This must be the season of anniversaries.  We just celebrated New Light’s eleventh, and today (December 3) we were invited as guests of honor for Monimala’s seventh.  However, getting there was not a simple matter…  Normally we travel around with Urmi’s car and her driver, Jadob, who is both Robinson Crusoe’s Friday and Passe-par-tout from Verne’s 80 days rolled into one.  There is no problem Jadob cannot solve effortlessly.  But as Urmi was getting ready to take off to Dubai on a quick fund raising trip, Jadob was not available.  So we hired a car and driver from an agency.  (Rent-a-cars come driver equipped in Kolkata.)

Serampur, where Monimala is, is about an hour away on the outskirts of Kolkata.  That is, an hour if you drive straight there.  We asked the driver first thing if he knew the way.  He seemed almost insulted by the question – OF COURSE he knew Serampur like the back of his hand!  We set out, and the moment we left the densely populated area, our driver stopped to ask for directions.  Two minutes later he stopped again, then again, then again…  We were supposed to arrive by 5:30pm and got there about an hour late.  The Town Hall, where the  celebration was taking place, was full of people waiting.  We were ushered up on the stage to sit at the podium under mercury vapor floodlights adding several dozen degrees to the already hot ambient temperature.  Juthica was introduced as the Chief Honored Guest, in addition to the local member of parliament, the president of the Rotary Club, and Maureen and myself.  Juthica, the MP, and the Rotary president all delivered brief talks detailing Monimala’s accomplishments after which we could thankfully leave the podium and descend to audience level under very welcome fans.

Monimala had organized a truly impressive program of dance, karate demonstration, skits, yoga demonstration, and songs, performed by Monimala kids of all ages – from about 5 to 18.  It was truly gratifying to see these children, who had lived on the street and had never set foot inside a school until a few years ago, put on a polished performance, feeling confident, and clearly enjoying their success.

Once the program was finished we found our driver and were set to return to Kolkata.  Instead, we found out how truly incompetent our driver really was.  The regular stops to ask directions resumed, and we soon realized that he cannot tell left from right.  Then when he missed an exit clearly marked for Kolkata it became clear that he was illiterate as well…  We had to bodily restrain him to stop him from making a U-turn on a one-way, divided expressway when he wanted to go back to the exit we missed.  It’s a miracle that we eventually made it back on one piece — about an hour and half later than planned.  We are going back to Monimala on Monday to see the school in operation.

Posted by: Peter Stangl

On Friday December 2, we visited Paripurnata, Shadhika’s original project.  A little adventure on the way there – our driver did not know the area on the edge of the city and we wandered around a bit before finding the building.  As we pulled in Mr. Basu, the Honorary Secretary (director), was on the steps waiting for us.

The place has been fixed up quite a bit since the last time we saw it.  There is nice landscaping in the front and a walk around the building is now paved.  The second story, which had been just a shell two years ago, is now finished and the last coat of paint was going on as we arrived. This work was done with a donation from the Irish Embassy in Delhi.

We met with Mr. Basu, who replaced Mrs. Siromoni when she retired as Honorary Secretary, and Dr. Biswas, a psychiatrist and the new Program Director.  Both of them are retired from careers in social services in Kolkata and work at Paripurnata fulltime as volunteers.  They are dynamic, energetic people, which is a blessing in these financially challenging times. Paripurnata ‘s level of funding is down from past years and they expect it may remain this way.  On the first floor there is space for 32 women residents, only 16 are currently enrolled due to a lack of funds. Mr Basu and Dr Biswas have come up with a creative solution to complement charitable fund raising.  There is a shortage in Kolkata of supervised and assisted care facilities for middle class women whose mental illnesses make it impossible for them to be cared for and properly treated at home.  The second story is being developed for help fill this need, and will be operated as a for-profit venture, with profits devoted to the program for destitute women.

After the meeting we visited the residents who were in the middle of blockprinting and sewing classes.  A success story: the printing instructor is a former resident, rehabilitated at Paripurnata, who learned printing while living there. She now lives independently and has come back to Paripurnata to teach.  The quality of work has very much improved since our last visit two years ago.  They have an order from California for hundred of sheets of hand-printed gift wrapping paper – their first commercial success.

Juthica enjoyed reconnecting with some of the Paripurnata staff who had started working there twenty years ago at the original one-room shanty location of the project…

Posted by: Peter Stangl

Greetings from Kolkata!  We arrived here November 29th – Juthica (founder), Maureen (Board member) and myself (Peter, Treasurer and Secretary).  It is Maureen’s first visit to India and she is taking it all in like a pro.  Juthica and I have not been here for 2 whole years, long enough to have gotten unused to the general ambiance of ubiquitous noise, smells, dust, smoke, potholes, super dense traffic, oceans of people and dogs swarming everywhere, that is Kolkata…  The super modern shiny malls that have sprung up all over town offering all the consumer goodies globally available everywhere present an interesting contrast to all this.

We are staying with Urmi Basu, founder and director of New Light.  Juthica and I met her first 10 years ago, just after she had launched a night crèche for Khaligat sex workers’ children on her own money, literally a shoe string.  On November 30, New Light’s tenth anniversary as wells as International AIDS day, we spent the day at the project observing and participating in an all-day program for the occasion.

Ten years ago Shadhika approved a grant for New Light – their first injection of foreign funding.  This helped launch New Light on a stellar trajectory of growth.  The project, both in its facility and its scope bears little resemblance to what we saw in 2001.  Then it was located in two small rooms at the end of a dismal lane of one-room hovels of sex workers, and had a total of perhaps a dozen tiny tots kept safe and out of the way by two aging ‘ayyas’ (retired sex workers acting as nurse maids).  Today, still in the same location, it is a huge facility of several thousand square feet, minding, feeding, and tutoring well over a hundred children, operating two dormitories for about forty at-risk girls at other locations, a general health clinic and public health education program for the mothers, as well as a legal assistance program.

The program started with a few words from Urmi about the day’s significance, followed by a brief talk by Juthica.  The audience was over a hundred of the sex workers, sitting on the floor in dense rows, many of whom were the mothers of the huge cluster of children watching TV cartoons in an adjoining space.  Urmi had said that New Light’s programs exist thanks to Shadhika’s support which drew a huge wave of applause.  The main item on the program was a detailed presentation by New Light’s social anthropologist cum social worker on HIV/AIDS and ways of protection against it.  The women were very attentive and participated by asking questions and offering answers to the presenter’s questions.  There was a marked change in the attitude of these women from what we saw during our first few visits here, then their embarrassment about discussing anything having to do with sex made it very difficult to impart any public health information.

After a Bollywood movie show for entertainment the day closed with a party to celebrate New Light’s “birthday” with chocolate cake for all.  It was heartwarming to see how completely the program has been integrated into the life of the lane, how at home the women and the children feel at New Light, and the genuine love and camaraderie among the women, children, and New Light staff.

During the party an old friend and supporter of New Light dropped in to see Urmi.  He brought two friends with him, alumni of a prominent private high school, who had decided to sponsor an 8^th grade girl through the rest of her high-school years by paying her school fees, supplies, uniforms, medical expenses, etc.  This was particularly gratifying to see for us, as any evidence of local financial support was very rare until quite recently.

Posted by: Peter Stangl

It is very heartening to hear that this year three women – yes, all women! – share the Nobel for peace. And each of them has done so much against daunting odds for her country, and by extension, the world. In addition, it was wonderful to find out that each of them has been a grantee of the Global Fund for Women, which is a testament to the impact of that wonderful organization.

Click here to read more about the winners and Global Fund for Women and enjoy the inspiring story!

Dear friends, supporters and guests,

We have so much to share that we decided to add a blog! We have stories, ideas and opinions not only about Shadhika and the projects we support, but about the lives of the under-served around the world, especially the women and children, and the inspiring work that is being done to help them. We’re all working towards the same cause of improving the lives of the less fortunate amongst us and hope we can help by spotlighting not just the issues, but also the many good solutions out there.

We’d like to start with this heart-wrenching, and heart-warming, story about one indomitable woman who’s waging a war against human trafficking – see attached video.  We hope being profiled as a CNN hero (and the intro by Demi Moore!) will bring the recognition and support she deserves to continue her battles.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Usha Sekar

Video: one woman making a difference