Rescue Junction Supports Street Children in India

This is the story of three sisters, Pramilla, Anaya and Brinda (not their real names).

 
Both of their parents passed away, and their mother passed away in 2008 and 28th August 2010 her father   died because of hunger. He gave what little food he had to his three daughters.  and then all three sister was crying with hunger with the body of his father and nobody was taking care of these three girls. The oldest daughter with help from her sisters buried her father using their own bare hands Their ages were 10 years 6 years and the youngest was 5 years of age

Brought to Rescue Junction many years ago due to the intervention of the concerned District Magistrate who feared they arrived very thin, distressed and in poor general health the staff gave them love food and care…they gradually began to respond and behave like three normal girls  laughing playing and beginning school.

As you know Rescue Junction is not a long-term children’s home rather a centre for children and young people in urgent need of care and attention. However due a shortage of places in homes locally the girls would have to be split up and we couldn’t do that.

For a very few children Rescue Junction becomes their home, and so it was for the three sisters, the oldest has now graduated from high school and is now employed as a counsellor at Rescue Junction. She has managed to save a little money for her future and the two youngest girls are continuing their education.

If you would like to help the sisters directly just put a note on your kind donation “ for the three sisters “ and we will put in a welfare fund set up for their future .

Thank you

Priya

Links:

• Our Website

Namaste

Greetings to you all from the Junction.

The peak of the second wave of Covid here in Bihar seems to have passed but it is still very much with us and will be for a long time to come. The economic effect has been and continues to be devasting especially for the poor.  

Here is our Covid related project on GlobalGiving

https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/helping-the-poor-in-bihar-india-to-survive-covid/

However, the effects of the pandemic in India  include as you know  an increase in child trafficking, a lack of education, and now tragically children who have been orphaned or left without parents whom due to sickness, or not being able to work due to lockdown and provide food for their families.

Here at the Junction our home finding team have developed expertise and many contacts within civil society over the years to place children within a family environment be it with kin or foster parents and their services have never been in more demand.  We don’t like to place children in any kind of institution unless it is clearly in their best interests and they need specialised care.

We have seen a 47% increase in children brought to us who are misplaced from family due to illness or economic circumstances and we work closely with our covid response team to find them a safe and secure place to stay. Every child’s placement is authorised by the local Child Welfare Committee which is the legal body to place children and the hearings takes place within Rescue Junction itself.

We have admitted over 40 orphans during the past two months and we need your help to find homes for them. Every donation large or small will help our home finding team in their work and we send our thanks to you for your support.

To date we have received no assistance from the GlobalGiving covid funds but we have applied for much needed help and we are awaiting the response. In the interest of transparency and openness we will keep you informed

Everyone here hopes this report finds you safe and well 

Best wishes

Priyadarshini 

Namaste to All

You must be aware of the current crises unfolding here in India.

It’s very grim as you know it is a national emergency. We wanted all our supporters to know how much we appreciate your support especially at this time and send our heartfelt thanks to all of you.

We also wanted you to know that Rescue Junction is classed as an essential emergency service by the local administration and as such our staff and the centre is continuing to function (at almost full capacity) in every aspect of the centre’s work.

Our staff are still working on the station identifying children who may be trafficked, escaping abuse or just lost and frightened. Rescue Junction working under enormously difficult circumstances in an environment that is as covid safe as is possible at this time.

We are also helping with our Covid response programme but this project has benefited from many volunteers including 3^rd year medical students to aid and assist those who need urgent assistance

https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/helping-the-poor-in-bihar-india-to-survive-covid/

Admissions during the last month include Simi (name changed)

Simi is 15 years of age and comes from a very poor village. Her family are labourers in a brick kiln. Simi was promised domestic work in Kolkata and to live in the house with a chance of an education. When she arrived at Kolkata that person who accompanied her for some reason abandoned her at the station. She was befriended by a taxi driver (an unauthorised taxi) who took her home and tried to rape her. Running out of the house the neighbours called the police but the driver had run away. Enquires are on.

The Kolkata police though the ChildLine rescue network of which Rescue Junction is part made the necessary arrangements for her to be safely escorted to the centre.

After a period of counselling Simi is now safely back home under supervision of our outreach team.

Our team are rescuing children like Simi all the time, our child protection services are sadly needed now more than ever.

Thank for your support

Namaste everyone.

I write to you at a terrible time and please dont mind as a lot of covid related work is centered  at Rescue Junction may I just let you know about our emergency appeal on Global Gving here..

 https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/helping-the-poor-in-bihar-india-to-survive-covid/

However even in the midst of a terrible pandemic our work fighting child trafficking goes on. 

We gave seen a big increase in child trafficking during the pandemic.

Please take a look at this CNN video ..many of these children come to us from Jaipur and the video shows the scale of the problem.

https://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/2020/10/22/india-forced-child-labor-coronavirus-covid-19-watson-pkg-intl-hnk-vpx.cnn

But we have had many successes including working  in partnership with other organisations and law enforcement  to bring factory owners to book and with child support programmes in the villages to restore mainstream education.

Your support is crucial to us and we all send our hearfelt thanks and appreciation to you.

Our brave staff are working 24/7 to help children caught up in the pandemic and trafficking by criminals and everybody here thanks you for your help.

Our next update will include stories from some of the children themselves..

With thanks

Priyadarshini

Links:

• CNN VIDEO

Hello Everyone!

I hope this update finds you and your family well. With reference to our last report may I send you the link for our Justice Project. This project was set up because our staff at Rescue Junction are extremely busy and it was decided that if we had a dedicated legal team we could help to ensure working with our local agencies that those whom traffic and abuse children can be brought to justice and taken out of circulation, and therefore unable to harm others. We have already had some success and we need support so the team can continue their excellent work.

Here is the link and it’s also mentioned below in the links..

https://www.globalgiving.org/microprojects/not-for-sale

Our Covid related continues at pace and may I invite you to take a look here

https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/helping-the-poor-in-bihar-india-to-survive-covid

This is also mentioned in the links.

Here is a story of a child recently rescued,

In recent months there has also been an increase in cases of forced marriages. Families marry their daughters to have one less mouth to feed. We’ve come across cases where children as young as 12 have been trafficked into a forced marriage.

He is one survivor's story, (we have changed the name in accordance with our child protection procedures)

My name is Sheetal, I am 13 years of age, Due to Covid my village school closed for long time but I tried to keep up with my studies with my mobile phone but it was old phone and needed repairing and I did not have 500 rupees (about $7 to repair it) We were already very poor and covid made it worse…. so, my family decided to marry me, although I pleaded with them to not do it. My groom was 21 years of age!

In the village I live near Gaya some of the children were aware of a special number for children in trouble which you can call without charge and I borrowed my friend’s phone and called them they were so caring. I was speaking to a lady from Rescue Junction and they told me that they would come and talk to my parents. Within 24 hours they came with a lady Police officer and my parents signed a legal bond saying I would not be married before 18 years of age and would be allowed to continue my education. But my parents woke me up just 3 nights later to drive to an unknown place for my marriage.

Luckily my friend saw and heard the commotion, (I was kicking and screaming before they blocked my mouth) and I made a phone sign she understood and called the emergency number ....as the vehicle was local, she was able to give the registration number.  After about 10km as we were passing the nearby town the police stopped the vehicle and rescued me, and I was sent straight to Rescue Junction. There the staff were so kind and gentle.

It took some months but after a big meeting at Rescue Junction I returned home under the supervision and with support from Rescue Junction. And I have restarted my education as far as Covid situation will allow.

I cannot thank everyone at Rescue Junction enough and all of you who help children like me.

May God Bless you All.

 With so much thanks to you all ..may you all have a great Easter Break

Priyadarshini Gupta

Links:

• Our Justice project
• Our Covid related work