Light Area

“The good thing about me is I love everyone around me, especially my brother whom I meet once in two weeks”

Payal* is a young 7 year old girl child from the lanes of Kamathipura, Asia’s second largest red light district. Her mother was trafficked into prostitution when she was barely as old as Payal right now. Payal was born into a brothel, to a father she has never met and to a mother who had never planned to have her.

At the age of 3, our outreach team had found her napping unsupervised by the street side. Upon further conversation, they realized that the mother was busy tending to clients in a brothel nearby and hence could not keep an eye on her child. Additionally, Payal was observed to be severely malnourished and emotionally unstable. Considering the conditions, our outreach team immediately rehabilitated Payal to our night shelter program.

It has been 4 years since Payal has been residing happily in our shelter. With access to healthy and nutritious meals, a safe living environment, formal education, a sense of belonging and family – Payal has now grown into an emotionally mature and responsible individual. During a mentoring session, she even went ahead to analyze her strength as the capacity to love freely. Especially since coming from difficult and vulnerable realities, it is a comforting to see such kindness and sensitivity from a 7-year-old child.

Outreach:

Our outreach team is the first and usually preferred point of contact between Apne Aap Women’s Collective and the community inhabiting Kamathipura and Falkland Road, the red-light districts of Mumbai. With the aid of our dedicated outreach team, this quarter saw about 19 new members joining our Udaan program.Upon enrollments, these beneficiaries have access to formal and informal education, all forms of assistance with their health (ex: referrals, camps, nutritional support, etc.), awareness activities, counseling and therapies, vocational training, life skills sessions, rehabilitative measures like night-shelter house and boarding homes, etc. amongst other general support.

Education:  

From brothel owners to temporary partners of the women, almost all community members view these young girls as ‘potential business’; hence, their education is either deemed irrelevant or a deviation from their assumed profession. In such difficult circumstances, we were able to enroll 6 new beneficiaries towards school admissions.

This quarter, we have also emphasized more on tuitions as exams of children are approaching. We designed special timetable and allocated additional time for the children to revise their academics. From essay-writing skills to understanding newer concepts of Math, this quarter involved developing the existing understandings of the beneficiaries.

Along with this, multiple English classes and computer sessions were undertaken during the same tenure. While the spoken English classes concentrated primarily on developing the grammar and social skills of our beneficiaries, the computer classes were aimed at enhancing their understanding of Microsoft Word, Excel and Paint tools. One of the most interesting activity of our spoken English classes was the usage of newspapers to teach the written and oral nuances of English. All our beneficiaries have been enjoying this activity the most, especially since the chosen articles are often fun and relatable.

‘Last year, we drew sea monsters; and this year it was traditional Indian attire. Every year, I learn something new during these drawing sessions. I didn’t even know there were almost 15 types of traditional draping forms for a saree!’ exclaimed an excited Juhi*.

As has been the tradition since last 15 years, this January too – one of our oldest international associates held an educational art session for all our Udaan beneficiaries. Every year, she designs a particular theme based on culture, history, literature etc. to introduce our beneficiaries to realities outside of the red light district. This year, she discussed the famous Indian attire ‘Saree’ and the many forms, histories and cultural connotations related to this piece of garment.

Health and Nutrition:

At AAWC, we place utmost importance on the health and nutritional aid provided to our beneficiaries. Acknowledging the fact that all of our members are from a highly vulnerable and marginalized community, and live in environments that often trigger ill health- our activities range from spreading awareness on general hygiene, sanitation, and required medical support to holding quarterly health camps targeting specific ailments. We have also arranged periodic supply of sourdough breads, healthy salads and sandwiches, which complement the beneficiaries’ daily meals with varied tastes.

Along with this, we aid our beneficiaries with specialized awareness programs (ex: puberty and the ensuing bodily changes, gender and sexual education, medical treatments for contagious diseases, seasonal healthcare, etc.), routine medical referrals, nutritional aid provided through a well-designed diet chart, multivitamin and protein supplements, following up with hospitals and doctors, etc.

This quarter, about 150 of the Udaan girls (and other community adolescents) had the benefit of attending our health camp. Due to the timely intervention, multiple cases of general fever, common cold and skin infections were averted from developing into bigger health issues.

Counseling:

‘Manisha* is one of the smartest and most talented children I’ve seen of her age. A couple of day ago, I introduced them to the meaning of ‘Koshish’ (Hindi word for ‘attempt’) as a part of a behavioral exercise. All the children were supposed to ‘attempt’ to rationalize their anger and speak with kindness in difficult situations, as part of this exercise. Manisha is so quick, she remembered the word and the many linguistic usage of it till date; but unfortunately, it has been harder for her to actually put this word to act. She is excessively moody and gets triggered by the smallest of setbacks.’

As part of her art therapy, one of our regular volunteers holds such simple activities to help our children process their feelings better. Especially considering the difficult backgrounds of our children, these sessions are highly beneficial for them to recognize their own emotions and work on them accordingly.

We have also collaborated with external mentoring organizations like, the Light House project and the Mentor Me India who conduct weekly, monthly and quarterly activities of various forms to target the various needs of adolescents. This quarter, our mentors held both indoor and outdoor sessions. From discussing behavioral changes like the ill habit of stealing, to introducing the children to celebrated art festivals of Mumbai – these sessions were highly beneficial and important in supporting our children emotionally.

Night shelter:

We also run our own rehabilitative night shelter for the most vulnerable toddlers and adolescents of women in prostitution. We recognized the need for such a space, when we assessed that a lot of adolescent girls of Kamathipura were lured into the flesh trade by the brothel owner/other close-knit community members that their mothers (and the girls themselves, often) were living under. Especially since the brothel owners would find it easier to trap a young girl already living in the community, than to traffic girls from other parts of the country- such a phenomenon has become rather common in the red-light districts of Mumbai.

Thus, we run a night shelter with a capacity for almost 35 adolescent girls and approximately 25 young toddlers. Our night shelter members participate in all our educational, health and empowerment-based activities along with the usual extra-curricular, recreational visits and celebrations held at the center. 

This quarter, we enrolled around 10 new night shelter members - 3 of whom were in a really dangerous situation of being sold by their own mother.

Empowerment:

Along with recognizing the fundamental need for better health and education, we also work on empowerment in terms of vocational activities, identity-based documentation aid, life skills sessions and development of leadership skills through various extra-curricular. This quarter also- like in the earlier months, we helped creating a few Aadhar cards, birth certificates and Bank accounts as part of our documentation aid. Bank accounts, especially, are important in preventing the beneficiaries from being taken advantage of by their peers, community members and often their own fathers or mother’s partners. We realize that the Achilles heel of this community is the greed of money, and financial security is imperative for our Udaan beneficiaries to be saved from further exploitation.

We also held multiple vocational training activities, and one macro life skills session. This quarter, our senior Udaan staff attended a certified training course at an external organization; at this training, they were introduced to the many life skill sessions that could be arranged for the welfare of adolescent girls. Since, we have introduced daily life skill sessions titled ‘Senior Shakti (Hindi word for Strength)’ that work on creating bold and courageous girl children.

The life skills session this quarter was on the themes of ‘personal safety and touch’. Multiple interactive discussions, one-on-one talks, and even a small ‘box of thoughts’ have been created as part of these sessions. The ‘box of thoughts’ is a safe space for the children to write down their concerns on their body, safety and touch anonymously. It has proven to be a great resource in providing timely support and intervention to the children.

Meetings:

Adolescence is a complex phase, wherein a lot of external parties often have the scope to affect the process and further development into adulthood. Recognizing these intersections between the individual, familial and societal expectations and yardsticks- we hold regular meetings like the mother’s meeting, tuition teachers’ meetings, meeting with Udaan girls, and Udaan-Umang sessions.

It is a cyclical design, which is aimed at providing a holistic support system to our adolescent Udaan girls. While the mothers’ meetings are targeted at bridging the gaps between the mothers and their children- who are sometimes left at the mercy of AAWC, the tuition teachers’ meetings are designed to grasp academic developments and challenges of the beneficiaries; the Udaan girls’ meetings are then held to discuss and deal with the outcomes of the mothers and teachers’ meetings. Upon this discussion, we work towards creating Udaan-Umang sessions, which tackle specific issues, led by the Udaan girls towards the Umang toddlers.

Usually, we experience some challenges on this front with a few mothers unwilling to attend the meetings due to constraint on time, being unable to leave their brothels, sickness, financial priorities, addictions etc. Often, this is the largest gap in our beneficiaries’ lives-with their mothers being unable to give them the required affection and security. Hence, in our Udaan meetings and our subsequent Udaan-Umang sessions we prioritize to create a space of comfort, and further the emotions of care and responsibility amongst our Udaan girls towards our Umang toddlers.

Extra-curricular activities:

This quarter, we held many extra-curricular like theater classes, computer classes, English speaking sessions, and music classes. Though we understand the need to involve our Udaan beneficiaries in these activities, we also realize that overburdening them with the same is not a healthy practice. Hence, with consultation with our Udaan girls- we decided upon the above five activities for the current tenure.

We have collaborated with Clowns Without Borders who hold weekly theatre session with our beneficiaries to teach acting skills, plus they also hold their own events wherein clowns from Sweden and India hold comical shows. Such shows often lead to respite from the everyday stress of adolescent lives. Theatre and music sessions work upon the self-esteem of our beneficiaries while being highly interactive; it also acts as a space for our adolescent girls to release their anxieties, repressions and excess energies.

On the other hand, computer classes and English-speaking sessions are more academic in nature. This quarter, our beneficiaries revised the usage of Microsoft Excel, Word and Paint tools in the computer classes while they learnt of social skills and holding conversations in the English-speaking classes.

One of the highlights this quarter in our extra-curricular activities has been the week-long sessions held by one of our international associates. He held zine-making and story-telling sessions with our Udaan children, which revolved around the ideas of identities and self. He also used the art of creating self-portraits as part of these sessions. Apart from these sessions, he also arranged an outdoors sports activity and beach visits for the Udaan children.

Our Udaan beneficiaries also participated in a theater and drawing competition held at an external institute. They did extremely well, were showered with compliments and even bagged third prize in the poster-making competition. Such small but significant wins are important to help motivate our children towards appositive outlook in life.

Along with this, we also undertook a day long picnic to an outdoor amusement park this quarter. Almost 100 of our beneficiaries participated in this, and had an utterly fun time accessing different rides and enjoying the meals provided at the park.

"This annual picnic is such a fun activity! I get be on these rides, plus also spend time with my friends and teachers. On the bus ride to this park, I was hoping my mother could also accompany us here but I understand she has work." remarked a young Zeenat*, talking about her weekend visit to an amusement park quarter.

Celebrations:
 
This quarter, we celebrated events like Republic Day, Makar Sankranti, Holi celebrations etc. wherein the children designed and held multiple activities that talked of the cultural and historical contexts of these celebrations. From dance dramas to games, each of the activity has been designed to instill a sense of cultural pride in our children. Especially since the children come from different backgrounds and states in India, such celebrations are a great space for each of them to mingle with their peers and get to understand the rich cultural realities of India. At these celebrations, we also provided our children with snacks; and gifts as a token of appreciation and love.

One of the highlights this quarter was the Annual Udaan Sports day celebrations, which saw a participation from almost 90 of our Udaan beneficiaries. With almost 10 different kinds of races, all our beneficiaries had an exciting time letting loose their energies. It was followed by lunch and a prize distribution ceremony.

'It is simply a deep joy to watch our kids jump and sprint and free their energies into sports. These are children who were born into small dingy brothels; they have slept in dark corners of a staircase and under their mothers' beds while the trade was going on. They have lived their lives crammed into these brothels...for them to finally free themselves and simply run around and make merry. Ah, what a sight of liberation!' smiled our CEO Manju Vyas.