Rescue Junction Supports Street Children in India

Namaste Everyone

Warm greetings from us all at Rescue Junction!

For this newsletter I thought I would tell you about just one of the many rescues we have done recently as our close cooperation with the police continues to make it as difficult as possible for criminals to sell and exploit children

We spend a lot of time in the community and our community team run awareness programmes about child trafficking constantly.

As you know there is an emergency toll free number 1098 which children and anybody can phone for immediate assistance and help. The call will be answered within three rings.

It was on this number that a concerned member of the public rang when he saw a group of children with two men who looked worried and frightened near Gaya Station. One had been slapped and was crying.

We work closely with the Railway Protection force anti trafficking unit who kept the group under surveillance until our rapid response team could reach the group where the two men were arrested and were subsequently interviewed and sent to jail charged with very serious trafficking offences.

We keep our team ready 24/7 so that hopefully not a single child is smuggled from the station. It costs $1000 a month to provide all expenses and costs for the Rapid Response Team so your kind donations big or small are so welcome to help us do our work, and everybody here at the Junction sends our heartfelt thanks and gratitude to you.

As for the children, of which the youngest was only ten years old they are safe and well and our counsellors are engaging with the parents and the local community.

They were offered $10 a week for work but experience tells us they would be very unlikely to be paid anything and would be locked in the factory campus mistreated and abused. So the work of the response team is very important and credit and thanks to them.

GlobalGiving is offering a Bonus Day on July 20th where they will add to donations over $100 but any amount is so helpful and we again send our thanks to you.

We will have some stories from the children in our next report.

In the meantime, we wish you all a great summer.

Priya

All ph0tographs which will never personally identify an individual are used with full consent 

Namaste and Greetings to you all.

Here for our latest update are two stories from the Junction

NAMES WHEN MENTIONED HAVE BEEN CHANGED TO PROTECT IDENTITIES

Ranjeet Kumar

We get to know about this child through Police officer in charge  Fatehpur that a deaf and dumb child had been found missing in Paharpur , Gaya . Then we reached the PS Fatehpur and received that child and at first, we provided food and informed the local community about this child. Then we took him to Rescue Junction done a Covid 19 test and produced before the child welfare department in Gaya. We regularly coordinated with the Police and we found his parents and we got to know that he was missing from many days.

 Finally, now he is in his home with their parents. After counselling and support he was returned to his parents

Family in Crisis 

It is very sensitive story of one migrant family. The wife of a labourer, who came from Aligarh to Gaya Junction, died at the brick factory while giving birth to a child The father after no help from the brick works left there with a three-day-old new-born and his family and a total of five children. Coming to Rescue Junction for help they all were given food and water by PFECT, and due to no money, the family was provided transported to his home by vehicle on PFECT Vehicle. Due to his very tight financial condition, the team of PFECT visited his house and provided them with ration, milk and other necessities and the team has linked them to the government scheme to provide a house and food. All the  children are being supervised by our community team and offered further support including opportunities for the children to start their education.

 Once again thank you all for your kind and generous support

Priya

Warm greetings and Namaste to everyone.

As the year comes to a close what a year it’s been. Its difficult to imagine a pre- covid world now. I salute our magnificent staff for rising to the covid challenge and our covid work still goes on ...you can find it here

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

We never close our doors here at the Junction but the building is no longer fit for purpose and we need a bright new comfortable home for the increasing number of vulnerable children that come to us for care and protection. I am very pleased to tell you we have secured over $20,000 from a donor in the UK but we would ask if you know of any organisation or group that may help us with  raising the rest of the money we need this money either in the UK and USA please do not hesitate to drop us a line at india_peoplefirst@yahoo.com and we will contact them. USA donors can donate tax free on GlobalGiving .

If I might mention our toy appeal (a cuddly toy can give so much comfort to a distressed child) and we intend to build up a large toy cupboard here at the Junction. We could say a toy library but no toy is ever returned!

You can find it here

https://www.globalgiving.org/microprojects/give-joy-with-toys-to-kids-who-have-never-had-one/

Here are some stories from the Junction from recent interventions

(Names have been changed per our child protection policy) 

Please note that the names have been changed in all of the following stories. 

Savtri (15)
Savitri was kidnapped on her way to school by four men in a car who covered her mouth. She remembers nothing but woke up, terrified on Gaya Station railway platform. Members of the public handed her to the GRP (Government Railway Police). She was traumatised and medical examinations confirmed she had been raped multiple times. Savitri is still being counselled and being offered gentle support and constructive activities like craft and in time she will be able to return home to her parents when she is ready but with ongoing support and care from the centres specially trained staff. 
Shafi (8)
Shafi a boy aged eight decided to have an adventure and, on his way, to school took an auto from his college 50km away to Gaya. Eating samosa in a small café near the station, the owner was concerned when he was approached by three men, and intervened. He brought him personally to Rescue Junction where he has beencounselled in a kindly but firm way with his parents and he returned home after a few days. 
Prakash (10)
Prakash has never been to school and his father is ill and his mother was so poor. He was found working in a tea shop washing plates for 30 rupees a day (about 50 cents). He was rescued by the special labour department team formed with rescue Junction staff. Efforts are on to get him in mainstream education and for the time being he remains at Recue Junction.
Sanwi (20 days)
In a town, some 30Km away from the centre a 20-day old baby was thrown away near a riverbank. Found fortuitously by a member of the public she informed the local police who brought her to Rescue Junction for care and protection. 
 Per the norms and laws this little girl will be offered for adoption.  
Soni Kumari (14)
Soni has had a difficult life. When her mother died when she was young, her father remarried only to constantly fight with his new wife and eventually she committed suicide by drinking poison. Soni went to live with her grandmother could not afford to keep her so she ended up with her aunty in anther village. Throughout all this she managed to educate herself up to class seven. She became friendly with a local boy and together they ran away to seek a better life together and were removed from a running train with a special stop at Gaya by the government railway police. Rescue Junction staff are working with her to decide the best option for her welfare and wellbeing. 

We feel we should mention none of the children featured in these stories are  represented in any of the photos according to our privacy policy   

The above is just a small sample of the work of the centre in just one month. 

It only remains for me to thank you all so very much on behalf of all of the staff and children here at Rescue Junction for your wonderful donations and support through the past year and for helping us keep our doors open.

May you have a wonderful and peaceful new year

Priya

Links:

• Our Website

The headline says “new born baby found in bushes handed over to Rescue Junction staff”.

Hello everybody from Rescue Junction and I hope you are all well as we enter the festive season.

 For this update I thought we would talk a little about the often new born babies who come to us for protection and care. New born or very very young babies are left sometimes where they will be found and sometimes like the baby above thrown in bushes and left to die  .Luckily the cries of the distressed child are often heard and save its life.

 Although we are not an adoption agency our role is crucial in finding a forever home for the children that come to us. We have a specialised team that cares for the babies and very young children in our care. Our priority is the wellbeing of the child as always of course and the team concentrate on excellent physical care along with trying to identify relatives that can be committed to this new life and provide a safe and secure home. Sometimes the child is, after all the safeguards have been completed sent for adoption through an approved government agency and with the permission of the local child welfare committee. There are many good Indian families whom wish to adopt girls.

The staff were very happy to receive this mail from one of the first babies we received into our care (now 17 years old) Shanti (we have changed the name in accordance with trust privacy policy but nothing else)   

” Dear kind staff at Rescue Junction,

Obviously, I don’t remember it but my parents have told me what happened to me and the loving care I got at Rescue Junction. As I approach my 18^th Birthday and my training to become a nurse I want to thank you for the part you played in giving me a wonderful life,

God Bless you all”

Shanti

 Before I go may I bring your attention to two important new seasonal appeals on GlobalGiving

One is for toys and to build a new toy library

https://www.globalgiving.org/microprojects/give-joy-with-toys-to-kids-who-have-never-had-one/

and the other is for warm clothes and blankets as the bitterly cold but hopefully short winter approaches

https://www.globalgiving.org/microprojects/save-a-vulnerables-childs-life-this-winter/

Thank you as ever for your generous and wonderful support

 Priyadarshini

Links:

• Our Website