Empower Girls from Mumbai's Red Light Area

Hello! I hope you are all doing wonderfully. We here in Himachal are doing very well. It's getting warmer now after four long months of winter. Our house is coming together beautifully. I am attaching a few photos below to show you our progress. It is due to the kindness of many individuals like you that our dream is becoming a reality.

I cannot wait to share that Krantikari M, who is currently studying at Salve Regina University in Rhode Island, became the first person from Asia’s red-light area to perform on Broadway in New York City. M's theatre journey began with Kranti’s USA tour in 2015 when she was only 11 years old, and even before she turns 21, she is paving the pathway for other Krantikaris to follow. We are so incredibly proud of her; she is a true Krantikari (a revolutionary) in her own right!

Krantikari Shaa has also accomplished something she thought she would never. She got admission to the American University of Rome on a scholarship to pursue a Bachelor's in Fine Arts. After being terrified of studies for many years, she finally took the courageous step to pursue further studies. She is now gallivanting around Rome, eating gelatos and pizzas while sending photos to make us feel jealous. She was nervous and anxious to begin school, but now she is thrilled because she gets to do what she loves the most: make art.

We have some more exciting news to share. I traveled across India to visit many organizations to build long-term relationships with them. Many of these organizations are founded by former sex workers who’ve dedicated their lives to fight for sex workers' rights, so there is very little time left to invest in the children. As a result, most of their children end up in CWC homes which lack even basic hygiene, let alone healing, health, happiness, or decent education. Many of these women were in absolute tears listening to my stories and watching videos about Kranti. They were inspired to know that these types of programs and accomplishments are possible for the daughters of sex workers. As someone from the community, particularly because my mother is a devadasi from Karnataka, these women were thrilled about the idea that I’ll be the primary teacher/mentor of their children, and they are eager to send their daughters to Kranti. Several of these organizations visited Kranti in the first two weeks of March and are dedicated to sending the girls from their communities to Kranti. We will be welcoming new girls to the Kranti home in April. It overwhelms us with joy that this will be their home.

A mother from Delhi came to visit Kranti with her 14-year-old daughter just last week. Dishi, the daughter, had been living in another shelter home where she was beaten up and treated horribly. Dishi’s mother was in tears after interacting with the Kranti staff and some of the Krantikaris; she couldn’t believe such a place exists for the girls from this community. She left the Kranti home with joy, and although it's difficult to part from her daughter, she can't wait for Dishi to come stay with us.

We are super excited, and I am, to be honest, a bit nervous because I am not sure if I am equipped to deal with teenagers but here they come!

We are sending lots of love and warm wishes to you from our beautiful home in Himachal. Wish us luck!