2015 - Murder with good intentions...

Rainbow Home

After having spent Christmas back home in Sweden I came back with some more funds, to the benefit of some children in one of the NGO Vidyaranya's projects (the Rainbow Home). Friends to our family back home had decided that they wanted to support, and the children really needed this funds so that they too could start the new year with a small new year celebration event. I went to see the girls at Vidyaranya's Ujjawala shelter again, and this time with some more food. The girls in the shelter home had been asking for meat, so I went out with my friend and driver to buy this. Meat is expensive so the girls can rarely eat this. To buy these food items was easier said than done. Did I tell you that I am a vegetarian (and has always been)?

My friend Anill 

We started off with buying the fish, which was an quite easy task. The shop owner even gave us some discount.

Some chickens are dead, due to me...

Then off we went to buy the meat, and we decided to start with some chicken. The butcher asked how many I wanted and then went to a cage and pulled some poor chickens out. Surely I should have thought about this, but it only struck me while I was standing there.. I was now, for the first time in my life, responsible for the murder and slaughtering of some chickens (nine to be precise).

After this incident I decided that the girls will not have mutton, not this day at least. So, I went to buy some more vegetables and fruit instead. This man in the fruit and vegetable stand was really helpful, and also asked whether I eaten breakfast or not. I responded that I had, and that I mostly eat bananas for breakfast. The sweat man then handed me a banana. It takes some time for me sometimes to see the good spirit in people here, and for that I blame myself and the rush I sometimes put myself in. 

At the Ujjawala shelter, candle making

Back at the shelter home the girls were happy to get some food, and especially meat and fish. The girls then proudly showed me their candle making, and told me about some of the courses that some of the girls are attending. They told me about their beautician course, and told me that I must come when they have completed it, so that they could do my face and nails. This type of vocational training is crucial if the girls are to be fully rehabilitated. It can work as a way to safeguard the girls from being re-trafficked. 

Ujjawala shelter, bathroom door

Ujjawala shelter, food preparation

The girls also asked for some other items, such as a functioning door to "the bathroom". The girls also invited me for lunch. This day I heard a very sad thing. A 10-year old girl was now staying at the shelter home, after being kidnapped, locked-up and raped. I spoke with the girl and gave her my hair pin, but she seemed a bit intimidated... Need not to be said maybe, but proper rehabilitation mechanisms of these victims are crucial.

Even people with a relatively low income (here in India) have been donating towards the shelter, with good grace. Imagine what we all can do to help the poor, vulnerable and more needful people. 

The girls currently also need sandals, bucket jugs (so the girls can take a bath), and scrubbers (for washing clothes).