India 2009!

This morning we woke and got ready because Maya had arranged for us to meet with the director of an organization called Sanlaap. Sanlaap is an organization that focuses on rescuing and reintegrating young girls who have been forced into prostitution. It also works in vulnerable areas around the country to protect young people and to spread awareness of sex trafficking. Katie and I were so excited to meet with Indrani Sinha, the director, and to learn more about the organization. We took a motor rickshaw to the bus stop and then caught a bus to take us to Sanlaap. The bus ride was long, but Katie and I have both grown to love the bus because it allows us to see so much of Kolkata. The bus ride showed us how huge Kolkata really is because we were on the bus for about forty-five minutes and still were no where near leaving the city boundary of Kolkata.
We got off the bus and wallked to Sanlaap. Our meeting with Indrani Sinha was amazing! She told us all about the organization and how they work, but she also was very interested in the work we plan to do in Allahabad. It was great to talk with someone who has so much experience in the anti-trafficking field. Indrani Sinha also offered to meet with us when we come back to Kolkata at the end of July so that we can talk to her about our experiences in Allahabad with SOUP (The Society of Underprivileged People).
Sanlaap’s program has three main parts. The first thing they focus on is rescuing young girls from prostitution. For this, they work with the police and other NGOs to rescue the girls. Once the girls are rescued, they must be presented in court to decide what is in the girls’ best interest. Sanlaap has four shelter homes that collectively can meet the needs of 250 girls. Once at these shelter homes, the girls meet with psychiatrist, lawyer, and doctors to ensure their physical and mental health needs. Sanlaap also looks into the girls’ background and living situation and tries to gain the girls trust so that they will share their stories. The organization also develops a campaign to prevent trafficking. They pinpoint the districts that the rescued girls are mostly from and then connect with local NGOs to spread awareness. Sanlaap also does protection work for the children of prostitutes in red light areas. They focus a lot of their attention on children under the age of 18 in order to break the cycle of prostitution. Our meeting with Sanlaap was amazing and it was awesome to talk to Indrani Sinha about trafficking and the policies in India that have developed to prevent it. We feel that we will be able to use a lot of the information we gathered from the meeting to help with our work with SOUP.
After our meeting, we walked around the market to buy some more of the things we needed. The market was amazing—basically a whole street full of vendors, clothes, food, and interesting items. We went to a chemist and found contact solution which was awesome because we were worried that we wouldn’t be able to find it here. Now we will be able to see!! We also found a lot of Indian clothes that were not too expensive. Katie and I each bought a few shirts and pants and we purchased a salwar kameez in case we ever have to dress up. Now we have some Indian clothes!! Which was exciting because we were running pretty low. We also bought a sari for Maya so that she can wear it and remember us! After this, Maya took us to a Bengali sweet store and we tried some native sweets which were delicious. We also went to an ATM to make sure that we could take out money and it worked!! After that, we took a taxi to a garden of meditation in the middle of the city. The garden was beautiful and it was nice to sit and meditate for a while. After meditating, we went to a beautiful Catholic Church nearby that was beautiful and prayed for a while. Then we went to the planetarium and saw a presentation. I think the high point of the planetarium was the fact that it was air-conditioned and the seats were so comfortable! After the planetarium we took a long bus ride home.
When we got home, I talked to Asim for a while. Katie and I have been so lucky. Maya and her whole family are amazing and have all been so welcoming to us. Asim and Chhandha have been calling almost every day and making sure that everything is okay. They are both so excited for us and have become like a second family. Today was amazing and Katie and I are so excited for tomorrow because we are going to a village to see an organization called Shrimashram that Maya has worked with before.