0ne Year later and introducing Puresa Humanitarian

First off, I would like to give my utmost gratitude for all of your generosity and support in helping me to raise much needed funds for victims of sex trafficking. With your support, I am so very proud to say that in 2012, I raised $20,000 and raise another $7,000 in 2013 through the creation of my yoga inspired jewelry line “Karmic Jewels by Nadine, good deeds wearing beads “, as well as some of your repeat donations, you know who you are <3..
Attached, you will find photos of the completed work center for the girls at Sanlaap, as well as the new dorms and the re-done drop in center in Bowbazar. 25 girls have moved into this newly constructed building.
The artisan workshop and vocational training skills center is up and running and producing artisan block printing fabric for The Opportunity Collection in Kolkata India. All of this could not have been done without your support. I know you will enjoy seeing these photos and how your donations were put to use.
My dedication to this cause only gains momentum, as it is unbearable remembering all of the sweet faces from my trip to India and knowing countless numbers of children continue to be preyed upon and robbed of their innocence and childhood.
This weekend, I attended a fundraiser for Puresa Humanitarian, a 501 c 3 charity that provides rescue, medical treatment and rehabilitation for child victims of sex trafficking in the outskirts of Delhi India. I had the pleasure of meeting the founder of Puresa Humanitarian, Giselle Meza, who herself was a victim of this horrendous crime against humanity. I am very
honored to be collaborating with Giselle in this herculean endeavor.
Puresa Humanitarian is in immediate dire need of funds to pay for medical expenses for the girls, which were incurred by the neglect and brutal mistreatment of their captors: those expenses have exceeded $7,000.
Please open your hearts and wallets and visit http://www.puresa.org to donate and learn more about Giselle and how you can help. No amount is too small, and if you feel compelled to go big, she would be forever grateful, an $85,000 donation will finance the construction of a new safe house and will be dedicated and honored by naming the home after your family, foundation or individual name. All contributions are tax deductible.
Girls should never be for sale. Please help and give what you can.
With Deep Gratitude,
~Nadine

Kolkata sanved Saving Lives Through Dance

Another day, another long bus ride to our Partner Kolkata Sanved. First let me say that every time our bus embarks on a road trip in these parts, we are a complete spectacle. The word TOURIST, in caps about 1 foot high, is plastered across the windshield of our bus. We are driving on the same road as men pushing carts, bicycles, scooters, cows, goats, dogs and pedestrians. We are indeed a rare sight in the rural communities we are driving through. Mix that with the fact that about 1/2 of the group are blondes, and it is a total WOW factor. We are tantamount to a UFO, complete with aliens, driving down anywhere, Main Street USA !!!!
We arrive and meet the beautiful and inspirational women of Kolkata Sanved. We were all guided through a Dance Movement Therapy session, (DMT ) that a girl who had been recently rescued would go through. We experienced first hand the transformational power of DMT. DMT can heal and empower the victims of sex violence to be bold, confident, advocates for themselves.
Kolkata Sanved has implemented a “Training of Trainers” or TOT program, which empowers victims to acquire the skills to have a career as a DMT teacher, enabling them to integrate back into mainstream society.
The TOT girls escorted us to the red light district to show us how they work with the at risk children at the Apne Aap drop in center. This is a different red light district than the one at Bowbazar, but no less dark and scary. The poverty here is ineffable for me to express, but this is the only reality the children here know. We walk up to the open roof area of the building. Both the TOT’s and the children were so eager to to show us their routines, and once again, the polite and proud ritual of the children introducing themselves is so heartwarming and endearing.
Not 5 minutes into the routine came loud aggressive Hindi screaming from the neighbors, telling the group to be quite. It was frightening. The children were un phased by the abrupt ending to their show, which to me , was the saddest thing, as it was clear that disappointment and disempowerment is the rule and not the exception in their experience.

Kolkata Sanved believes that all individuals, from marginalized and mainstream populations, should live with dignity and self-respect. This basic sense of empowerment and integrity is achieved through their DMT program.

Kolkata Sanved has had great success using DMT as a modality to heal, empower and rehabilitate survivors of trafficking and violence. Transforming Steps in London, 2012. Kolkata Sanved launched an international campaign in both Kolkata and London called “Stand with Survivors of Sex Trafficking, Stand Against Exploitation”. They collaborated with Sadler’s Wells, a world renowned theater, and Living Lens, an organization utilizing video as therapy for the survivors of human trafficking. Together they raised awareness around sex trafficking through the creation of a film starring the Sanved dancers as they performed at the famous venue of Sadler’s Wells in London. The film was screened across London prior to the Olympics in 2012.

http://www.journeysforchange.org/node/209

Kolkata Sanved also received the prestigious “DVF Award” The Diane von Furstenberg Award for Transforming the Lives of Women in March of 2011. The Award ceremony took place at United Nations, at the Women in the World Summit. This award gives recognition to those who are using their resources, commitment and visibility to transform the lives of other women. These are women who have had the courage to fight, the power to survive and the leadership to inspire.

Kolkata Sanved has also won the Beyond Sport Award 2009 in the “Best Project For Health” category. Kolkata Sanved’s flagship programme “Saving Lives Through Dance” has emerged among 265 projects from 40 countries.
If you would like more information on Kolata Sanved please see the Partners and Projects section of my blog.
Abolish 21st century slavery.
With love and gratitude
Nadine

SANLAAP SHELTER AND THE RED LIGHT DISTRICT

SANLAP SHELTER AND THE RED LIGHT DISTRICT
We arrived at Sanlaap Shelter which is approximately a 1 hour ride into the country.
We had a conversation with one of the directors there , a wonderful and dedicated women named Priyanka, who explained what it is like for the girls after they get rescued from the red light district and put into their care. The young girls have a 3 month integration time whereby they live in a house separate from the group that have been there longer. They have very loose schedules as they have been severely abused and traumatized, so this time is meant to be therapeutic. It is difficult to fathom that it is so complicated to get a minor child out of a brothel… There has to be viable and credible information in order for the police to preform a raid, as prostitution is legal for women over the age of 18. Even though there is a high demand for young female children among men in India, there are some johns that take pity on the children and they sometimes will allow the girls to call their parents to tell them that they have been kidnapped and held against there will.
There are currently 137 girls at this shelter. The resiliency of these children is awe inspiring. Sanlaap teaches them to sew and to do block printing. I was guided through the process of Batik’ing a linen scarf with one of the girls.These girls are like any other kids you may know. They love to play games, sing and dance. When you see the physical scars on their bodies, it is a painful reminder that their childhoods have been tragically eclipsed by their abusers. Many of the seva participants who are on the tour, have girls at home. they say their girls are just like these girls on the surface, except they are not…They have been kidnapped, brutalized, tortured, raped, and forced to use drugs in order to be compliant with the horrendous and unimaginable things they were being forced to do.
The active sex workers here are victims of sexual violence themselves and were trafficked as children. They want to protect their children from the same fate. These sex workers are shunned by he Indian society, therefore, it is virtually impossible for them to get out and work in another trade.
Sanlaap center provides a ” drop in center” for the children of these active sex workers in the red light district of Bowbazar, Kolkata. If not for this center, these children would be either under or next to the bed that their mother is servicing clients on.

THE RED LIGHT DISTRICT
After our visit to Sanlaap, we were given unprecedented access to the red light area. Priyanka escorted us, as our convoy of vehicles descended on the red light district of Bowbazar. There are no adequate words to convey the palpable feeling of poverty, desperation, and evil. This is the Hades or underworld that I have read about in Greek mythology. The only thing missing were the flames in the background.
This place has left an indelible wound on my heart and soul. Walking down that 3block stretch seemed like an eternity. The putrid smell of the combination of body fluids that you can only imagine was overwhelming, was the indicator that We had passed a brothel. There were at least 25 or more brothels in that small area, and many young children being abused within the walls.
As Priyanka navigated us through the maze, we reached the ” drop in center”
This was a place where heaven and hell coexisted simultaneously. There were about 25 children cramped into this tiny place where they are supervised, given supplemental education and a meager amount to eat while their mothers are working. They all one by one sweetly and with great pride announced their names and where they were from.The female children ( only 4 were girls ) did a Indian dance for us. The boys did many Bollywood routines that where absolutely hysterical. They could have preformed for us all day, but we had to be out before sunset.
It was and still is so difficult to comprehend that this is the norm for these children.
Organizations like Sanlaap continue to work selflessly to prevent this from happening to current and future generations.
Sanlaap can currently only run the drop in center until 8 p.m. This leaves the children with no place to be between the hours of 8 pm and 7 am.
I continue my commitment to support this cause. If you are interested in helping to fund Sanlaap’s evening drop in center, OTM is working on raising funds to cover the cost. The cost of running the drop in center is $ 600 per month , which covers rent, teacher salaries, night watchman and some food. We will be making a commitment to cover the next 3 years. The total cost will be $21, 600.
If you would like to learn more about Sanlaap, please see my Partners and Projects blog.
With gratitude and love
Nadine
Abolish 21st Century Slavery

APNE AAP AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION

Day 1 in New Delhi …Apne Ap, “An Ounce of Prevention”
Our first day in New Delhi, brought us to one of our OTM Partners, Apne Ap Worldwide.
Apne Ap ‘s main focus is the prevention of “at risk” children being trafficked, and are currently working with women who have already fallen prey to sex traffickers. Apne Ap’s task is seemingly an insurmountable one, as the definition here in India of “at risk” is being poor, uneducated, marginalized, and female. This description fits virtually every female child, of literally hundreds of thousands of women currently being exploited in the illegal sex trade.
The directors and employees of Apne Ap, are working tirelessly with the victims to educate and empower them, and more importantly, to find sustainable solutions to this end.

When the victims are asked what is of the greatest importance and immediate concern to them, the answer invariably is that their children not fall prey to their fate.
Crucial to meeting this need, one of the projects Apne Ap has implemented is to provide a “safe house”, or community center, where the children are able to gather in a safe and wholesome environment to socialize, learn computer, reading skills, sewing and dance.

As we approached the steps of the center, the children’s excitement was palpable. I felt as if the center itself was going to explode from the anticipation of our arrival. My heart too, was swelling in my chest and felt as if it would explode in unison. We received warm welcome greetings, handshakes, and hugs. There was an abundance of sweet shining smiles, and innocent sparkling eyes that were reflective of the innocence still tenuously hanging by a thread in their little hearts. How precious and ephemeral that innocence is. As I touched each and every child there, be it with a handshake, smile or eye contact, my silent prayer for each and every one of them, as well as the millions I will never see, ” may you stay forever young”

I am very grateful and honored to have been able to share their space with them. Those faces have left an indelible imprint in my heart.

Thank you Apne Ap for your service, and continuing to pour in your loving care, ounce by ounce, through prevention. May you succeed in draining this cesspool of human injustice and transform it into a vessel of love for fellow humanity.
Below are some testimonials for Apne Ap. if you would like to learn more about Apne Aplease visit my “Partners and Projects” blog on this site.
In love and gratitude.
Nadine
Abolish 21st Century Slavery

Ashley Judd, Actress/Activist:
“Ruchira Gupta is well versed in the reciprocal cycles of poverty and exploitation, and how gender inequality sets the stage. Her NGO is based on two Gandhian principles: Antodaya (power to the last wo/man) and Ahimsa (non-violence), and which says so eloquently that the destruction which happens in the soul of an abuser is absolutely equal to the victimization of the abused. She operates the NGO right in the ‘hood,’ inviting anyone to join. They teach their members self reliance, self efficacy, self respect, self love. It’s capacity building of the most essential sort.”

Nicholas Kristoff and Sheryl WuDunn, Authors,”
Half the Sky”:
“Ruchira is a hearty, loquacious woman with brown skin, black hair and an infectious manner… Ruchira Gupta and her staff at Apne Aap are part of a growing abolitionist movement that is forming around the world and having a real impact on sex slavery.”

Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Laureate:
“It is Ruchira’s tiny NGO that is making a difference in the world. I visited India on the invitation of her NGO, Apne Aap, which works with women and their children who live in red light districts. No government can limit or repress such small organisations.”