By Girish Kulkarni | Founder, Snehalaya
Thank you for the support you provide for our sex workers and their children. Around half of the children living in our Rehab Center are the children of sex workers and half are also HIV+. Developing and entertaining these children in a 24/7 job and while we provide shelter, food, clothing and healthcare, it is also important to provide them opportunities to explore the world and themselves. Your support is essential in allowing us to explore new activities for our children. Revently a new passion was ignited in some of our older girls as they participated in a Women's Premiere League (WPL) cricket competition. Here one of the players, Divya shares her experience.
“We were very excited to be selected to take part in the WPL and our practice started at the Nagar club on 16 January. It was an intense experience, starting at 6am with our training day ending at 10.30pm. Even though our bodies were aching, interrupting our sleep, we all woke early ready to start practicing again with full enthusiasm. Through this exposure, we learned about competition in the outside world. It taught us the importance of tireless efforts and the necessity of time management.
“Finally, the three-day competition started on 27 January and we were ready for our matches. We were divided into teams with other girls from Ahmednagar. Winning teams qualified for the final match on 29 January, with our Snehalaya sisters proudly among the final teams and winners. It was a great moment for our Snehalaya family and we could see the happiness on the faces of Samadhan Sir and Pravin Sir.
“I always loved watching and playing cricket but I never had a chance to play in an actual competition. WPL allowed me to experience the thrill of competition. I also made lots of new friends through the practice sessions and matches. It gave me a new experience of the outside, learning how to have conversations with new people, make new friends and many other interesting things. I used to think that the outside world could be cruel, but after experiencing the caring behaviour of the WPL staff, I started believing in humanity again.
“Overall, we all really enjoyed the entire experience and it definitely gave me confidence that I can do anything if I work hard.”
Your support ensures we can offer more girls like Divya an opportunity to try something new, thank you.
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