The next day I headed to Mysore, where I would be volunteering. On the way I had the shock of seeing a dead man on the road following an accident. It was a gruesome sight; one that I haven't seen before, nor do I want to see again. With so many people in India and the craziness of the driving/road conditions, it's not surprising that accidents are common. Arriving at my homestay in Hootagalli (on the outskirts on Mysore) was a bit tricky and I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of the home. I envisioned everything between a shanty and a mansion as I have seen both in India, as well as all in between. Well, the home turned out to be a newly constructed, 3 storey beautiful home in which I have my own room and bathroom (including hot water which for me is essential). It is really lovely as are the family; Stanly (one of the founders/directors of the NGO I am volunteering with), his wife Kumi and their 2 young daughters Hani and Himanya (yes, yes, I know you are smirking about the 2 young children, but the house is quite soundproof and there is no babysitting required) :)
I started volunteering at Odanadi the next day. Odanadi is an NGO of 22 years which is a safe home for girls/women who have been trafficked or abused in some way. 58 girls/women reside in this huge home which took 6 years to build and t is quite impressive. There are also a group of boys who reside elsewhere and in hut-like conditions. The current focus is on fundraising for a proper home for them.
The ages range from 5 to 50s (with most being late teens to early 20s) with some of the oldest girls now working as staff. The younger children go to school during the day as do the oldest who are mainly in college. It impressed me that an organization funded almost entirely from donations would be able to manage to send girls to college. And as we all know, education and the promise of a career is something that can really change a girl's life. Many girls are working on their BA, BSc and so on, and many success stories have been told. Former Odanadi residents have graduated from university/college, or taken vocational training and are now working in their respective careers, and/or are married and living normal lives near and far. There is a group of girls/women who are not attending school/training for various reasons i.e. special needs, mental health issues, no interest in schooling etc and programming run by the volunteers is pretty much focused on them. Classes vary depending on the skills/interests of the volunteers but English is a staple class and others can be computer, games, jewelry making etc.
The first few days I have to admit that I wasn't too sure about things. First, one thing that I know about myself by now is that I have a hard time with transitions. Moving from Nepal to Peru was a good example of that; I was miserable for almost a month! Here I felt isolated where I was living, with no internet, in the suburbs and not yet knowing how to get around. I thought that maybe I should leave the homestay and move to a more western area called Gokulam where I would have things to do and be more connected. Also, I wasn't sure on what my role could be at Odanadi, whether I would be able to use my skills as well as learn about trafficking, which was my main goal in coming. Stanly talked about me creating "child protection policies" and for days I couldn't get my head around what that meant.
Within less than a week there was a turnaround; which I need to learn to expect. First, I spent some time in Mysore on the weekend; one day having a western day (shopping, pedi, pizza, coffee) and the other day exploring the market that I love and just hanging out with another volunteer. That night I saw one of the most beautiful sights of my life; the Mysore Palace lit up which only happens on Sundays for 40 minutes. it is incredible and pictures will be coming soon on Facebook.
So basically within the week I felt like I could get out of Hootagalli and do things on my own. Plus I had more conversations with Stanly at home and realized that if I truly wanted to learn more about trafficking then most of it was going to happen by talking with him and being apart of his family. I was really comfortable in my space in the home too which I told myself maybe wouldn`t be the case elsewhere. Kumi is also an amazing cook and I realized how lucky I was to get homecooked, amazing meals everyday (more on that later)! As well, over the days I became more connected with the girls at Odanadi who are sweet and lovely girls, the staff as well, and as I got to know more about the organization I came to understand how my child protection background could be helpful. And finally, once I was more settled and got my in-home connection to the internet which was huge, I came to appreciate Hootagalli; the fact that it is out of the city, has no foreigners (apart from me and a friend Nino), and is just real life in India which is something that I love most about this country.
So I will describe an average day..after getting ready, breakfast is ready waiting for me. Everyday is something different, which is the case with every meal of Kumi`s. She makes a plethora of different dishes and they are all delicious. Did I mention that I am a vegetarian here (minus fish)? Yah I'm not that fussy about meat in general and eating it here is more risky. Plus this is a vegetarian paradise so why not..Well Kumi is quite concerned about my eating as she thinks I don't eat nearly enough..what?? Here they eat big portions and of rice and chapati; portions that I just can't manage. I always have to assure her that I am eating enough..which I am, because I love everything she makes. Anyway after breakfast I walk to Odanadi which is a 20 minute walk. People are super friendly and are always saying hi, asking where you are from etc etc. At times I get offers of motorcycle rides, sometimes hugs (that particular case was a little creepy) but normally people are just very excited to have contact with a foreigner and to practice english. It happens everywhere and is one of the most endearing things about India.
At Odanadi I spend the first 2-3 hours with the counsellors. Stanly arranged this for me, which is not something that other volunteers get to do and so I feel very fortunate. The counsellors go through the files of the girls and tell me their stories, while I write a case history for their file which can be used for future volunteers who are staying awhile and are interested in knowing more about them. Volunteers are not allowed to ask the girls about their stories, which I fully support, so these case histories will be helpful for them. This has been hugely interesting to me as I am learning not only about the girls I am connecting with, but about the social issues in India as well. Things are pretty lax with the counsellors so often we are just chatting, but I am always learning something.
I came to understand that Odanadi accepts a huge amount of volunteers; said to be 500 per year; some of whom make arrangements ahead of time and others, about half, are tourists AKA yogis (people practicing yoga) in Gokulam which is world renowned for same. They learn about Odanadi while there and come to volunteer sometimes for a short time and perhaps only for an hour a week. Odanadi is very keen to have volunteers with special skills so welcome anyone for any length of time. So the children are having contact with new people all the time, and people that Odanadi doesn`t know much or anything about. As a result I came to realize that Odanadi needed some policies around how they wanted to run the organization and how volunteers fit into that i.e. what volunteers can and cannot do during their time with the children. Similar policies needed to be done for staff and visitors. Given how vulnerable these children are and the number of people that have contact with them, I started to see what kind of role I could have here. So I have been meeting with staff and volunteers to flush out some information for the policies.
On top of the case histories and child protection policies, a lot of time is spent just socializing with the girls, which I very much enjoy. I realized that I could get enjoyment out of, and feel fulfilled, by something else besides social work stuff, using my skills, and it all being about trafficking. So I did a computer class where I got them comfortable with a laptop and showed them websites like YouTube (a big hit which led to daily non-stop requests to watch more videos). I also did a personal hygeine class which was a lot better when I could show them pictures of lice, gum disease etc on my laptop. Hopefully that will get them brushing their teeth and taking care of their hair! My favourite class was my manicure class which was highly anticipated and very well attended. I bought all the stuff we needed which I will leave here for future, and they had a great time. Self care is a great form of therapy! I've done some English as well and next..I'm going to introduce them to Sudoku and good ol' bingo!
Later afternoon/early evening I head out and often go to my favourite coffee spot in Gokulam, the western area, go to a local chai shop with another volunteer (where no women dare to go) or just go home and catch up on computer stuff. Unfortunately Netflix doesn't work in India so that sucks and makes evenings a litte dull in Hootagalli, but catching up with emails, pictures, and my blog sure keep me occuppied. And dinner is made for me later evening (which is a bit too late as again they want me to eat so much right before bed). Uggh. And they wonder why I don't want breakfast!
While doing the case histories I have learned that most of the current residents at Odanadi have not been trafficked in the way I thought before coming; meaning sex trafficking. I have also learned that trafficking can mean other things like child labour cases where parents have handed over their children to others for loans or due to financial issues. This translates to 13 year old girls not going to school and working as maids, sometimes being physically abused and/or locked in a room while their "owners" go out. Sadly, that is probably one of the softer stories.
I am of course happy that these amazing girls and women have not been horribly victimized; sold into brothels and that sort of thing. On the other hand, I have felt a bit disheartended that this NGO presents itself as an anti-trafficking organization, and one that is housing girls/women who have experienced just that. They certainly have rescued children from trafficking; they are actually working on a rescue right now that I very much wanted to be involved in, but apparently it is too risky having a white girl around, but in terms of current residents, they are girls who have been orphaned, who have family problems such as abuse, forced marriage, they are fleeing domestic violence or have mental heath issues. I know what it is about; trafficking has become such a hot issue in the world; one that garners a lot of interest which brings notariety and funding. But, I feel that they should be more straightforward about who it is that they are really helping rather than just trying to make it sound good.
Anyhow..on to some stories of girls that I have been working with. This won't be a feel good type of post, so feel free to skip it if it isn't your thing. Hopefully it will provide some insight into the issues that are facing children and women in India; primarily those from rural villages, those typically less educated and more traditional in their way of life.
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