Gender Equality India Project #17035

Rescue sex workers & at-risk children in India

by Snehalaya 'Home of Love'

Rescue sex workers & at-risk children in India

Project Report | Dec 26, 2016
Three weddings & a reunion

By Vaijnath Lohar & Joyce Connolly | Project Director & Honorary Director

Three couples tied the knot

As the year draws to a close we would like to thank you for choosing to support Snehlaya and wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. For many, this time of year is all about family and as a supporter of our work we would like you to know we consider you a member of our extended family, which includes those who have been orphaned, abandoned or rescued. Like any parent we want our children to have a safe, secure and happy life when they leave the family home and below you can read just a few examples of how, with your support, we do our best to ensure this. make sure you also watch the video below to hear our Christmas message to you.

Happy ever after

We’ve been a festive mood right from the outset of December as we celebrated our bride and groom interaction programme for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) during World AIDS Week. We know that one of the biggest challenges of living with HIV is the attached stigma, particularly when looking for a suitable marriage partner, which is why we offer this unique match-making event. This year more than 300 people, including several of our own beneficiaries, registered for our programme with eight couples finding their perfect match, bringing the total number of marriages we have arranged in this way to 38.

Among our newlyweds is Sania who was orphaned as a young girl then left with distant relatives when her sisters married. Aged nine she started falling ill repeatedly and when tests showed that she was HIV positive her relatives forced her to leave their home and move to Snehalaya. Here she completed school and a fashion design course and turning 24 was keen to start the next chapter of her life so joined our marriage programme. There like everyone else she had the opportunity to share her hopes, interests and what she was looking for in a partner with the potential grooms. She caught the attention of a man who she was also interested in and after spending more time with him decided he was the one for her. His family and our womens’ shelter team then made the necessary arrangements and within two weeks they were married in a special ceremony at our head office. Sania has now moved to start her new life with her husband and we are looking forward to seeing how she has settled in when we visit her for another wedding reception in a few weeks.

Family ties

Her departure was emotional as she said goodbye to the home and family she has known for so long but we will continue to keep in touch with her to ensure she is living happily ever after. She will also be invited back to our annual Snehamelava reunion held each November to welcome our past beneficiaries back on to campus. Organised by our women’s shelter project immediately after Diwali celebrations, a very family-focused time of the year, we’ve been holding it since 2012. It’s lovey to see and hear from our past students, including those who have married, moved for work or to continue their studies or returned to their own families, and find out how they are doing now they are adults.

This year, as always, our founder, trustees and staff were there to welcome them home and hear about their successes. It was also an opportunity for the visitors to meet up and share their memories with their Snehalaya siblings and to update the staff that offered the guidance and support on how they are now achieving their dreams and in some cases introduce them to their own children, all of whom are warmly welcomed into our extended family.

Among those returning this year was Maya who is our first beneficiary to follow in the footsteps of many of our staff to complete a Masters in Social Work. Her initial motivation was to work with us when she graduated but during her studies she realised she could offer more by first learning from other NGOs and social work organizations and she is now working for Sampark, a charity for women and children in Mumbai. Among those she caught up with at the reunion was her younger sister Meena who is currently completing her own studies with a degree in commerce with the hope of becoming an accountant. It was lovely to see them both and all of our other 'children'.

Thank you for all of your support in 2016, we wish you the best for 2017 and hope that you you have enjoyed hearing from your Snehalaya family.

Family portrait

Links:

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Sep 26, 2016
A secure haven

By Vaijnath Lohar & Joyce Connolly | Project Director & Honorary Director

Pramila and Prajekta are the best of friends and the 17 year olds already have quite a history together. They both come from very poor families and met at a government hostel where they had been admitted in the hope that they would be better provided for there. While the institution provided the basics, the prison-like atmosphere prompted the duo, along with six other girls, to break out in the dead of night over a year ago.

While Prajekta ran to a nearby aunty and uncle, Pramila found the 30-year-old married man she had been having an affair with before she entered the home. The 15-year-old moved in with her lover, who is father to a 13-year-old, where she lived until she was found by her father six months later.

He promptly returned her to the hostel and filed a rape complaint against her ‘boyfriend’. The other six escapees had returned to their families and given that they had found it so easy to slip out of the hostel unnoticed a district judge ruled that it was not a safe home for these vulnerable girls. He issued a court order that they be sent to one of the best homes available, with a reputation for keeping its beneficiaries safe, happy and secure, that home was Snehalaya.

Pramila and Prajekta moved to our Rehab Centre three months ago and have settled in really well with Pramila taking to the stage at our recent Ganpati Chaturthi festival to sing in front of our other 250 children. As her heavenly voice drifted across campus it was impossible to tell that she has lengthy and potentially traumatic legal actions to face in the not too distant future. Fortunately our counsellors and staff are well trained in this area and have been helping her prepare. It’s thanks to their support that when her parents, fearing recriminations in the community they are all from, suggested she drop the case and instead become the second wife of her ‘boyfriend’, she was adamant that they proceed and he face justice.

For now she is fully committed to her final year of school and hoping for good results which will help her to become a police officer and help others like her who are taken advantage of by older men.

It's thanks to your support that we have built the reputation we have for providing safe care for vulnerable girls like these. On behalf of all of our children, thank you for chosing to help us.

Links:

Snehalaya website

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Jun 28, 2016
You are changing destinies

By Vaijnath Lohar & Joyce Connolly | Project Director & Honorary Director

Thanks to you, Anjali's future looks bright

Thank you for all your support in changing the destinies of marginalized children and women. Although we aim to help all those who need our assistance, the foundations of Snehalaya are based on rescuing children and women from the hardships and exposure of living within red light communities in our district and beyond.

Breaking the cycle

While our younger children have recently returned to school and our older children are making their final preparations to start college next month, we have been conducting outreach visits to sex workers to offer their children a safe and secure home and education. As a result, we have recently welcomed another 28 beneficiaries to our Rehab Center where they have also been admitted to our English Medium School.

We firmly believe that education can help break the cycle of exploitation and violence that goes hand in hand with prostitution. With your continued donations we can ensure those within our care are given every opportunity to complete their studies and progress to college and university, opening up more choice in their own futures.

The results

Therefore, we are very proud to announce a 78% success rate for our 10th Standard students this year. A special well done to Sonali who received top marks overall. She has overcome her own personal challenges whilst completing her studies. Recently, while undergoing routine medical treatment, it was discovered she was HIV+. She was admitted to our Rehab Center to receive specialized care and support and, thanks to an intense programme of counselling and emotional guidance from our caregivers, she is adjusting well to her new home and diagnosis. She is now focussed on completing her studies in commerce and the future your support is providing her. You’ll also be pleased to hear that we achieved a 100% pass rate for our 12th standard students who are now busy preparing to start college.

Fighting for education

As part of our ongoing support to girls and women we have joined the year-long campaign, Students Stand #WithMalala (SSWM), a collaboration between Malala Fund and Participant Media, to empower the next generation to raise their voices for all girls’ rights to 12 years of free, safe and quality education. Since our launch in November we have shared Malala Yousafzai’s story and campaign with over 27,000 people. On 15 June, our Rehab Center children added their voices to the campaign, taking part in our showcase to celebrate the conclusion of our roadshows within Ahmendnagar District. They performed three dances highlighting the hardship women worldwide face on a daily basis.

One of our newest admissions, a brave young woman called Anjali also took part in the programme by sharing her own story. Anjali and her parents were tricked into an arranged marriage with a violent husband. Three days after the wedding she managed to escape and fled over 120km back to her parents' house in one of the villages we were screening the Malala documentary. Inspired by the film and Malala’s personal story, she came straight to our office where, thanks to your donation we were able to offer to support her to complete her studies. She is now looking forward to her new life at college training to become a social worker.

Anjali says: “If a 12 year old can do all of this for her education, I can fight for mine too. Thank you for your support in helping me to take back ownership of my life and education.”

Read more about our campaign to stand #withMalala here.

Flying the flag for girls' education

Our 12th standard students celebrate their results

Links:

Read more about our campaign to stand #withMalala here.

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