See you on the other side guys!
FINALLY. I'm going. Flight to Heathrow, flight to Mumbai, LOTS OF SLEEP: that's how the next 48 hours is going to pan out. Apparently I'll have wifi in Mumbai for a bit, so I might have a chance to update this, but I kind of doubt it. I'll be handwriting all my blog updates though, and posting them here once I get back, hopefully with photos and other stuff more interesting than my ramblings. Best way to follow me in the meantime is probably Twitter: @chrissirvine.
See you on the other side guys!
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The video shows what a rescue operation looks like from Oasis India's side. I'll be working with Oasis when I'm in Bangalore, specifically finding out more about this kind of rescue and prevention work. It scares me a bit that this kind of stuff, I want to be involved in it long term. Watching other people in other countries do these courageous things-- it seems very far away. But there are anti-trafficking action groups here in Glasgow. And I feel I really need to be part of them.
An excerpt from the 'Stop the Traffik' book: the story of a young girl rescued by Oasis India, one of the projects I'll be working with in Bangalore. I guess it'll become too close to home very soon.
"A petite young girl with a shy but endearing smile, Roshni, twenty, is extremely hard-working and has mastered the skill of Aari work, which is a type of embroidery using colourful beads, threads and sequins. A few years ago, her life was completely different. On being promised employment, Roshni agreed to come to Mumbai in India from her hometown in Andrha Pradesh-- but was horrified to find herself in a brothel. It was then that she realised that her relative, whom she trusted, had in fact deceived her and sold her into the flesh trade. Roshni was still an under-age girl. When the police conducted a raid at the brothel, Roshni was rescued and sent to a home which provided care for girls until the edge of eighteen. She was tested HIV positive. On turning 18, Roshni was sent to Purnata Bhavan (a residential care project of Oasis India, www.oasisindia.org), where she participated in the literacy programmes offered and learnt to read and write. She also became so skilled at Aari work that she is now able to teach others. Roshni would soon be doing an advanced course in Aari work before she could start working." Don't feel it. Now that all the messy mess of personal life/ work life/ moving 300 miles back home/ starting a new job is over, turns out we have 5 weeks to go and I'm getting scared.
Almost there with practical preparations and stuff, but mentally, spiritually... I'm not totally sure where I am, and I'm starting to be pretty worried that when I get out there it's all going to be too much. So I guess, prayers are really welcome. As are good thoughts and any kind of encouragement. I want to go. I'm excited about it. But I know I'm not the strongest person around, I haven't been that well recently and I've not been great at dealing with stress... Oh hai self-doubt. Great to see you. I was ambitious signing up to do this India thing. It's alot of money for someone who buys a breakfast croissant as a birthday treat. But I knew God wanted me to do it. Within a day or so of me deciding it was too expensive, Amor bumped another £1000 off the trip fees and I was like: well, thanks God; there goes my reasoning. After that, the reasons against started falling away, and all I had left was a big tug on my soul that said go on; you know what you have to do.
I've been thinking alot about it today, between one thing and another. How we take it for granted-- not that that's horrifically selfish of us; freedom should be an instantaneous right of every living being, don't you think? But still. We take it for granted--especially in this country-- that our freedom to speak our minds, to leave our houses when we will, to meet who we want to and to socialise where we want will not be called into question. I don't think it's easy to get in your head how damaging it is to exercise your power as a human being to deny someone else their freedom: whether that's not letting them leave their house; not letting them stand up for their own beliefs; not letting them have money to support themselves; or not letting them have a right to the use of their own bodies. Freedom is the oxygen of the soul. --Moshe Dayan Some facts from the A21 campaign, on common ways traffickers gain control of their victims:
No conclusions here. Just thoughts. Scared thoughts, really. Would appreciate your continued prayers as I prepare for the trip. Amazing news today from one of the organisations I'm gonna be working with in Mumbai, Oasis India. This update was from their Facebook page: "A team of 10 staffs were on a rescue operation from Monday afternoon to 1 am this morning. 80 girls, boys and women were rescued and 5 accused were caught. The team says so far this has been the best raid with an amazing support from the police and also the case filed against the accused is a strong one." Buzzed to be working with a group doing such life-changing work... Harrowing that in the 21st century there still needs to be 'rescue operations' to free people from slavery.
Check out Oasis' webpage btw. They do amazing work. Poverty's at the root of pretty much every crime committed. Or maybe, greed. When you look at the statistics, it's not difficult to see that it's not just morality that's skewed... This week I've been getting excited, as my friends over at Amor Ministries have just got back from their trip out to India, and have started sending through the details of what our itinerary's going to be once we finally make it out to Mumbai. Needless to say it's, uh... Pretty packed. Here's the Cliff Notes: Stage 1: Mumbai. We're visiting the slums and the red light district, doing everything from running children's projects, to befriending the prostitutes, to teaching basic craft and cooking skills to trafficking survivors. We'll be breaking up into small teams of 3 or 5, the idea being we get up close and personal, getting to know the people to whom trafficking isn't just a concept but a life-destroying reality. Pretty scared of this. My people skills in basic life aren't that great-- don't know how I'll fare under pressure. Prayer please! Make me brave.
Stage 2: Bangalore. Alot of travelling. We're splitting into three groups: one heading off on the overnight train to Tirrupur to meet the women who've been trafficked into the garment industry, learning about the advocacy and rehab groups working among these women; another group is training it to Dharmapuri, one of the poorest and most-trafficked communities in Bangalore, and finding out about the anti-trafficking programs in place there; and the last group will stay in central Bangalore to visit a village where Oasis has been intervening to rescue young girls from the garment trade, and working with state groups like the police and child welfare to see what role they have in preventing trafficking. I'm pretty sure these days will be the hardest. I feel knackered just reading about it. Stage 3: Indo-China border. We're heading up north to the border, to try and understand the epidemic of cross-border trafficking and see some amazing prevention work. Plus point: in this last leg we might have the chance to cross the border into Bhutan, the place with the highest Gross National Happiness score in the world! It looks stunning btw (Yup, that's the photo at the top of the page). So yes, pretty intense. Am kind of re-thinking the amount of days I take off work. |