Steering 500 Women Away from Prostitution, Mumbai

Outreach

Plays an important role as the first point of contact it helps us take varied services to the doors for women in brothel-based prostitution. The services include education, health, nutrition, awareness, sensitization and workshop, identity documents making (Aadhar card, Pan Card, Voter id, ration card etc.), opening of bank account, linking the beneficiaries to varied schemes.

Due to the rigorous outreach, our team has been able to enroll 42 women beneficiaries under the Umeed program, which has helped us to grow and beneficiaries who are already registered in our programs motivate and encourage other women in the area to join our program. Our outreach team has helped 42 women beneficiaries attain new identification documents.

This is one demonstration of the constant efforts put in by AAWC, clubbed with growing awareness amongst the women to strive for a better life through the resources provided by us. We have been able to conduct 27,866 home visits, this quarter, where we conducted both individual and group sessions with the beneficiaries on the topics of awareness about various health issues, tuberculosis (TB) symptoms and treatment, immunization, awareness about pure drinking water and many more other related to this that play an important role in their lives.

Education:

“Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family.”- Kofi Annan.

Truly believing in this our organization makes an effort to impart adult literacy to all the beneficiaries by visiting their houses. Starting from basic alphabets to writing their name and then signature, Basic numerical to understanding number on their phone and able to read the watch which helps them understand which hour of the day it is. These Constant efforts put in each day through creative methods have brought multiple beneficiaries to develop wholly and improve their understanding of legalities and recognize documents that could be helpful for them.

This quarter we conducted a drawing competition which was organized in collaboration with a partner organization based on the theme ‘My Dream’, a challenge arose where the beneficiaries faced difficulty in understanding the theme. All the beneficiaries were looking at each other’s drawing and trying to copy.

Exposure visit was conducted for 7 potential beneficiaries they visited an NGO the motive is  empower survivors of exploitation and trafficking to reintegrate into society as dignified, positive and productive women through vocational training and job placements. Beneficiaries were given orientation regarding the interventions by the Ngo. A success story was shared with them in order to inspire them. Beneficiaries were actively grasping the information provided. They were asking questions which showed their participation.

Financial literacy: The financial literacy sessions involve making the beneficiaries understand varied saving methods by opening a savings account and help them understand transactions related to money which protects them from getting into the clutches of debt. Adult literacy along with financial literacy goes hand in hand as the beneficiaries become more independent which was seen this quarter that the beneficiaries require less support to open a bank account, deposit and withdraw money. Even awareness about various schemes that are undertaken is implemented better which leads to them benefitting from all the schemes related to saving by the government which has led to an increase in planned saving by the beneficiaries.

This quarter, 10 of our Umeed beneficiaries have been able to open their own bank accounts, after rigorous discussions and support from our outreach team.

Health

Good health is an important indicator that can bring success in life along with education it is also an important aspect of overall development of beneficiaries. Our outreach team makes continuous efforts to bring improvement in the health of our beneficiaries by providing them nutritional supplements at their door step supplements involve (bananas, moringa seeds, bread and soy milk) along with, keeping a track of their health through height and weight measurements. This is done regularly to keep a track of the improvement the beneficiaries are making.

As our women fall under the influence of harmful environment along with unhealthy work situation and suffer from chronic diseases.

The organization this quarter conducted dental camp and oral cancer detection camp. In the oral cancer detection camp 9 beneficiaries were diagnosed whereas only 1 beneficiary was confirmed to have oral cancer. During the camp it was observed that all who have been diagnosed have started consuming tobacco from a very young age and through communication by team members the beneficiaries shared that their parents introduced it to them.

This camp has made us realize that intervention through awareness to deal with addiction and oral hygiene is must in the community.

In the health camps the strength of the beneficiaries was approximately 214. 17 medical referrals have been done for TB patients and 210 medical referrals have been done for antiretroviral therapy (ART) patients. Apart from these, 17 HIV+ women and 4 Tuberculosis (TB) infected women have been identified through regular health checkups held by AAWC. We have also been able collect CD4 reports for 57 beneficiaries in order to track the improvement in their immunity.

This quarter awareness programmes were conducted in form of area activities in which topics like health and hygiene, skin infection and its prevention, vaccination for children, Cancer awareness during world cancer day was undertaken.

In this quarter in a monthly meeting the objective for the meeting was travelling compensation for HIV +ve beneficiaries in buses by Maharashtra State road transport corporation. Resource person Mrs. Rajehsree Wani, Community development officer, E ward, had given the information to all present beneficiaries about this schemes through which beneficiaries who are on ART can travel within the state of Maharashtra for free of cost. She also explained the procedure of availing this facility. She addressed the doubts of the beneficiaries. In addition to this, she also explained schemes for Anti-Natal care mothers and for widow women. Throughout the training, beneficiaries were attentive.

It was noticed that after the meeting, beneficiaries immediately came forward with the willingness to start the procedure to avail the schemes. And also they brought other women beneficiaries along with them to avail the benefits of the service. Which shows us that the impact of the awareness session just does not happen over our women beneficiaries rather it helps us in spreading the awareness in the community.

The agenda of the monthly meeting this quarter was to spread the awareness among the beneficiaries about Breast Cancer and self-examination of the breast to identify the symptoms of Breast Cancer. For this we collaborated with Aga Khan Services trust to conduct this awareness meeting with the beneficiaries. Total 73 beneficiaries had attended the meeting.

The illustrator took the responsibility of sharing the information about breast Cancer. She first shared about what is breast cancer, then she showed the symptoms of breast cancer using posters.

She also explained reasons which can cause Cancer and the Mammography test for the diagnosis of breast cancer. Once all the beneficiaries were settled in, she then gave the demonstration of self-examination of the breast to identify the symptoms of breast cancer. Two beneficiaries volunteered for the same, they followed the instructions given by the resource person and were showing other beneficiaries how to do the self-examination.

It was noticed that the beneficiaries were comfortable and non-hesitant in clarifying their doubts as they were asking question to the illustrator and she in turn was addressing their doubts and explaining them in easy language to make them understand quickly.

The beneficiaries were attentive throughout the meeting and were able to understand what is breast cancer its symptoms and how to conduct self-examination. The beneficiaries also showed interest to undertake the Mammography tests for the early detection of breast cancer.

On 24^th March 2019, TB day is celebrated across the world for prevention, eradication and to spread awareness about the disease. On this occasion, ORW team performed a street play in the red light area to spread awareness about TB.

Through this activity ORW team tried to explain the symptoms of TB and how the treatment starts from the government hospital. The beneficiaries were listening carefully and were appreciating the efforts taken by the ORW team. At the end of the street play, few beneficiaries shared their insights about the disease and gave positive feedback about the street play.

It was noticed that more beneficiaries are gathered as compared to other area activities which shows that Street play is an effective method to gather more beneficiaries as compared to normal discussions. The positive impact of the play was visible when few beneficiaries came to the center for taking TB screening test as they felt that they have symptoms matching to a patient affected by TB.

Mental Health:

AAWC understands that women in the red light districts go through both mental and physical traumas, and hence it is imperative to support them through our mental-health assistance. Mental health assistance which involves regular counseling and therapy sessions with all of our women beneficiaries. Most of our counseling happens on the field, while therapy sessions take place on individual and group basis at our centers.

Few beneficiaries constantly require counselling to make them understand the importance of ART, daily care and their health issues etc., during this quarter we have conducted 108 counselling sessions.

‘Didi you took so much care of us, it really makes us happy’- Umeed Beneficiary

Recreation:

In order to provide relief from the day to day activity that our beneficiaries undergo due to their work environment it is a must for them to have a break and a joyous moment to be happy. Hence, we organize various celebrations and picnics for our beneficiaries

During this quarter we organized for an outdoor picnic at Swami Narayan temple and Prati Shirdi, pune. The beneficiaries were really excited and happy they sang songs, and played games throughout the journey. The beneficiaries enjoyed the place along with the meals provided. They thoroughly enjoyed marketing in the area.

Nearby police station at Nagpada organized Haldi Kumkum festival for the women. They took our oprganisation’s help in its celebration. This was done to bridge the gap between them and the women beneficiaries, seeing their kind gesture towards them made our beneficiaries emotional.

At the organization, various festivals were celebrated with the beneficiaries which was Makarsankranti and Holi. Makarsankrani was celebrated in collaboration with The Lion’s Club – JJ Crescent of Bombay. During the celebration beneficiaries did the Haldi Kumkum pooja with each other and greeted each other with blessings. Guests from Lion’s club interacted with the beneficiaries and distributed gifts and snacks to them. Beneficiaries were very happy and recollecting the memories of previous HaldiKukum celebration of Last year. They showed their gratitude towards the AAWC Staff.

During this quarter we also celebrated Holi with the Beneficiaries to embrace the sisterhood and to distribute Ration to PLWHA beneficiaries.

All the beneficiaries had gathered in the activity room on time. Poonam Awasthi one of our staff members started sharing about the festival of Holi after which she applied color on one beneficiary. She then applied the colors to all present beneficiaries and the staff of AAWC. All beneficiaries were very happy to play with the colors.

On their favorite Holi special playlist, few of the beneficiaries showed their dance moves. The activity room was filled with Joy and laughter as all were dancing and enjoying the celebration. On this good occasion, around 90 beneficiaries were distributed ration packets (Oil, Lentils, Rice, Flour, Soybean) The beneficiaries also enjoyed the snacks that was distributed. It was realized that the celebration helped to break the ice between new enrolled beneficiaries and the old ones and staff of AAWC.

We celebrated women’s day along with beneficiaries to provide them a platform where they can share their story to inspire others in collaboration with Stakeholder NGOs working with the same target group.

6 NGOs working in the same red light area had come together for the celebration of women’s day. More than 200 beneficiaries were present for the celebration. Celebration consisted of Beneficiaries performance such as Prayer song, dance and delivery of a success story in the form of Inspirational speech. All the present beneficiaries were given a return gift and snacks.

The proud moment for our organization was to see a confident beneficiary from our organization standing in front of everyone without hesitation talking about her story with the intention of inspiring and motivating someone else. Her speech did not only highlight her struggle but also mentioned the trust AAWC showed on her made her leave the profession and could give her children a different and respectful life. She ended her speech by saying that she is proud of herself as a staff of AAWC and showed her willingness to serve other women (Didi) and their children for her entire remaining life.

Through this celebration, AAWC could strengthen its networking among the other stakeholder organizations and inculcate the sense of confidence among the beneficiaries.

Success story:

Riya* has been enrolled in Adult literacy one year ago through her friend. Initially she was not at all interested in learning to read and write. She used to say that this will not help her to earn money so she use to literally hide from the outreach worker (ORW) who used to teach her. After seeing her friend writing her own name, she showed interest to learn how to write her name. As ORW started teaching her how to write her own name, she quickly learned it. She felt bliss when she could sign by herself without giving thumbprint. This increased her confidence as well as interest. She then asked the ORW to teach her English alphabets and Hindi alphabets. Within the span of 6 months she learned all the alphabets and even numbers. Though she finds a little difficulty in learning hindi alphabets yet she has tremendously improved and now learning how to read the watch and numericals such as addition – subtraction. According to ORW she is now one of the best student of Adult literacy.

Pictures:

• Qtr_1_2019_Umeed_Impact_Report.pdf (PDF)