Asskam, the Kamathipura Association, was founded in 1995 to stop the closure of a night care centre, which had run out of funding, in Mumbai’s red-light district, Kamathipura. (A copy of the Association’s statutes can be made available).
This neighbourhood is comprised of a series of squalid lanes, small, run-down houses, most often devoid of running-water, in which people live in total promiscuity. This is where teenage girls and women who have been forced into prostitution live and work. They have either been sold into prostitution by a close relative, or have been lured to the city by pimps who promise them a job as a domestic servant. Poverty is such that parents are often happy to have one less mouth to feed but are not aware of the dangers that await their daughters. Once in the city, the young women are locked up, beaten, raped and deprived of food; they are subjected to the most awful abuse until they come to accept their lot.
The children live in this ghetto, during the daytime wandering the streets and at nighttime sleeping under their mother’s bed, whilst she works.
In 1988, Priti Patkar, a young Indian social worker, discovered the widespread suffering that prevails in this neighbourhood. Numerous children weren’t attending school anymore. She tried to understand why. Without the support of their illiterate mothers, they very quickly became discouraged. Others couldn’t attend school because the cost of the school uniform and books was more than they could afford. In order to alleviate this poverty, Priti Patkar decided to open the first night-care centre in India and she set up the organisation Prerana. She realised that to be accepted in this environment, she shouldn’t attempt to get women out of prostitution, instead she should focus on their children. The early days weren’t easy. First she had to gain people’s confidence: the pimps who didn’t welcome this intrusion, the mothers who so often had been misled and lived in fear of their children being taken away. Gradually, she was able to gain the mothers’ confidence.
The first night-care centre was opened in the rented premises of the municipal school. Mothers drop off their children late afternoon. When they arrive, the children first wash themselves then they eat and play until it is time to go to bed. More than 100 children are welcomed every night. To meet demand, two further night-care centres were opened in other areas of the city.
Children of pre-school age attend the nursery opened especially for them in the mornings whilst the older children go to school. A doctor comes by every week to vaccinate and check the children. A psychologist also takes charge of some of the children and their mothers; the more severe cases are referred to a psychiatrist who comes to the centre. A file is opened for
each child admitted. To this day, more than 1500 children have been registered in the various centres.
The centres are also open during the daytime and buzzing with activity as the following are also offered besides nursery care:
Educational support
Supervised homework and extra classes are organised every afternoon. Two-hundred and fifty children benefit from this educational support (see leaflet).
Institutional placements
The red-light district is not an environment in which children flourish. Priti Patkar has been able to make the mothers aware of the fact that their children do not have to follow in their footsteps. To protect them from this traumatic environment, the social workers try and find a suitable place for each child in existing institutions. By way of monthly visits, they monitor their wellbeing, their progress, and intervene if need be and address any problems which arise. Some of these institutions have very strict rules. Visits from third parties, in some cases, even mothers’ visits, aren’t authorised. Some institutions are government-funded, others are private. Asskam sponsors a number of children in such institutions, mainly girls who are far more vulnerable.
Due to a shortage of places, premises have been rented in Virar, in the Mumbai suburbs, and NAUNIHAL, a home for young girls was inaugurated in October 2001. This home also welcomes teenage girls and young girls with special needs. Currently, four of these girls attend a special school and will be allowed to stay at Naunihal beyond the age of majority, until they are able to look after themselves. In most government institutions, children over the age of 10 aren’t accepted and at 18 they have to leave.
Construction
The current situation gave us the idea of building our own home for one hundred and fifty children. For three years, we fought to establish our own non-profit organisation, and to obtain permission from the Indian government to transfer funds for our project. We were refused this authorisation on two occasions. In the meantime, Priti Patkar was given the green light and thus our project is now moving forward via her organisation Prerana. As is the case for all NGO’s, we’ve had to abide by the rules imposed by the central government. Only Indians are authorised to implement such projects.
2 C O N S T R U C T I O N P R O J E C T
TEAMS in Switzerland and India
The Kamathipura Association (ASSKAM), Lausanne
Committee Members:
Janet Morier-Genoud, Lausanne President
Francine Kandaouroff, Lausanne Treasurer
Andrée Stoudmann, Lausanne Secretary
Raymond Marclay, Monthey
Catherine Mikton Bhundia, Founex
All the Association’s activities are carried out on a voluntary basis. No fee is levied on donations, contributions and sponsorships. All administrative costs are covered by the sale of greeting cards and Indian handicrafts. The profit made on these sales also goes to fund part of the projects.
Tax status of the Association: tax exempt
Banking details UBS – St-François, Lausanne Account no. 577.699.1 Two signatories: Francine Kandaouroff, Janet Morier-Genoud, Raymond Marclay
3 PRERANA, Mumbai
Trust Members
Priti Patkar Founder and Secretary Social worker, graduated from the College of Social Work Nirmala Niketan Mumbai
Pravin Patkar, Priti’s husband President and Founding Member Former Professor of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences Mumbai Vice-President of EPCAT and Member of the Central Committee
Prof. Dr D.P. Singh Treasurer Professor of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences Mumbai
Prof. Farida Lambay Founding Member Deputy Head of the College of Social Work Nirmala Niketan Mumbai
Dr Jairaj Thanekar Member Senior Deputy Executive Health with Greater Mumbai Municipal Corp.
Aparna Dhopeshwarkar Member Social Worker with Prerana
Suvalal Shinghavi Member Founding Member of the NGO Snehalaya in Ahmednagar
Priti and Pravin Patkar are committed to the notion that prostitutes should not merely be considered as commercial sex workers but as victims of human trafficking. They are actively involved in developing legislation to protect these women and recognise their rights.
Asskam covers the salary of 19 people, some of whom are former prostitutes, and the consultation fees of one medical doctor, one psychologist and one psychiatrist.
4 Description of the construction project
Home for 150 children in Khargar, in the suburbs of Mumbai.
A 100-year lease on a plot of land of 1500 m2 was purchased for the price of Rs 1'126'478.00 Cost of developing the land Rs 614’238.00 Building a surrounding wall Rs 202'000.00 Registration costs and supervision of the site to this day Rs 339'679.00
Estimated cost of main building works as in annexed plans Rs17'850'000.00
Architect’s fees of 3%, etc. Rs 535'500.00 This represents a total cost of approx. Sfr 700'000.-
The building will include a ground floor and three additional floors; the terraced roof will include a living area. In addition to the boarding areas, this construction will include a training workshop and some residential studios for young girls having reached the age of 18 and leaving institutions, to help them along the road to independence. Originally, the construction of the building was planned over two phases. However, this solution may make it more difficult to obtain the required licences and could cause serious disruptions for both the staff and the children living in the lower part of the home during the second phase of construction.
Financing
In 1998, we inherited a sum of money which we earmarked for the building of a home. At first, our project was less ambitious. However, the number of children we take in is constantly increasing. In the last trimester of 2005, 16 mothers died of AIDS or other diseases. The children deserve to be given a chance to improve their future. We feel we must help them. For this reason we are doing our utmost to see this project through to the end.
Between 2001 and 2003, we transferred Sfr 200'000.- Part of the funds were used to purchase and prepare the land for construction. The balance was invested in India as the interest is higher than in Switzerland. During the summer of 2006, we obtained the final authorisations however, these were accompanied by new conditions that will considerably increase the cost of construction: the ceiling height of each floor must now be 3.60m instead of 2.70m. A further Sfr 100'000.- was transferred early 2006, and we still have a further Sfr 150'000.- which has been earmarked for the construction. We are currently looking for a further Sfr 150'000.- and Priti and Pravin Patkar will raise the remaining Sfr 100'000.- directly in India. The Association’s accounts are available upon request.
5