Snehalaya - Empathy is the Key Solution to All Devils

Snehalaya works towards ensuring a life free from inequality, cruelty and discrimination for every woman & child. It deals with issues such as prostitution, anti-trafficking, child mothers and HIV patients.

From the city of Ahmednagar, here comes an inspiring story of Snehalaya, as told by its founder Dr. Girish Mahadeo Kulkarni, in an interview with AkshiNarmis Team.

A Brief Background

Snehalaya’s journey starts from the journey of Dr. Girish Kulkarni, a young boy back then in the 530 years old city of Ahmednagar. For those of you who don’t know this, Ahmednagar is an army base, the implication being that this also makes it a very large base for prostitution.

So right from his childhood, Dr. Kulkarni would often spot girls of his age around the red light areas of the city. He saw them being abused, beaten, and never studying. One of his visits to his friend’s house greatly disturbed him when he found that all ladies in his family were sex workers. It was just a way of livelihood of people in their ‘caste’.

“One important thing to understand here is the perspective of society towards these prostitutes. While we treat them as polluted, or bad women, in real it is their rights which have been violated when they are forced to enter this profession as a misfortune event or their only means for survival.”

Dr. Kulkarni had a burning desire to do something in their favour. And started to take part in youth movements as he grew up. He met leaders like Anna Hazare and Baba Ampte. And realized that societal transformation needs to come from within.

In January 1989, he could no longer say no to his calling. And decided to take the plunge. Because if not him, then who? And if not today, then when?

Snehalaya - 'Home of Love'

He started small, a boy in his 20s, going up to the women in a brothel and asking about any help that he could do. One of them agreed to have him take care of her 2 kids while she worked. So he would baby-sit them from 5 PM - 10 PM, tell them stories, bring them food. As kids and women began to trust him, his popularity grew. And soon enough, he was incharge of 80 kids in the red light area.

Inspired by him, several other youth also joined. Some would give donations. And through all their efforts, they tried to have these kids educated and cared for. Thus the ‘Home of Love’ that accepted all children alike was established.

Snehalaya, which started with educational programmes for a handful of children of sex workers, has grown far and wide. It now serves over 19,000 beneficiaries each year running 23 projects across four key areas - education, healthcare, rehabilitation, and awareness.

Their services are primarily for women, children and LGBT communities affected by poverty and the commercial sex industry as well as for people living with HIV/AIDS. They help to fight HIV and AIDS, to end human trafficking, improve education for the deprived children, as well as campaign for justice to ensure rights and rehabilitation of women and children.

Some of their projects include:

1. Snehadhar: First helpline in India for victims of sexual exploitation and trafficking, which was relaunched by Aamir Khan in 2013 for women and young girls in difficult circumstances. These shelter homes deal with all types of cases from domestic violence to rapes.

2. Snehjyot: It addresses the plight of sexually exploited women in Ahmednagar, Kopargaon, Shrirampur, Shevgaon, Shirdi, Shrigonda and Jamkhed, providing health facilities for their HIV & STDs treatment, as well as working to change the attitude of prostitutes and society about each other. Snehalaya has succeeded in completely stopping ‘second-generation’ prostitution - daughter of a sex-worker shouldn’t become a sex-worker as well as minors becoming victims of flesh trade.

3. Child Line: A 24-hour toll-free helpline for children in distress (number - 1098) - which is part of CIF (childline India Foundation) currently operational in 401 cities in India. It aims to reach out and locate runaway, lost and kidnapped children, as well as provide immediate care, protection and shelter.

4. Snehankur Adoption Centre: This is a legal adoption center which provides care and protection to abandoned and relinquished infants by unwed mothers, raped victims. And strives to find the right home for every orphan child.

5. Himmatgram: It provides rehabilitation and training options to people living with HIV. And helps them earn their livelihood through agricultural activities, dairy farms, sericulture, and other vocational facilities.

Some other projects include Balbhavan (after school educational program for children in slums), Rehabilitation centers (shelter home for HIV infected women and children, children of prostitutes, minors rescued from sexual slavery), Caring Friends Hospital and Research Centre (to provide medical services for HIV patients and patients from low income groups) and Centre of Hope (to provide modern computer education to children from red light areas, slums, and rural areas). It also runs an E-school for classes Lower K.G., to 10th for over 360 students from these areas.

"Education is at the heart of what we do, and we believe that by investing in it we can tackle the major issues in society. That’s how we’ve grown - by educating kids and women about their rights, making them sufficient to earn their livelihood, and live a life with dignity and pride. You can’t change where you are born, but you can change what you become. And we’ve tried and succeeded in changing the lives of several women and children in India" - Dr. Girish Kulkarni (Founder)

Why AkshiNarmis Chose To Feature It

Snehalaya is an NGO whose impact in the field of women empowerment is notable. It has dealt with issues some of us are even scared to talk about. HIV patients, rights of sex-workers and LGBT communities, teenage mothers, sexual violence and what not. We’re simply enamoured with the work Snehalaya has been doing, and can’t be more thankful to Dr. Kulkarni for agreeing to this interview, and inspiring us with his journey.

One of the many things he taught us in this interview is the strength of the poor. At Snehalaya, everyone is a donor. And its secret strength lies in the 40,000 individual but consistent donors in the past several years.

They work with a multiplier effect. Every needy person they help, they request to help an even needy person in whatever little way they can.

Dr. Kulkarni says his life has changed since the time he pledged to help those kids in the brothel. You do it for others, but at the end this is what helps you. Any good deed starts from us, all it needs is a good intention. Everything else comes along. And if everyone thinks like that, the impact of such a community will be huge.

And it is in ways such as this that Snehalaya has reached where it is today. Some of its major achievements till date have been:

• 90% reduction in Sexually Transmitted Diseases including HIV due to their healthcare projects

• 100% condom usage among sex workers to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS

• No underage women in the flesh trade in Ahmednagar district due to Snehalaya’s work since last 31 years

• Over 2000 children currently attend their extra-curricular and educational classes in the 7 slums of Ahmednagar in Snehalaya’s Balbhavan

• And over 20,000 slum-dwellers have access to their support services

• 68 couples living with HIV/AIDS have been married in Snehalaya matrimonial meet so far, and 18 of them have HIV negative children

• Snehalaya has been inspiring and mentoring more than 21 grass root NGOs to work towards making India a better one for the marginalised sections of the society

Owing to its outstanding and innovative contribution to women's welfare and empowerment, Snehalaya was also awarded the Dr. Durgabai Deshmukh National Award by the President of India, on 5th Nov. 2012.

What You Can Do

As Dr. Kulkarni puts it, “Mother India is the women of the entire India”, and it is time we start treating it as such - start respecting women, their rights, and treat them as equals. Change begins from within.

If you’re willing to contribute to Snehalaya in any way, there are several volunteer opportunities you can take up.

• Translators

• RJ for their Radionagar 91.4 FM

• Content writers

• Social media marketers

• Photography

• Teaching

• Healthcare

And many more.

You can do what interests you, and help them in their mission. Write to them for any other ideas or suggestions you have, and explore what you can do best with them!

Alternatively, you can help them by donating for their cause. You can also visit their website or write to them at <info [at] snehalaya [dot] org> to know about their programs and explore opportunities for collaboration.

Or if you want to be a corporate partner, Snehalaya can benefit from your in kind donations or sponsorships. And you can always contribute through CSR (Corporate

Social Responsibility) with a step towards the betterment of the society and the environment.

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