Apne Aap

My first day of the internship with the organisation,Apne Aap,an anti sex-trafficking NGO in Kolkata, was quite an insightful one. I had to go to a slum area near the red light area and conduct a survey there. Since this survey will be carried out over the first two weeks, I covered only 15 households today. But this was enough to make an impression on me. Seeing the deplorable condition that the people were living in was so stirring- 10 people to a room the size of the girls toilet in a college like mine (Symbiosis, Pune)! The entire family spending only 200 rupees a day,which for some people, is just enough for them for a day, if not less! This income disparity really ought to be bridged.

I hope that in the next 6 weeks, I can actually help these people understand the importance of money and fending for oneself in today's world and make them want to be educated so as to earn an honest living instead of depending on an ill mother who works as domestic help in a rich man's house. In doing so, I also hope to understand how the people in the red light area and its adjacent areas live and offer their children an alternate future than getting into the sex trade.I am learning to be content with whatever life gives us, for we are really fortunate to even have what we do and we tend to forget this in our daily lives nowadays.

I can't wait to get to the latter part of my internship too, where I get to teach English to the children of the sex workers and the slum areas. I hope to contribute to making their future slightly brighter and this internship gives me the feeling that I can make a small change in their lives. Fingers crossed.

Another post written during the internship can be found here.

Jaago Re and BlogAdda.com