By Ray Umashankar | Executive Director
Four years ago during a visit to the villages in Northern Karnataka, a daughter of a Devadasi (forced into sex work by religion and society )told me she wanted to study engineering. I asked her what stopped her from pursuing her dream and she said she didn’t have the funds to enroll in coaching classes for the entrance examination. We made arrangements on the spot and supported her exam prep coaching and four years in engineering school. Arranged for additional coaching in English and software testing.
A week ago she was hired by HP Bangalore.
When they came to meet with me in Ghataprabha in Belgaum district, both daughter and mother were in tears. Due to financial pressures, the 17 year old was being forced to marry a 60 year old man. When I asked her what she wanted to do, her reply “I want to study engineering” blew me away! Rest is history.
One of the other girls who successfully completer our training is Puja. She graduated with a Master of Social Work Degree and is employed by our partner Prajwala in Hyderebad. Here is Puja’s background.
Puja at age 9 sat outside in the cold when her mother had a client inside the hut in the slums of Hyderabad. I was horrified when she said she had to hide under the bed on rainy nights when her mother had a client in the hut! When her mother died, Puja's uncle sold her to a wealthy doctor who raped her daily. She escaped and fell into the hands of a trafficker. Puja was finally rescued by our partner Sunitha Krishnan of Prajwala, who has rescued nearly 15,000 sex trafficking victims.
(http://www.ted.com/talks/sunitha_krishnan_tedindia#t-3817)
When I met eighteen year old Puja, she told me her computer knowledge makes her an equal to everyone else out there and she had just spoken in front of 150 delegates at a social work conference. When I asked her what kind of job I should get for her, she replied "I don't want a job, I want to Go to graduate schoo! I wept.
( Due to security reasons, I am unable to post photos of the two girls mentioned above)
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