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Name of the organization
Arz
Date of establishment
September 1997
Location
Baina Beach, Baina, Vasco-Da-Gama, Goa, India.
Description of area
Baina Beach is the only known and organised Red-Light area in Goa, it is an urban slum with lack of an organised hygiene and sanitation system, overcrowding etc in the Port town area.
Contact person(s)
Zarine Chinvala, Director, Arz
Address
40(1), Jannat Galli, Baina Beach, Vasco da Gama, Goa - 403 802
Email:
arz@goatelecom.com, arz_goa@yahoo.com
Phone number
Ph: 91 832 519951 / 515353
Fax:
c/o 91 832 501173
Number of children currently enrolled in the project:
The girls have been divided into three Batches –A, B and C with a total of 20 girls.
Batch A and Batch B consists of sixteen adolescent girls who are most vulnerable to the prostitution market. They have been exposed to the market directly or indirectly. Their family background is that of single parents or their mothers, fathers who are alcoholics and older siblings (sisters), who are already into prostitution. Each girl has an average of three-four siblings. A few of their sisters have been religiously dedicated and put into prostitution. Most of them also have younger siblings whom they have to parent. The male siblings in most of their families enjoy differential treatment and are not expected to do anything to contribute to the family income. All of the girls in one Batch had been into rag picking. This exposed them to a lot of risks. This also made them very vulnerable to exploitation. A few of these girls have been in conflict with the Law. Some of the girls have been working as small vendors in the red-light area in the late evening and nighttime, selling eatables such as boiled eggs etc., mainly consumed by male customers visiting the area. The girls are either illiterates or school dropouts and are mostly unskilled. Batch C consists of six older girls, some of whom had earlier experienced prostitution and with similar demographic profile as the previous batch.
Batch One
|
Sl. no |
Age |
Education |
Experiential background |
Family background |
Behavioral patterns |
|
1 |
14yrs |
Has not been to school |
Rag picking and has been in conflict with law (stealing). |
Father is an alcoholic, mother is unemployed and she has five sisters and one of the older sisters was religiously dedicated and put into prostitution. |
She is very hard working, and shows a lot of interest in learning the skills, though she does take time to pick up the skills |
|
2 |
14yrs |
3rd std |
Rag picking and has been in conflict with law (stealing).. |
Father is a construction worker, mother is a rag picker and has three sisters who are younger to her and only one of them goes to school. |
She is also hard working but takes a lot of time to pick up the skills. She is also very keen on learning and becoming self-dependent. She is also engaged and is soon to be married |
|
3 |
14yrs |
6th std |
Rag picking and has been in conflict with law (stealing).. |
Father is a construction worker and her mother is a housewife. She has two older sisters and two younger sisters. And one of her older sister is into prostitution. |
She has already been married but currently stays with her parents. She is also a hard worker very keen on learning. |
|
4 |
14yrs |
6th std |
Rag picking, has been in conflict with law (stealing) and has background of running away from home (stealing). |
Father is unemployed after he met with an accident. Mother sells food in the Baina red light area. She has one older sister who is at home. She has three younger sisters who are studying. |
She is also a hard worker along with being a fast learner. She has had a history of picking up fights with the other girls. But now there has been a lot positive behavioral changes. |
|
5 |
14yrs |
5th std |
Rag picking and has been in conflict with law (stealing).. |
Father is a construction worker and her mother is a rag picker. She has an older brother who is working as a construction worker. She also has two younger sisters and two younger brothers. One of her younger sister is also into rag picking. |
She is hard working. She faces a lot of pressure from her family to take charge of the familial responsibilities. This has been affecting her performance. |
|
6 |
14yrs |
N.A |
Rag picking and has been in conflict with law (stealing). |
Father is a construction worker. Her mother is into rag picking. She has an older sister who is married. She has an older brother who works at the port. She has three younger brothers and one younger sister. One of her younger brothers is a part of the Arz children’s centre. |
She is also hard working but finds it difficult to concentrate. She has a low self-esteem, and her lack of formal education affects her performance. |
|
7 |
14yrs |
6th std |
She was allowed to be a part of the skill development because of the additional income the family would get from it. |
Mother was into prostitution but now stays at home. She suffers from tuberculosis thereby making her unable to work. She has one younger brother who is in a boarding school. |
She is a fast learner and is hard working. |
|
8 |
17yrs |
9th std |
N.A |
Father works at the harbor. Mother is self-employed, sells food in the red light area. She has two younger brothers and one younger sister. One of the brothers is unemployed. The other younger brother and younger sister are currently studying. |
She is also a fast learner and is very hard working. |
|
9 |
14yrs |
N.A |
Rag picking. She was brought for the skill development because of her background of sexual relationships |
Single parent, and mother was into prostitution and is currently a rag picker. She has one younger brother who has been affected by polio. They stay along with her grandmother |
She has a very low self-esteem. Shows a lack of interest in learning the skills. And is the most vulnerable in the group to fall into prostitution because of familial pressures and also other behavioral problems. |
Batch Two:
|
Sl. no |
Age |
Education |
Experiential background |
Family background |
Characteristics |
|
1 |
12yrs |
N.A |
Rag picking and is exposed to the red light area as she spends her time roaming in the red light area. |
Father works as a laborer. Mother is a rag picker. She has four older brothers and one older sisters and one younger brother. Three of her older brothers and her sister are married. Her younger brother stays at home |
She has been currently very irregular. Because of the language problems, she has been finding it very difficult to pick up the skills. She is also a very slow learner. She is very adjusting and has very good group relations. |
|
2 |
14yrs |
5th std |
Close interaction with the prostitution market as she stays in the red light area. |
Father is a farmer in the village. Mother is a housewife. She has two younger sisters and a younger brother who are studying. Her maternal aunt who is into prostitution supports the entire family. |
She is a hard worker and is very committed. But because her lack of formal education she takes time to pick up the skills. She is one of the most vulnerable in the group to prostitution. Being the oldest in the family and no other earning members, she is likely to be pushed into prostitution. |
|
3 |
13yrs |
5th std |
Close interaction with the prostitution market as she stays in the red light area. |
Father is a farmer in the village. Mother is a housewife. Maternal aunt who is into prostitution supports the family. |
She is currently studying. She is very vulnerable, because there are no other earning member in the family and because her aunt is into prostitution. Discipline was initially a problem, but currently shows a lot of positive changes. |
|
4 |
13yrs |
N.A |
Exposed to the red light area as she spends her time roaming in the red light area. |
Single parent and mother is into prostitution to support the family. She has one older brother who is a construction worker. She has an older sister who stays at the village. |
She is currently very irregular and lacks interest in picking up the skills. The other factors being because of her lack of language skills, and formal education. She is also one of the most vulnerable because her mother is into prostitution and the low economic background. |
|
5 |
13yrs |
5th std. |
Exposed to the red light area as she spends her time roaming in the red light area. |
Single parent, with mother who stays at home. She has one older sister who works as a maid. She has two younger sisters and one younger brother who are studying. The family is supported by her maternal uncle |
She is also very irregular, and also shows a lack of interesting learning. She has a history of picking up fights with her batch mates. |
|
6 |
12yrs |
3rd std. |
Helps her mother in selling vegetables and eatables in the red light area. |
Father is a carpenter who is works whenever he finds work. Mother sells vegetables in the morning and food in the evening at the red light area. She has an older brother work in a hotel. She also has a younger brother who is at home. |
She is hard working and is quite a good learner. She is also one of the most vulnerable because she directly exposed to the prostitution market as she help her mother in selling the products. |
|
7 |
12yrs |
9th std. |
Exposed to the red light area as she spends her time roaming in the red light area. |
Father is a painter. Mother is a housemaid. She has two older brothers who are working as assistant in the shop and as a carpenter. |
She is a very fast learner and very actively involved in all activities. She is very talented and has won a lot of prizes in the sports and other programmes organised by the Arz children’s centre. She is also very good in her studies. |
Batch Three:
|
Sl. no |
Age |
Education |
Experiential background |
Family background |
Characteristics |
|
1 |
20yrs |
5th std |
Exposed to the red light area as she spends her time roaming in the red light area. |
Her father is a farmer in the village. She was ill treated by her stepmother, because of which she shifted to Goa and she is staying with her maternal uncle. |
She is a very keen learner and is also hard working. Being financially dependent makes her very vulnerable. |
|
2 |
21yrs |
6th std. |
Was earlier in prostitution. |
Father is a farmer at the village and her mother is a housewife. She has two older brothers. One of them is unemployed and the other works as a tailor. She also has a son who is 1 year old. |
She is the smartest in the group. She is a very fast learner and hard working. She has left prostitution and is now financially dependent on a man with whom she has had a long term relationship. |
|
3 |
18yrs |
N.A |
N.A |
Father passed away five years back. Her mother sells sweet. She has one older brother. He sells samosas and then goes to school. She also has a younger sister who goes to school. |
She is a very slow learner. She is regular and is hard working. |
|
4 |
19yrs |
8th std |
Was earlier in prostitution |
She was sold by her mother as a minor and Arz rescued her. She has older brother who is married. Her husband is bus driver. |
She is currently carrying because of which she is irregular. She is a slow learner. |
|
5 |
19yrs |
5th std |
House maid |
Single parent, mother is a prostitute. Her mother is currently on bail and was accused of religiously dedicating a minor girl in prostitution. Her younger sister has been married. She has a younger brother who is studying. Her maternal aunt is also in prostitution. |
She is a slow learner and is very irregular. |
Current Girl/Boy ratio
Not applicable
Current Teacher/student ratio:
1: 8
Additional Details
Over all vocational training and skill development project attendance percentage approximately 80%. The girls do face a lot of pressure from their homes being prospective “products for the prostitution market” Most families resent the fact that the times spent by the girls in the programme do not yield income for the family. Hence there is a great pressure on the girls to be directed into activities that create earnings at the same time to shoulder their household responsibilities, thus leading them to miss the classes.
Medium of instruction
Hindi
Details on the school curriculum (please attach additional sheets if necessary)
THE DAILY TIMETABLE:
| BATCH A | |
| 10.00 a.m. – 12.00 p.m. | Tailoring |
| 12.00 a.m. - 1.00 p.m. | Non-Formal Education, Literacy & Awareness Sessions. Extracurricular Activities like drama, singing, street play etc. |
| BATCH B | |
| 3.00 p.m. – 5.00 p.m. | Tailoring |
| 5.00 p.m. - 6.00 p.m. | on-Formal Education, Literacy & Awareness Sessions. Extracurricular Activities like drama, singing, street play etc. |
| BATCH C | |
| 2.00p.m. – 5.00p.m. | Tailoring |
SKILL-BUILDING
The course has been planned for a period of nine months. It is planned to give the girls the complete set of skills for tailoring. By the completion of the course it is proposed to teach them to tailor baby clothes as well as adult clothes. The items proposed to be covered are baby dress, baby bonnet, baby frock, baby napkin, skirt and top, shorts, 6-piece dress, sari blouse, churidar, ghagara choli, skirt (plates) Blouse (school), umbrella frock, tight skirt, Katori Blouse, A-line dress, 8 piece dress, salwar kameez, petticoat, shirt, prince cut dress.
LITERACY
It is planned to provide functional literacy to the girls who are illiterate in the languages Hindi and English. For the girls who have been to school, there is a need to revive their knowledge of the languages and enable them to move further in terms of reading and writing. An emphasis is laid on conversational English as the children have expressed that as a need.
AWARENESS
Various issues have been covered with the girls either as per the timetable or as the need was expressed by girls or felt by the teacher. Historical stories such as that of freedom fighter Subashchandra Bose, British era in Indian history, Freedom Struggle, importance of Independence day, etc. Other topics covered have been the occurrence of day and night, eclipses, flowers and their functions, the parts of human body, the importance of air, good habits, sessions on sexuality etc And other activities that they can use in their day-to-day life. Plans to take them to the post office, bank, hospitals, bus and railway stations etc. Self-expression and recreational activities: The girls are also thought to take part in street plays, dramas, and a few forms of dances etc are also undertaken.
PARTICIPATION OF THE GIRLS IN OTHER ACTIVITIES OF Arz.
The girls under the Asha programme have been included in other programmes of Arz as well. They participate in various activities of the Arz Children’s Centre such as indoor and outdoor recreation, art and craft sessions and drama, fancy dress competitions, sports etc The girls were also taken with the other children for an excursion to the Bondla Sanctuary and National Park where they learnt about different aspects of nature. They were taken for an exposure visit to Cluny Convent Technical Institute, which teaches skill-development to girls. Here the girls observed the different skills that can be learnt and especially the discipline and behaviour of the students. The girls have been included in the Health Services of the Arz Children’s Centre. This covers medical attention for minor and major ailments for the children as well as the parents/family members. Girls have so far been treated for dental problems, fever, urinal infections, etc. and parents have been helped with medication for TB. The girls were also attended to by the Counselor & Therapist of the Arz Children’s center. She had been taking group sessions with the girls as well as holding capacity building sessions with the staff that work with them. The girls are also being trained to assist the staff in working with the younger children thereby involving them in the activities for the community.
Long-term goals of the project (mention any changes you foresee)
The basic aim of the project being is build resilience among the young girls. These girls could be the agents of change in preventing child prostitution both in their own family and around them. By being involved in the project, they demonstrate that there are alternative ways and opportunities for earning a livelihood. It is also aimed at creating self-dependence among the girls to be able to resist the forces that act against them. Long-term plans include placing them in job after providing them with the vocational/skill training. Self help groups have also been started in each of the batches for financial assistance when any of the group members are in need. To provide them with other alternative means of employment at their own homes has been the other plan. Currently the staffs have been trained in mushroom cultivation to impart the knowledge to the girls in the long run. The other plan is also to start some sort of a production workshop where in the girls can be self-employed where tailoring and other stitching orders can be taken or even marketed later. This would be done by the girls themselves, a stipend could be paid for the girls who could take up the marketing their products. The older girls could be taken as tailoring instructors instruct the new girls who would be enrolled in the project.
Description of current vocational/ skill development project facilities (building, equipment etc)
Currently the project is occupying one room where the training takes place for the girls, three sewing machines, facilities required for tailoring like scissors, thread, needles, cloth, paper, pens, pencils, books etc The entire project is handled by one staff, who is the tailoring instructor.
How do you need to improve these facilities?
With the increasing number of girls the project is reaching out to, the facilities like the sewing machine should be increased to at least ten. There is a need to also increase the budget of the raw materials used for the training. The current space available, being small and with the increasing number of girls, it is necessary to hiring a bigger room. Along with improving some of the basic facilities like water filter etc There is also a need to have a professional social worker and also a designer. The Social Worker, would help in catering the counselling need of the girls, cause each of them require individual attention. He/she could also look into the Non-Formal Education, awareness and personality development programmes and also the long-term production and marketing. There is also a need for a part salary for an accountant to deal with the same. We could also involve the girls and provide them with a stipend for marketing of the products and training the new batches. Along with it a separate component of training for marketing the girls and also to maintain the accounts should be included.
How do you think the vocational/skill development project has improved in the last year?
Development of their skills of tailoring which was planned for a period of nine months and batches have completed a major part of the course with just two months left. Through non-formal education, their awareness level on various issues has definitely improved and a lot of issues have also been dwelled upon. Basic functional literacy has also improved. The areas that have been worked on is the behavioral aspects and also the personality traits of the girls and their discipline, from them being very restless, usage of abusive language, concentration, improvement of group relationships etc. The issue of their vulnerability has also been addressed in the various sessions, making them both aware of the factors and helping them to fight, it by building self-resilience in them. The families are constantly updated progress of the girls, through parent-teacher meetings, home visits and involving them in the activities of the project. The girls are also being trained as helpers by working with the smaller children, using them as change agents to make a difference in the community. What are the problems you have faced in the last year? Most of these girls tend to have very low self-esteem. The low self-esteem is reflected either in withdrawn and non-participative behavior or very aggressive, distractive and attention-seeking behaviour. There has been a very positive change in their behavior and self esteem. Since the last few months after the project started. Discipline because of the lack of any formal training or inputs also was very difficult. Right from getting them to be a part of a formal structured programme, to their attendance, to handling group dynamics, their usage of abusive language etc. As mentioned earlier, most of the girls were either school dropouts or illiterates and a few of them by virtue of being first generation learners grasping and retention skills of the girls was problematic. Much of headway could not be made initially in the skill development because of the lack of functional literacy of basic math’s and reading skills. Most of these girls are very vulnerable, by being directly exposed to the prostitution market and the kind of things they see around them. These girls also face undue pressure from the parents who are still looking for some sort of income from the girls and to shoulder household responsibilities. Along with it there are also a lot of pressure on the girls to be religiously dedicated into prostitution. There is also a lot of apprehension among the parents about their future jobs after learning the skills of tailoring. How would you rate the overall effectiveness of this project over the past year? The overall effectiveness of the project has been satisfactory. We are able to see changes in the individual girl as well as the attitude of the community, vis-à-vis adolescent girls and prostitution. But we strongly feel that there is still a need to do a lot of work in both the areas of the individual girls as well as building the group feeling of the community at large.
How much longer do you foresee requiring Asha funding, and for what purposes?
The project very specifically targets the most vulnerable adolescent at Baina Beach red-light area, this is going to be a group who will have to be addressed continuously. And for another few years till we are able to start a workshop simultaneously for the older girls who have finished their training, and there is constant source of income, the project would need support from Asha.
Current expenditure details:
Financial report attached
Current total income of your project
Not applicable
Please give us details on the sources and amounts of funding the project receives
Not applicable
Percentage of funds currently sponsored by Asha.
100%
Is there any other feedback you would like to provide to Asha/b>