UPDATES

Rally

Manjula Barku Shigva was a Tribal girl from Karjat, Maharashtra, India. . She was one of the very first girl in the Good Shepherd Boarding at Karjat who came to us at the age of seven.   She completed her 10th grade and then moved on to another boarding for Tribals where she completed her 12th grade. She is 19 years old and is the only girl, who has completed 12th grade from her village. From April 2013 she was getting trained in a 3 months basic computer course at Karjat and was staying with her parents. She was a bright and determined child. As usual on the 16th of July 2013 Manjula attended the class along with her friend Meena. On her way back she went to the market to purchase some vegetables to take home. Yeshwant Namdev a man from the neighbouring village known to her who was riding a two wheeler offered to drop her at her house.  As soon as she sat on his bike he changed the route, drove very fast and took her to a very lonely area. He tried to rape her but she resisted so he killed her brutally.   Her body was found on 24^th July at 11 a.m. after 9 days of search. Yeshwant Namdev  had smashed her face with a stone and the body was in a decomposed stage.  It was a heartbreaking seen to see the body of Manjula. Her parents are very poor and unable to follow the case.

Usually in the villages whatever happens, no one takes seriously. This girl was raped and murdered, if it was done in any city side, so much of noise could have made. Since this girl was poor and tribal no one took seriously. We Good Shepherd Sisters thought, if we keep quite the culprit will come out soon and many others also takes chance.  To make this case strong and to create an awareness among the people what happened in this village and what is happening in our country,  we organized a rally on 31^st August. All the Raigad NGO’s, school students, teachers, social workers , village women, men, youth and some of the members from AMART was part of this rally. We began the rally from Chowk, where she was picked up by the man went through the market and went to her village, shouting slogans asking justice for   Manjula and give a serious punishment to her killer. We also made aware that the rights of women and girls.  We had a public gathering in the village where this man’s house is. People from this village too joined for the public gathering. Our parish priest Fr. Clatius who is a lawyer spoke very well, and assured her parents that we will be with them till the end of this case. Good Shepherd Sister Pushpa  who is also a lawyer  addressed the gathering and told the people to be united in the village and fight for the justice. Whenever this sort of incidence takes place to report to police to avoid worse things happening.  This rally was a successful one to create awareness. Manjula’s mother and grandmother too spoke to the crowd asking for the justice to be done to their daughter. We need to go long to get justice for this girl.    

URSULINE SISTERS OF THE CONGREGATION OF TILDONK, RANCHI PROVINCE:

GENESIS:  Gr. Gemma Toppo & Sr. Sophia Dungdung started working for the cause of Domestic workers in Delhi in the 1980s & 1990s. They conducted a survey with the help of others in Delhi & to their great surprise they found out that more than 2000 Tribal girls were employed as domestic workers in Delhi. A number of placement Agencies were instrumental in enticing the tribal girls from Jharkhand, Chattisgarh & Odisha to the glamour Delhi under the pretext of providing jobs with handsome remuneration. Very little did the innocent tribal girls from the remote areas realize they were being cheated.

ACTIVITIES :

A). AWARENESS on Safe Migration, Human Trafficking, Child Labor & Rape: 13 GROUPS were involved in giving awareness program in different areas of Delhi in the early period.  On several occasions awareness on exploitation of domestic workers, human trafficking, Child labor & Rape was given to the public in Jharkhand through street play & meetings. In 2013 in the following places awareness is given Sr. Gemma Toppo.

                        Place:              No. of Participants:

1.       Siliguri (W. Bengal)                45   - Area Leaders

2.      Rourkela (Odisha)                   65   - Officers & Area Leaders

3.      Jhashpur (Chattisgarh)            400 – Block & village leaders

4.      Ranchi (Jharkhand)                 250 -  Field workers

5.      Khnuti (Jharkhand)                  25   - Area leaders

6.      Simdega (Jharkhand)              50   - Priests & Religious

7.      Rania (Jharkhand)                   35  - Area Leadrers

8.      Mahuadard (Jharkhand)         36   -       do

9.      Hazaribagh (Jharkhand)          75            do

10.  Hostels: Ursuline hostel Khunti, Ursuline Inter College, College Hostel & Working Girls’ Hostel, Ranchi; DSA hostel – Karra & Govt. School & hostel – Latehar & Khunti, Holy Cross students – Gholeng (Chattisgarh).

In Ranchi district: Tupudana, Namkum, Mandar & Bero; awareness on Human Trafficking & Child labor conducted by Sr. Gemma Toppo.

PREVENTION:

1.      Awareness & Skill training, Motivation & Personality Development programs for youth are given by Sr. Stella Minj & staff in 26 villages of W. Singhbhum district under the scheme of Child Fund, India. They also engaged in livelihood programs in these villages.

2.      Sr. Ruby Mary Kujur & staff of Caritas Jamshedpur are working on Safe Migration of SC, ST & OBC girls & boys through SMART Center – a govt. project ATDC giving 45 days training on Tailoring & garment making.  So far 210 students successfully completed this program. Of whom 70 are employed in the Textiles factories in Bangalore & Pune. The rest chose self employment.

3.      Sr. Bernard D’Sa works in Mahila Samakhiya since 2006. They give skill Training, literacy program, income generation activities, etc which lead to prevention of human trafficking, child labor & migration of minor girls.

B). DOMESTIC WORKERS:

            The survey conducted gave a shocking result that between 20021 – 2005; 13,000 Tribal girls were working as Domestic maids mainly in the Metro cities. This led to work on Safe Safe Migration & Placement of Domestic workers.

            They are given a pre-departure training on the basics of House Keeping, cooking, Child care & care of the elderly, etc. The placement is done in Jharkhand : Ranchi, Bokaro, Dhanbad, Jamshedpur, Hazaribag in order to facilitate regular follow up.

            Domestic workers in Ranchi & around have regular monthly meeting during which topics like: Legal aid, right to justice, how to file an FIR, cleanliness & hygiene, hospitality & capacity building are discussed. Placement is done in Kolkata & Delhi through our Sisters in both places.

C). RESCUE:

            Rescue work is done in collaboration with the Police and other NGOs. Initially the rescued girls Delhi were sent to Missionaries of Charity Convent at Mukherjiee Nagar for few days. Thereafter they were sent to their respective homes. The rescued victims are given:

Ø  Rehabilitation

Ø  Legal help – fighting court cases for justice for them

Ø  Repatriation – reuniting them with their families.

CRISIS CENTER AT DELHI:

The center was started in 2006 for the rescued & as a short stay home for the tribal girls coming to Delhi for Domestic work. Currently the Center has 21 inmates who are minor girls. Sr. Leona Navchand & Sr. Sophia Dungdung are responsible for all activities related to the Crisis center.

v  13 are studying in Christ Raja School, Delhi

v  3 trafficked teenagers attend a government school

v  4 are abandoned children ( of these one is an epilepsy case, one has only one hand, bust she is educated, helps other children, one is a widow, another with a 2^nd husband having a problem marriage.

The Ursulines at West Patel Nagar, Delhi; takes care of two Centers for Domestic Workers:

a)      MERICI Women Welfare Society

b)     Adivasi Jeevan Vikas Sanstha. This Center was under the Jesuits at ISI, but now looked after by the Ursulines.

Both Centers function as pre-placement place providing shelter to the tribal girls coming to Delhi in search of Domestic work.

We also give basic literacy program for Domestic workers, remedial classes for those who want to write Matric, Intermediate and skill training, etc. Safe placement & follow up is another important feature of the two Centers.

ASHA KIRAN SHELTER HOME: addresses all issues related to trafficking & child labor. Sr. Ranjita Kindo is the Co-ordinator of the Shelter Home. The rescued girls were kept at the Working Girls’ Hostel. Eventually with the help of many stake holders, especially Rotary Menen, Belgium & Rotary Ranchi South & the Ursuline Sisters, Asha Kiran Shelter Home in Khunti district was inaugurated in 2009 for rehabilitation of victims of human trafficking, Child Labor, Child Abuse & Rape cases. Currently there are 61 inmates at Asha Kiran. Here, we address issues related to all these social evils.

Victims of child labot              : 39                  Trafficked children                 : 4

Children with single parent    :   9                  Rape victims                           : 2

Extreme poverty                     :   3                  Lost & found                            : 1

Short stay home                      :   1

Adjacent to Asha Kiran Shelter Home, we have a Middle School for Education for sustainable rehabilitation of Asha Kiran inmates & those from the neighborhood who cannot afford to go else where for their education.

KG class                       :  2                   Class VII                       : 5

Class I                          :  6                            VIII                                  : 7

        II                          :  7                          IX                          :  1

       III                          :  5                          X                           :  3      

       IV                          :  6                          XI                          :   1

       V                           :  2                          XI                          :   1

      VI                           : 10                  B A Part II                    :   1

Illiterate                      :   1                 

SUCCESS STORY:

One completed ANM training & is employed.

Two completed I. A & joined two different Religious Congregations.

Programs conducted at Asha Kiran in 2013:

                        Programs                                                        No. of participants

1.      Better Communication & Self Confidence                 : 100

2.      Personality Development & Self esteem                    :   55 by Arcelor Mithal CSR team

3.      Personal interview & counseling                                : All the inmates

4.      Leadership Skills & Personality development                        : 28 boys & girls of Fudi

5.      Documentaries: Zindagi & Sold shown followed by discussion: 75 participants

PROMOTION OF JUSTICE: Every victim has a right to justice. To ensure this, Sr. Gemma Toppo, a lawyer filed 71 cases so far; related to trafficking, child labor, rape, violence against women & domestic violence. The victims received justice.

Tailoring, machine embroidery, Dance, singing, flower, door mat & garland, Chalk, surf, Bangles making, etc are taught to the inmates. There is ample opportunity to learn different skills. Computer education is an important part of school education. Net working with a number NGOs is our salient feature.

Our stake holders are:

1.      Child & women development Department of Jharkhand

2.      Rotary Menen, Belgium

3.      Rotary Ranchi South

4.      Y’s Men’s Club, Ranchi

5.      NGOs

Due to the Collaboration of many like- minded & generous people; we are able to provide opportunities to the victims to make a lasting difference in their lives and to be catalysts in the society. They are helped to be the architects of their own future. We have miles to walk.

We have conducted Anti- human Trafficking Awareness  Programme in  around 14 villages in six months’ time, and have received  six cases of missing women, girls and children. .We create awareness among the villagers through audio visuals, conducting meeting with the mothers, having AGG groups in the villages, keeping a register at the panchayat to enter the names of those who work out side.

Disadvantage:  Even though we have kept the register at the village level, many of the minors go for work having  illegal documents  (using their parents’ documents).