BEYOND ACADEMICS

The objective behind our Teacher Training Program is to improve the skills of teachers in relation to developmental, family, social and legal issues that concern children, and to introduce innovative teaching methods.

The topic for our first day of training this month was Sexual Abuse on Children. We discussed different types of abuse, how to identify them and how to deal with them in our project areas. On the second day, we focused on Children’s Rights, the status of these rights in India, and how to increase awareness about them among the social groups we work with.

All of our teachers and staff attended the training to learn how to handle problematic situations and be up to date on children’s rights.

LET'S LOOK AFTER THEM

PROJECT UTTARAKHAND

During the month of June 2013, the Indian state of Uttarakhand suffered one of the worst natural disasters in its history, when floods killed more than 6,000 people and left behind a bleak landscape, with road and homes completely destroyed. From the outset, Asha-Kiran worked with the local government that managed the relief actions, by contributing with all the logistical support possible and coordinating aid from NGOs and individuals in the state of Maharashtra.

This collaboration was completed with the Winter Project, wherein blankets and warm clothes were distributed to a total of 277 families and an orphanage with 36 children. This project was designed according to the needs of the Department of Disaster Management, which coordinates various NGOs, guiding and supporting their work so that resources are optimized and the relief is actually helpful.

With the collaboration of Bosch Pune, who made a collection among its staff to be destined to the affected area, we bought the material that was necessary and suitable for the families, and distributed it in hard-to-reach areas at the beginning of the cold months. The distribution was made according to the records provided by the government, with one family member picking up the relief package and signing the distribution sheet. There were a total of 1401 pick-ups. Afterwards, we distributed material to teachers from nearby schools and an orphanage with 36 children.

A severely damaged winding road goes from Rishikesh to the mountain villages, the most affected. Politicians move around the area by helicopter. This gives an idea of the situation local people are in, already impoverished before the disaster. There is hardly any infrastructure, so progress is infinitely complicated. While coordination by the government to revert the situation is exemplary, going back to normal life will take a long time... too long.

I was impressed by the people. They had lost a huge number of relatives, friends and neighbors just over six months before. We were there because they had no winter clothes and were already cold. Most of their few possessions had been lost forever, and yet there wasn’t a sad or defeatist atmosphere. People received their packages with gratitude, carrying enormous bundles because they were either taking them to so and so’s family, because someone was too old and couldn’t go, or because so and so had to look after her children... always with astonishing respect and simplicity, the kind that make you sit in a corner for a while and think about your own way of living life.

Víctor Natalias - Coordinator Asha-Kiran Spain / India

SURROGATE MOTHERS

Vasanti is pregnant, not with her own baby, but that of a Japanese couple. She will be paid €5,800, enough to build a new house and send her two children to an English-medium school - something she never dreamed possible. “In India, families are very close-knit. We are willing to do anything for our children,” says Vasanti.

With the embryo already implanted, she will spend the next nine months living in a dormitory with another 100 surrogate mothers, all patients of Dr. Patel. Vasanti, however, cannot help but feel uneasy. “I wander around at night because I can’t sleep. I want to go home soon to be with my children and my husband.”

Dr. Patel has arranged this service and delivered hundreds of babies in the last decade, but acknowledges that many people find her work offensive. “I have faced criticism, am facing it and will continue to face it because this issue, according to many, is controversial.” She goes on to say that “These women do the physical work and are being compensated for it. They know that there is no gain without pain.”

According to the doctor, there are several reasons why India is “the surrogacy hub of the world”. There is good medical technology, the cost is relatively low, and the legal situation is also favorable. “Women have no rights over, nor obligations towards the baby, so everything is easier, while in the Western world the birth mother is considered the mother, and the birth certificate bears her last name.”

“There are many poor women in India,” says Patel. Vasanti says that her in-laws will be delighted when their son and wife have new home. “Our social status will improve, which is good, but we can’t build in the same area due to the hostility of our neighbors. If you stay at home, everyone knows that you will be surrogate mother and you'll have a test tube baby, and they tell you ugly things, so we can’t stay there safely.”

Vasanti becomes teary-eyed when she recalls giving birth and catching a glimpse of her baby. “I saw my son, but he was taken away. I must have seen him for five seconds; I saw that he was alive. The couple wanted a girl and it’s a boy. It is good whether it's a boy or a girl. At least they have a child.”

As the tiny baby that she has carried for the last nine months begins his new life, Vasanti begins hers. She lives in her new house with her family, and her children attend an English-medium school. “My children are growing day by day and we want a good future for them,” says Vasanti. “That’s why we’ve done this, but I would never want my daughter to be a surrogate mother.”

In India, surrogacy revenues are estimated at over €726 billion annually. Poor women do welcome the money, but it remains to be known if the payment for their services also covers the emotional investment of surrogate mothers.

LET’S SUPPORT THEM ON THEIR WAY TO ECONOMIC SELF-SUFFICIENCY

Source: bbc.co.uk

WIVES AND MOTHERS OF ADDICTS

Sahachari is a support group for the wives or mothers of addicts. When they come to the meetings that Asha-Kiran arranges for them, the first thing they understand is that they cannot cure or control another person’s addiction, and more importantly, that they are not the cause of it. Once they realize this, they can prepare themselves to help the addict in his recovery. In Sahachari, the women also learn to look at their own irrational behavior and make positive efforts to change it. Meetings take place once a month and consist of sharing personal experiences, discussion of various issues regarding addiction, guidance from a guest speaker and individual counseling.

A resource person from Muktangan De-addiction Centre comes to conduct the meetings and encourages the women to ventilate their feelings, counsels them on their rights and makes them aware of legal provisions related to women. The principle of confidentiality is followed in the group so that the women will feel confident to open up and share their personal life with other women who, like themselves, are engaged in dysfunctional relationships with relevant male figures in their lives.

LET'S FURHTER THEIR EMOTIONAL HEALTH