CELEBRATING ORANGE DAY

An attitude of gratitude is indeed a never ending prayer. Ripples like vibrations go round in circulation. Ever since Sr. Rita Mascarenhas introduced the idea of the ORANGE DAY it took wings. Sr. Nora got back the kit sensitized the core group of the Education to love-call it the Meena Raju Manch or Gender sensitivity ,the seven member group was all enthused they said it’s just a re enforcement sister, it is a burning issue we shall start right away. The literature was made available, we could not wait for the province to send the CD so we tapped urgently the source Sr. Rita was as quick as QUICK SILVER she send the CD free…gave a call to tell ask Sr. Aruna if it does not open and I will send you another tomorrow…the teachers viewed it and then did the organization. Each tailored the material for the respective classes V to X…, then got the class teacher involved in preparing the orange in a creative way…variety the spice of life…tea shirts, kurtis, sarees, scarfs,ribbons, flowers, sashes, dupatas,balloons.. we all go ORANGE TO FIGHT AGAINST VIOLENCE INFLICTED TO WOMEN.
We are educators sister, we shall do some spade work,read up ,clippings ,facts to sensitize the youth.We have to make it creative and acceptable. Tr.Suchita a born orator took the mike …its her good morning fable but which will never be deleted from the mind’s eye…the dialogue technique that the audience is focused…primary teachers were roped in that the ripples would move wider.
Tr.Suchita began her narration with a group of 5 craftsmen who went to the forest. They decided that they would have to keep the night vigil if they wanted to remain alive the next day. The first to be the opening batsman was the carpenter. As he looked around he found a log of wood he swiftly began to work at it and fashioned a woman from it, the next was the weaver, he said she look drape let me drape her in the Indian saree…the third was a jeweller he said an Indian women without gold is incomplete let me decorate her with ornaments the fourth on the list was the traditional a craftsman he has his box of beads and bindis and kumkum. He dressed her in green bangles, with bindi and kumkum now the last on the list is the Sadhu he said what a masterpiece but lifeless let me breathe into her the breath of life…and lo and behold the statue sprang to life.Now begins the drama all the group fight to have her in marriage. The poor woman sits still in a corner, in walks an old farmer he said I have watched the scene can I give the law…who can be her rightful partner, not the carpenter, nor the jeweller, nor the weaver, nor the sadhu then turning to the traditional matchmaker he said he can take his rightful place as her better half.Now the woman sprang to life and says I want none of them…all this time did you involve me in my decision I am not a piece of art I am a living being a BECOMING..Gods miracle of love. I have my own dreams and aspirations. Arise and save my dignity. India can count on me.
The children were spell bound..the fable spoke for itself. Then walked in Tr.Maryann she spoke in English and encouraged the youth to stand for their rights, their dignity and honour and finally walked in Tr.Vivita she briefed the audience about the importance of colour-orange for sacrifice –lets go orange and fight for our dignity .Say No ,Unite to end violence against women and girls. –Auxilium Convent Wadala

FMM Sisters Dare Human Trafficking in Chattisgarh

Published Date: September 12, 2012

A new service in favor of tribal women and young girls.

“Seeing the plight of poor tribal girls, we began tracking the nets of the traffickers from where they were being transported” said Srs. Annie and Sheeba of Franciscan Missionaries of Mary Sisters.

The FMM Sisters at Vijaya Jyoti Convent, Kansabel, Jashpur, have ventured into a new service in favor of the women and young girls of the region being trafficked daily to other parts of the country and abroad for the purposes of domestic service, cheap child labor, commercial sex exploitation and many other forms of cruelty to women and children.

We began this mission through our existing Jeevan Jharna Vikas Sanstha (JJVS), a registered NGO of FMM Sisters of Delhi Province, working for the development of the Tribals of Jashpur Region in Chattisgarh, India.  Two of us, Annie Jesus Mary and Sheeba Antony,  are fully engaged in this ministry realizing the danger of thousands of our young women and children falling into the hands of traffickers who lure and exploit them and force most of them into prostitution. We began focusing on the transport of these poor young girls from interior villages to the cities.

From Jashpur alone, over 20,000 girls belonging to Chhattisgarh’s tribal region have been sold by human traffickers in the last eight years in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Goa, Bangalore and Chennai our former Chhattisgarh chief minister said in a recent statement.  Our enthusiasm in this Mission caught the attention of both the Government and Non Government officials of the region. For the first time the State Government invited us to participate in the workshop on Anti-human Trafficking from May 26th to 28th 2012.

At this Public gathering of about 230 Government and likeminded Non Government officials, Sr. Annie Jesus fmm spoke about JJVS’ activities that focused on anti-human trafficking. This was the beginning of a strong bonding between FMMs, our Organization JJVS, politicians, Police and renowned philanthropists and others working for the poor.  This has boosted our courage in this daring mission and we find the local police officials ever ready to help us or seeking our collaboration in their rescue operation of trafficked persons. Here are the details of one of our joint efforts in rescuing five trafficked young girls.

Rescue Operation in Collaboration with the Police Force.

On 5th June 2012 Kiran Kathan, a 20 year old leader of a group of 5 girls between the ages of 15 to 21 was taking them to Bombay for domestic work. While they were waiting at the bus stop the police nabbed them and Immediately informed us.  Srs. Annie and Emelda Kujur fmm went and along with the police counseled them. Their parents and the local Panchayat President were called and instructed not to send girls to work anywhere. Making minor girls to work is crime. These parents were made to understand the difficulties the girls face in cities   Our involvement in the Village protection committee at Jashpur.

In 2012 the Government, decided to make Jashpur a CRIME FREE district and formed a new committee to reduce crime in the villages and to bridge the gap between the Police and society. The members were to be people of character, commitment and integrity and we were included.

On 6th June Srs. Annie and Emelda fmm, along with the local police team attended the Conference of the Village Protection Committee and we were given the opportunity to address the large gathering. Both of us spoke about JJVS activities in Kansabel related to anti human trafficking and our net working with the local police.  It was an eye opener for the people and after the meeting many parents started to come to Kansabel asking for help to bring back their minor girls from different cities.

The pathetic story is the fact that this violation has been inflicted on the girls by their parents and by agents who are their own relatives. This is one of the biggest crimes in our Jashpur district. To control over this crime various plans have been implemented in our district especially through the Panchayats.

Along with our staff, we also took part in a 2 day training in June on anti human trafficking at the district level by the police department of Jashpur district for police personnel’s, lawyers, CWC department, media personals and the selected NGOs of Jashpur.

A memento has been awarded to JJVS for our contribution to bring dignity to humanity.

Bonding with the Villagers to reinforce our efforts.  We are now working towards bonding with the villagers to save their daughters who have been lured away from this tribal, poverty-stricken region. Rarely they encounter good fortune and prosperity where they go. More often, they are physically abused.   And yet, the call of the major Cities are so enticing that innocent girls, mostly in their teens and unaware of what lies ahead, often run away from home even without their parents’ knowledge. We have begun to create awareness among the villagers on the evil consequences of human trafficking.

We were delighted to get the support of a villager on 20th June 2012. We received a call from one of the villagers saying that there were girls getting ready to go to Delhi along with an agent.  They had well planned their trip and had arranged a vehicle to get out from their village in the early hours of 21st June before anyone notices. Sr. Annie contacted the local police immediately. At 11pm sisters and the police went to the village along the village president to locate the family.

The car, the driver and his friend, the agent and the girls were arrested and brought to the police station for enquiry and were then sent to jail; but the girls were released and we were happy to hand them over to their parents.

AMRAT - Asian Movement of Women Religious Against Trafficking in Persons by Sr Sahaya FMM, Mumbai Introduction: Human Trafficking is a modern form of slavery which is intrinsically linked to migration. Combating trafficking- in-persons is the one of the most pressing challenges facing the international community today. The victims of this insidious crime each year number in the hundreds of thousands, possibly millions. Because of its No individual country has the power to eradicate trafficking in persons alone because of its transnational nature. Organizations such as the International Organization for Migrants (IOM) are working in new ways to combat this terrible world- wide plague. Creating Awareness: One of the ways to combat trafficking is to work in partnership with like-minded organizations. Such a partnership is developed between International Organization for Migrants and International Union of Superiors General (UISG) in response to the call of Vatican in1998. Counter-Trafficking Training Programs for religious Personnel are jointly organized by IOM and UISG. Sr Bernadette Sangma FMA(India) was the representative of UISG till May 2010, while Mr Stefano Volpicelli(Italy) represents IOM. They successfully organized the workshops in various regions of different continents and created a world-wide network of women religious working against trafficking. After working for 12 years continually Sr Bernadette Sangma FMA has handed over her responsibility of training the religious personnel and strengthening the ‘International network of consecrated life against trafficking in persons ‘TALITHA KUM’ to Sr Estrella Castalone FMA(Philippines). The South Asian Workshop to train women religious was organized and conducted jointly by IOM and UISG. Sr. Jyoti bs, the delegate of UISG-India facilitated the process and arranged the logistics. First phase of the training was for 6 days at Raia, Goa at the Seminary campus of the SVD Priests, from 18th - 24th November, 2009. 43 participants representing 18 congregations from Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Sri- lanka reflected together on this global crime and searched for the means to prevent it effectively. The workshop was sponsored by Conrad Hilton Sisters’ Fund from USA. The following topics were explained by the resource persons through case studies and power point presentations: Trafficking in Persons and migration; trafficking and gender; social and institutional responses; trafficking and health; prevention; helping relationship; empowerment and spiritual support for preventing burn out. Participants were then grouped on regional basis to evolve an action plan as each region of India and South Asian countries had unique ground realities to deal with. South Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, North Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, Goa and Maharastra, Delhi and North India, North East India and West Bengal, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh regional plans were worked out to counter Trafficking-in-Persons. It was decided that the follow up session will be conducted in the fourth week of May, 2010 to review the work done and to form a Network of the women religious of South Asia, to work in collaboration with those involved in the Cause. Networking - Living in Hope: The follow up session was held at Kolkota at Dhyan Ashram of the Jesuit Priests, from 27th - 30th May, 2010. 27 women religious who were present at the first phase of the workshop returned with their experience in combating the trafficking. The resource persons were Sr.Bernadette Sangma FSA (UISG), Mr. Stefano Volpicelli (IOM) from Rome and Mrs.Shimray Mungreiphy from Caritas India, Delhi. Sr. Estrella Castalone FMA, the new co-ordinator of Thalitha Kum was also present and enriched the workshop sharing her own work among these exploited and marginalized groups. Sr.Bernadette was the moderator of the sessions and Mr.Stefano guided the participants on the dynamics of net working. Mrs.shimay enlightened the participant on the Legal Provisions on Trafficking provided in the Constitutions of India(Art.23.1,39.e,39.f), and Indian Penal Code. She also highlighted the laws from the ‘Immoral Traffic(Prevention) Act, 1956(ITPA)and also pointed out that the application of various laws need collective and determined efforts. The participants shared on their involvement in working against human trafficking in persons in the light of the action plan made in November, 2009. It was very enriching to listen to each other and was a learning process. Their collaboration with local NGOs and local bodies was greatly appreciated. The aim of the second phase of the workshop was to create a Net work among the women religious and to evolve the vision, objectives and plan out strategies to combat trafficking in a realistic manner. The following vision , objectives and activities of the net work were evolved by the participants. Vision: Inspired by the love of Christ who came to give the fullness of life to all, we, the women religious of South Asia, commit ourselves to promote and restore human dignity, addressing the issue of trafficking in Persons, in collaboration and solidarity with equally motivated organizations. Based on this vision the participants formulated the objectives. Brainstorming was done to name the new Network. AMRAT - Asian Movement of women Religious Against Trafficking in persons (Meaning: Water of immortality/life giving water - Sanskrit) was accepted as the name of the Network. The structure of the network was then discussed. Central and Regional co-ordinators were elected by the members. Central Co-ordinating Committee Members(CCC) Sr Jyoti BS,Goa and Sr Benjamin HM, Orissa Regional Coordinating Committee Members(RCC) North Region - Sr Rajni FMM, Uttar Pradesh West Region - Sr Vinaya RGS, Goa East Region - Sr Seli SMI, West Bengal South Region - Sr V Amrutha SCCG, Andra PradeshSr Cynthia Cardoza SCCG, Karnataka Sri Lanka - Sr Nilanthi FMM, Sri Lanka Bangladesh - Sr Zita Rema SMMI, Bangladesh Nepal - Sr Teresa Madassery SCN, Nepal North East India and Pakistan regional coordinators are yet to be found. Central Committee and Regional Committee members will meet and work out the modalities for coordination and working together to share and maximize the resources that the consecrated persons have on behalf of prevention, protection and assistance, awareness raising and integration of the rescued victims into the society. Religious networks against trafficking had 19 members until 2009. These networks are from the countries of Europe, Africa, South America, North America, South East Asia. ‘AMRAT’(Asian Movement of Women Religious Against Trafficking in Persons) formed in Kolkata at Dhyanashram is the 20th organization to join the religious network. The Major Superiors of Women Religious of India will be informed about ‘AMRAT’ during their National plenary meeting in Goa to enlist their support and participation in this important mission. It also will ensure the effective net working among the religious congregations at national and international level. Conclusion: The participants enthusiastically assured each other their support and collaboration realizing only networking among ourselves and all who work for this cause alone will bring about the desired change. There was spontaneous expression of sentiments of gratitude for the services of Sr Bernadette Sangma FMA, Mr Stefano Volpicelli, Sr Estrella Castalone FMA, Ms Shimray Mungreiphy, Sr Jyoti BS and those who assisted the workshop financially, the Conrad Hilton Sisters’ Fund and Caritas India and the Jesuit Fathers for providing a conducive atmosphere for the workshop. The meeting was brought to a fitting conclusion with a prayer and entrustment of the mission of AMRAT to Mary’s help and guidance.