Empower 100 Girls in Asia's Largest Red Light Area

Young Varsha* was so familiar with the by-lanes of Falkland Road that she could find her way back from any corner of the expansive red light area. With a disruptive nature and an unsupportive family, it was very difficult to discipline her. Continuous outreach and counseling provided to Varsha* and her mother over the years proved to be effective as she gradually became a regular member and a disciplined child. Today she is studying in the 9th grade and has developed good leadership skills!

With your continuous support and encouragement, she now dreams of a brighter future!
*name changed to protect identity

Organization Updates

Festival Celebrations: AAWC celebrated various festivals with our beneficiaries this quarter, such as Eid, Rakhi, Independence Day, Janmasthmi, Guru Purnima, Gopalkala and Teacher’s Day with children participating enthusiastically in skits, dance programs and fancy dress competition!

AAWC Representation: Online fundraising portal GlobalGiving presented AAWC with the opportunity to talk about our partnership with them and the benefits of field evaluation program, during a workshop conducted by GlobalGiving in Mumbai.

AAWC was also given the opportunity to talk about child labour in the red light district in a seminar organized by Kelkar College.

Capacity Building: AAWC staff attended MAF meetings where they discussed about Antiretroviral Therapy, stock out and ill treatment of HIV+ beneficiaries in hospitals.

Monthly Checkup: Monthly check-ups of the beneficiaries were conducted each month followed by providing medical assistance as required. A medical camp in association with E-Ward was also conducted in July for all beneficiaries.

Udaan Updates

Career Guidance: Counselors from Aavishkar Centre conducted psychometric assessments of the older girls, and explored career options, based on their aptitude and interest.

Volunteers Olivia and Gabby from Berry College and UC Berkeley respectively conducted daily computer classes for younger girls, wherein they learnt computer basics and MS-Office. Spoken-English classes were also conducted by volunteers to develop girls’ communication skills.

Mentoring: Mentors from partner organizations Mentor Me India and The Lighthouse Project have been conducting one-on-one mentoring sessions with the girls, which involve activities such as reading stories and teaching moral values lessons. The girls look forward to meeting their mentors every week!

Edutainment Workshops: The girls have been participating in New York to Mumbai drawing sessions organized by volunteer artist Antoinette from New York.  The girls are taught a new drawing technique each month via posts which they interpret and draw. They have mastered gesture drawing, contour drawing and paint wash techniques!

General knowledge quiz competition helped increase the girls’ knowledge and also fostered healthy competition amongst them, who supported and won prizes for their teams!

Workshops conducted during the last quarter included guitar classes by Mewsic Foundation, craft workshops by volunteers and dance, music and craft activities by Social Service League of St. Xavier’s College.

Recreational Excursions: The girls visited KidZania, an indoor theme park that inspired them to explore different career opportunities through real life role play activities. The girls enjoyed managing their own money whilst emulating real life professions such as bakers, doctors, mechanics and choreographers.

Garden visits were also conducted on the weekends and the girls went pandal hopping in the community during Ganpati. 

Counseling sessions: Group counseling sessions by AAWC’s Counseling Psychologist and Dog Therapy sessions by Animal Angels Foundation have been conducted regularly to address topics such as anger management, social skills and provide a platform for experience sharing.

Health: A nutrition workshop was conducted by TATA Memorial Hospital’s nutritionists and dieticians, who talked about unhygienic food and health dietary habits.