Rescue sex workers & at-risk children in India

Yesterday was the first day of the school year here in India and thanks to your support our children were among those celebrating ‘School Chale Hum’ (We’re off to school) celebrations across the country. We were really pleased to welcome more children from our local communities to our Snehalaya English Medium School where we are breaking down the stigmas facing our children by integrating them with mainstream students. It’s a particularly important year for our school as our first year of 10 Std students will face their final school exams and we are hoping they will do as well as this year’s students who attend local schools.

We are hoping they can match Mayur, our top scorer in this year’s 10th Std exams with 71.2%. When you consider how sick he was when he arrived with us just over a year ago this result is all the more impressive. So many of our children need to balance their studies with regular visits to the hospital and your support goes a long way towards funding after school tuition and encouraging them to do their best.

Now he has completed 10 Std he is ready to enrol in college and start focusing on his 12 Std exams which will take him into higher education. Like many other 16-17 year olds he is debating which subject area to focus on – arts, commerce, science, etc - and with a natural talent for languages in considering also doing a diploma in French.

We are hoping he will do as well as Baghyashree who received 82% in her 12^th Std this year and will be enrolling in an arts degree in the next few weeks. She is so smart and also loves extracurricular activities, especially sport. All of which will help her in achieving her ambition of becoming a police officer.

While Mayur and Baghyashree are focused on where their futures lie some of our other children need more support and guidance in preparing to face the world, For our younger kids, it's been about making sure they have the basic reading, writing and maths skills which will help them at school while our older children have been focused on their future otions with career guidance, talks from professionals and exosure visits to colleges. An annual activity on our calendar this year we are pleased that we have been able to encourage more of our girls to consider STEM subjects with five scholarships to a mechanical engineering college specifically on offer to our beneficiaries.

In a similar vein we also organised a visit to a film studio for our children interested in a career in film and TV. We were lucky enough to go behind the scenes to see Indian superstar Aamir Khan interview our founder, Girish in a popular TV show tackling drought in India through a movement in which we are partners with Aamir’s Paani Foundation. This helped the children to see the options available behnd the camera as well as in front of it. The trip to the TV studio was followed by a quick visit to the Mumbai shoreline, which for many of the kids involved was their first ever sight of the ocean. It really was a trip to remember in a summer full of inspiration and dream building for the future.

With 60 million children missing out on school in India we are truly grateful for your support which not only allows our children to receive their full 12 years of education but also gives them the confidence to dream big and overcome the odds to achieve great results, thank you!

Links:

• Visit our website
• Read more about our partnership with Paani Foundation

Happy Holi and a big thank you for providing so much colour to our beneficiaries lives.

Remember what it was like when sitting your exams was just around the corner? After 8pm its study time here at Snehalaya and you can hear a pin drop as the kids begin to prepare for their up and coming exams. As you know at Snehalaya we are committed to stopping second generation prostitution and this we have successfully done since the opening of the Rehabilitation Centre in 1989. We believe that education is a powerful tool in society and we are equipping the kids with what is essential to take into their futures so they won’t be exploited like so many of their mothers have been. We’re sure you’ll join us in wishing the best of luck to all the students at this important time.

Many of the women who are in the sex work profession for various reasons often find it hard to leave but, as reported last August, we offer the women an escape route by setting them up in small businesses through our Sneha-Saksham program. One such lady who took up this offer is Sonali. After years of suffering abuse and hardship, for the sake of her daughter she left the red light area to begin a new life by starting her own tea and snacks stall. Hear her inspirational story in her own words in the short film made for ‘International Women’s Day’ below.

There is one date in the calendar that will offer some light relief at exam time and that is the Holi Festival (Festival of Colour) which is being celebrated today.The major Hindu festival welcomes in the spring because it is believed the season is full of color, and that’s exactly what you see as colors of all varieties are poured over anyone who happens to be standing nearby. transforming them into a human rainbow! This festival of joy is always eagerly anticipated at Snehalaya as special sweets are distributed giving the kids the sugar rush they need to dance for hours covered with every color you can imagine.

We are also preparing to meet and greet our new batch of volunteers from University of Leeds, UK. This year has seen people from all over the globe come to offer their skills and help with the further education and development of the Snehalaya children. We carefully screen and select volunteers who can contribute relevant skills and experience and this year's successful applicants provided cultural exchanges from Germany, Switzerland, Basque Country and for the first time - China. English teachers, Bobo and Jessie introduced the kids to their culture by celebrating Chinese New Year. The kids were shown how to use chopsticks, made dumplings, had their names written in Chinese, created special lantern cards and all were given lucky red envelopes containing Yen. The kids had a great time as well as savoring a whole new experience courtesy of our friends from China.

Snehalaya wants to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support and for being part of our family. You are making the difference by helping us to continue with our life changing work. If you are interested in volunteering please visit the relevant page of our website as linked below.

Links:

• Watch Sonali's story here
• Learn more about volunteering
• Visit our website