Fighting Her Way Back To Home

Meeting Hamira could change the way we look at life. Her story is that of a selected few who have stood up for themselves in adverse circumstances.

Hamira, an 11 year old girl staying at Falta in South 24 Parganas, had been trafficked for labour 8 months ago and rescued recently. Presently she is enrolled in the CINI IIMPACT Learning Centre. She studies in the 5^th grade of the Shotol Kolsa School and goes to the CINI centre. She has a few friends with whom she plays in the afternoon, before attending the local Madrasa in the evening. At home, she has her mother, brother, sister-in-law and their child.

Eight months ago her aunt had taken Hamira to her house in the countryside. What started out as a vacation soon turned into a nightmare for the girl. When Hamira started complaining that she wanted to go home, her aunt sold her off to a household in Bihar where she was made to look after a baby. She was responsible to clean up the baby every time she defecated, other than the daily chores. She would be beaten up too. Meanwhile, her teachers back home realised that something was amiss when Hamira didn’t show up in school for a long time. They approached her mother to find out what was wrong. The mother initially denied the possibility of her daughter being in any danger, but finally called her sister to find out where Hamira was, only to be threatened of dire consequences. Ultimately one day, Hamira was able to access a phone and she called up the local panchayat. The panchayat helped to bring Hamira home.

After she was rescued and brought back, she started going to the CINI centre again. Hamira feels happier today. She has her life back; she can go to school and play with her friends when she wants to. She has taken up drawing again, her favourite pastime. When asked about what she wanted to become when she grew up, Hamira said that she would like to work in the centre like her teacher and the other didis there. We hope she realises her dream which will provide inspiration to all those who have shared her plight.

Reunited with family…

This is the life story of little Ratan who had lost his way in a fair and got separated from his parents. All of 15 years, Ratan suffered from memory loss, due to a head injury in his early childhood.

His parents were very cautious of not leaving him unaccompanied at any time. However as bad luck would have it, he got separated from his parents while visiting a crowded fair. The little boy was left alone to fend for himself. He wandered on the streets and platform.

One afternoon, a CINI member spotted the boy on the street and after conversing with him, understood his situation. It took some time and effort on part of the CINI member to convince him and take him to the safety of a CINI shelter home.

According to routine procedures, the child was produced me to the Child Welfare Court. On the court orders, the child was handed over to a government home. As he was unable to recall his address, he was taken along for spot identification. As they reached a particular place, Ratan could identify his village. On further inquiring, his parents were found. Little Ratan was re-united with his family.  

The entire CINI family heaved a sigh of relief as the boy ran fast to the arms of his mother!

Learning the ABCs of Life. . .

Me and my brother was orphaned at a very young age. Our maternal uncle and grandmother started to take care of us. The family’s livelihood was mainly dependent upon cutting leather strap which brought home a meager income. As income was low, and mouths to feed were many, we had no other option but to join the others in the leather strap work. The most tough part of the job was having food after the day’s hard work. 

The foul smell of leather would remain the whole day and make us nauseous. In that world of pain and drudgery, education never featured in our list of priorities.  

However my story would have been just another story of child labour & deprivation of education until CINI intervened and came to our rescue.  CINI helped me & my brother get admission to schools and start our education. My brother got his admission in Ambedkar School and I got through VIP Nagar High School. Our joy knew no bounds. CINI did not stop there. The members stepped in to guide us through our journey of education. We regularly attend their Coaching center at VIP Masjid. Now I can proudly say that my brother is in Class 5 & I’m a student of Class 4.

I heartily thank CINI for being a consistent support to us. It has reduced our working hours in the leather strap cutting job and helped us in concentrating in our studies. We can put more time in studying.

However it is just the foundation stone of CINI. It has a long way to go. It aims higher to completely dissociate the students from the job and streamline their attention to academics.

M. Khatoon

"Without CINI, higher education would have remained a unfulfilled dream" - Afroza Khatoon

Education never finds importance in low socio-economic families like ours. But the scenario of my family is somewhat different. My parents have always encouraged us in academics. My father is employed in a small factory. He struggles hard  to make sure that I along with my two brothers acquire basic literacy. My brothers are now in Class I and IV.  

But as we reached higher classes, the cost of education became higher. It was difficult for my father to support our education. Even though he provided the school fees, affording tuition was beyond the family’s reach. Tutions for us was important as there was no one at home who could guide us or help us with our studies. We were about to put an end to our studies when a teacher of my school asked us to contact CINI for their support. The next few years went smoothly.With adequate help from the CINI learning center I could pursue my higher studies. Whatever I am today I would like to contribute my success to CINI.

Everything went smoothly till my Class X (Madhyamik) Examination. After that ,  my parents were not keen to continue my education. This is because higher studies would require higher amount of investment. Even they felt educating a girl beyond Class X is a wastage of money.

 Fearing that I wont be able to study further I resorted to crying and begged them to change their minds. Teachers from CINI Learning center also came and convinced them to allow me to continue with my studies. For now, they have agreed. However, they have said that I need to put a stop to my academic dreams after I complete my Class XII exams. I know well that my journey ahead is tough but I am ready to face its challenges. If my father refuses to finance my education after Higher Secondary, I would start coaching little children to bear my own expenses. This way I can solve my problems. And I know, CINI would be there to guide me through as always!

Rambagan- Transforming to a new self...

Sex-workers, red light areas and similar things invoke a different kind of thought process in most of us. People are critical about the lifestyles that sex workers follow. But seldom do we delve further. We make up our own answers to the question,’Why?’. The presumptions need to change.

CINI has been consistently working over the past two decades, in Rambagan ( an well-known red light area), to give its inhabitants a new way of life. It is located near the junction of Beadon Street and CR Avenue in ward-26 of Kolkata Municipal Corporation.

Previously the children were left on their own while the mothers were busy in their trade. With only one room called home, most of them had no option but to wait outside while their mothers carried on with their work. The infants were given alcohol, so they could sleep and not disturb the mother. The bigger kids were made to bring wine and food items for the clients. Their young age was subjected to such kinds of humiliation. It  exposed the children to various kinds of abuses.

With CINI’s efforts and interventions, the children started to have a taste of commonly known  normal life. They started going to schools. They were playing in the afternoons and attending CINI run coaching centres in the evening. Perceptions started to change. From a time, when brothels celebrated when a daughter was born, as she was to be the next breadwinner, to the time, when education seemed to be the priority. The sons and daughters were now no more being trained to become pimps and sex-workers. They now aspire to become teachers, players, and a lot more.

Few problems still remain. One of them are the flying sex-workers. They come in the morning and leave by late evening. Since they do not stay here, there is no sense of belongingness. Most of these ladies claim that they do not come out of the rooms. But then there have been instances where they were seen to be alluring young boys. They are yet to become a part of the transformation process.

Another gnawing problem for the inhabitants are that they still ashamed to reveal their addresses. Their relatives don’t want to come and stay overnight. Friends don’t come. The stigma of being a red-light area citizen is marring their way of lives.

There might be difficulties to cope up with, but there are also a lot of positives. In the last twenty years, no daughter has taken up the mother’s trade. On the contrary, some are pursuing their post- graduation courses. The most positive way of life in Rambagan is the way they stay together. Religion or caste do not divide them. They all live together!

Negative assumptions or images cannot be changed overnight. It will require a lot of time and effort from one and all. But till then, they are content and happy with the positive transformation in their lives, which has been brought in by CINI.

The story of Seema...

Life never ceases to surprise or shock us. Every time we are sure of reasons and consequences, we are hit by something new.

Seema (name changed) was sent to us after she was caught is a sex trade racket. As our counselor sat to have a chat with this young girl, she never knew such a shocking revelation was waiting for her. Seema was a first year English honour student at one of the reputed city colleges. She lived with her widow mother in their own home at the northern part of the city. Her father’s pension and rent from their house got them enough money for a comfortable lifestyle.

Girls from such backgrounds do not end up in this trade. “ Why do you do it then?” the counsellor asked. “ More money”  came the reply. The counselor could not believe her ears. Her experience of 22 years seemed to fade away as she went on hearing her story. The teenager earned more than Rs. 30000 a day by doing this. And no she was not apologetic for doing it. For her, it was simply an easy way to earn more money.

With time, reasons have changed. Poverty is no longer the main reason for women joining the trade. Better lifestyle, more money and never ending needs are just some of the new reasons and consequences of today’s ambitious lifestyle. 

Right to Free and Compulsory Education Bill

This long awaited landmark bill was passed in parliament on Tuesday 4th August 2009. This will now allow all concerned to take legal action against parents or guardians who refuse to send their children to school. India as a nation has shown a strong political will in passing this bill and has now joined a select global club, stating our intentions of getting every child between 6 to 14 to school. The law is unique because while providing compulsory education, the school authorities would not fail any student till class VIII, making provisions in both government and private schools to provide 25% quota to "disadvantaged children".

We are aware of the numerous one teacher government and private schools in the country with students over 100, the poor quality of teaching/learning where students tested before leaving class VIII, are barely able to read and write one sentence and failing to do simple mathematics. If the bill is intended to serve the purpose for which it has been finally enacted, the policy makers and planners should make adequate resource allocations in building more schools, upgrading existing facilities such as toilets for girl children, appoint more teachers and upgrade their skills, so that children in schools are not short-changed in the name of education.

CINI has been promoting education of children from deprived communities since the early nineties, and developed a unique child tracking system in Kolkata municipal schools to prevent drop outs in the CINI ASHA urban programme. In Jharkhand, CINI has been designated as the "Mother NGO" for education by the Government of Jharkhand and has been implementing various programmes for deprived urban and rural children in the state. In the next few months, CINI will discuss the bill with the community, the teachers and the elected representatives in its project area, and ensure that children are not deprived of their basic right to compulsory and free education in the world's largest democracy.