Find a cause and the means will follow

We travel onto Udalguri, one of the 27 districts in Assam, but face an obstacle along the way. We are stopped by military guards who are keeping observation in the area in case of conflict during a bandh which has been called for 48hours. Bandh, a Hindi word for "closed" is a form of protest used by political activists. A strike you might call it. We are told that Bandhs are common practice in Assam, usually called by underground activists for various reasons. It happens so much so that an average student in Assam takes an extra two years to graduate because of limited access to school during bandhs where everything in the region is forced to shut down. Risks of riots are extremely high during these times so military escorts are provided for certain organizations including EHA when traveling through the districts. we wait for our escort vehicle to come and we are finally back on the road, full military unit truck powering on ahead. Along the way we see a truck that has been torched and burnt to its frames, a sign of violence and anger amongst the people of Assam. While driving through udalguri, we learn that a local tribe, the boros heavily occupy the area, more than 50 percent in fact and they are fighting to gain control of the plains they occupy. There are frequent violent conflicts which occurs between the boros and authorities and the tribe often participate in rituals such as beheading of those suspected of witchcraft, kidnappings and blowing up public infrastructure including railway lines. They are regarded highly dangerous when it comes to trafficking and consider the more number of slaves they have as a sign of prosperity and wealth.
We arrive safely at a tea garden in udalguri and we are met by 7 local pastors who have gathered at quaint local church to tell us their stories on the fight against trafficking. We are also joined by leaders and members of the local student union, a powerful body which acts somewhat as the authority figure in these districts. Not just in Assam but in many parts of India, the voice of the youth is becoming increasingly influential and they play am integral part in rescuing and recognizing trafficking agents. In some cases, they become judge, jury and executioner when the police don't act against trafficking, a common problem in a country where bribes are common practice. The secretary of the tea garden has also joined us, but is very cautious of the information he shares. When we ask if they use children in their gardens he quickly responds to say that when they do they make sure fair wage and good working conditions are provided, a scripted answer found in manuals for child laborers I'm sure.
We spend a good hour in discussion with the pastors and the like and we are encouraged by their pro activeness in forming an ACT group (active communities against trafficking) and find hope in their stories of a few rescue missions, education for children and efforts to remove the stigma within their communities of being a trafficking victim. Another unfortunate side to trafficking, especially for women is that they often are rejected from their own communities and aren't allowed to marry or even get jobs once they are recognized as being a victim (I prefer survivor) of trafficking...and so they look for acceptance in the wrong places and they vulnerability leads to the cycle to begin again.
The pastors are keen on keeping in touch and are excited about our return in August.
We are offered a gift by the secretary - bags of tea and we accept out of respect. Although instincts tell us that behind the carefully guarded walls of the gardens, blood, sweat and tears are poured into the picking of each tea leaf.
We continue our journey into Bormukuli, a small village of 75 families, situated just 5km from the Bhutan border. We arrive to a warm welcome with a song sung by the community, our hands washed and then presented individually with a local scarf as a sign of welcome and love. I look up as a woman draped in a beautiful sari washes my hands and presents me with a scarf, only to catch a glimpse of the Bhutanese mountains in the near distance. It's quite surreal and if a week ago someone told me I would be standing where I was I wouldn't have believed them.
It is in this community we find most hope and encouragement in our fight against trafficking. Here, trafficking was a common occurrence only 10-15 years ago, but since then through education, prevention, awareness and community support they formed a local ACT group, the most remote ACT group we could come across and here they are today with zero accounts of trafficking reported last year. This area is particularly vulnerable to trafficking with its proximity to the Bhutan border yet they have managed to put in practices and regulations to enable a safe environment for their women and children. This small act group basically provides education to their women and children not only of the dangers of trafficking but also the economics of trafficking. They teach their community that although trafficking agents may offer more money in other cities the cost of living outweighs any savings and calculations show that they can earn ore money by living in the village. They have set up a local economy in the form of crops and vegetable growing - a key component of preventing trafficking. To ensure that there is safe work in the community to eradicate vulnerability and instead provide sustainability. Otherwise, it becomes so easy to fall into the traps of trafficking, over and over again. This ACT group also implements a strict interview, counseling, and education program if someone wishes to leave the community to work so they make an informed decision and furthermore keeps a registry who end up leaving and take on the responsibility of following up to ensure they are working under good conditions. As a result of this collaborative effort and solid structure and support network, only two men have left the community to work in other areas and we are pleased to hear that they are working under good conditions. This community is s testament to the positive outcomes when a community bands together, as they say it takes a community to raise a child.
We spend the afternoon being spoilt with food, archery and great conversations. We are disappointed to leave but excited to return to hopefully hear many more stories.
On the way home, Dr Singh, Dr David (another doctor who had joined us on our travels today), Vasu, Carolyn and I share many laughs and share stories on our individual lives and experiences. That's the silver lining to a 4 hour drive back home. The heavens opened up and the much needed rain begins to our down accompanied by the roar of thunder. A nice cool breeze whips through the car and the smell of rain is much welcomed. The skies are pink as the sun sets and we finish our eventful day with a special dinner with the hospital family. The rain continues to pour, a prelude to monsoon season.

For your reference...
http://www.stopthetraffik.org/how-to-start-one
http://www.krepublishers.com/02-Journals/T%20&%20T/T%20&%20T-04-0-000-000-2006-Web/T%20&%20T-04-1-001-076-2006-Abst-PDF/T%20&%20T-04-1-057-062-2006-088-Narzary-P-K/T%20&%20T-04-1-057-062-2006-088-Narzary-P-K-Text.pdf

Tea gardens

Assam is a state in India that borders 2 countries,Bhutan and Bangladesh, and six other states.
Borders means susceptibility to illegal immigration, and so a heavy military presence is evident wherever we travel in Assam.
Assam is famous for its tea, and there are 5 types of tea (assam, darjeeling, nilgiri, earl grey and mystery tea) grown on thousands of gardens with more than 70,000 laborers working on them.
If you've ever had a cup of tea, it's most likely that it has come from a tea garden in Assam.
On the surface, tea gardens seem like tranquil places of serenity and peace. I mean, all the greenery of the tea leaves, trees gently swaying in the wind, leaf pickers calmly going about their business, who would ever think otherwise? In fact, I'm told that tourists and visitors to Assam are encouraged to visit a tea garden where they can sip on a nice cup of tea, enjoy the views and learn about the seemingly innocent process of making tea. Beneath the surface however, a dark truth lies of cohesion, bonded labour and unbelievable sub standards of living. We learn that on a large garden approximately 15,000 - 20,000 laborers who are born into generations of slavery on these lands work just to keep the house they are given in the family. By house, I mean a bamboo shack covered with mud. They live in colonies on the property of the gardens, placed close enough to work efficiently but far enough so no unsuspecting eye can see the truth. Trafficking doesn't happen so much into the tea gardens but out of them is a common occurrence, with 40% of these gardens trafficking hundreds of children out a year.
Children don't go to school, and malnutrition is so rampant, it's evident when we take a walk around the gardens and we come across a group of the residents, the children are half naked, unwashed and their small stomachs are extremely bloated - a sure sign of malnutrition and worms.
We then meet a small boy, who couldn't have been older than 8 who had a wrap securely tied around him. Upon closer inspection I can see that it's a baby, who looks only a few weeks old, extremely small, skinny and dehydrated sleeping in his brothers arms. I ask the boy where his mother is and he tells me she's at work so he must care for his brother. My heart sank and I had to turn away with a tear in my eye. Its an image I will remember for the rest of my life.

For your reference...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assam
http://nehu-economics.info/PhD-Synopsis/g-sarma-synopsis.pdf
http://tehelka.com/mayhem-in-the-tea-garden/

Role Models

4.30am. Early morning start to catch our flight to Guwahati, Assam. We meet Vasu at the airport and after swift security checks we board our flight. A quick stopover in Kolkata and we are on our way to Assam, the tea gardens state. Mid flight I'm asked by a flight attendant if I wish to change sears as one on the right hand side had become available. You see, Vasu had originally requested for us to be seated on the right hand side of the plane to be able to view the himalayan mountains on our descent into Guwahati but to our disappointment there were none available, but upon spotting one being vacated, Vasu quickly requested that the flight attendant move me to the prime vantage point where I was able to get a picture perfect snapshot. That's just the kind of person Vasu is.
Upon landing we drive for 4 hours and finally arrive at Emmanuel Hospital Association (EHA), a self funded hospital which runs independently funded community projects. Our home for the next couple of days. It's hard to believe that it's the only hospital within a 200km radius.
Here we are greeted by Dr Pratibha Singh, a former dental surgeon who now heads up the community health unit.
It's comforting to know that in a world of superficial role models there are real women of strength, independence, intelligence, grace and conviction who aren't afraid of standing up for what is right. Dr Singh is one role model we have had the privilege of getting to know over our few days in Assam. She and her team began community health and development projects in 2006 when a malaria epidemic was claiming up to 7 deaths a day. You'll be happy to know that through Dr Singh and her teams relentless work on building awareness and treatment program no cases, yes ZERO, cases of malaria was reported last year. It was during this fight against malaria that the team came across another problem. They noticed an eight year old boy who had severe trauma to his head and his teeth had all been knocked out. Before they could investigate further the young boy had died. Eventually it was revealed that this boy was beaten severely by his "evangelist" step father and mother. This lead to more questions about child abuse and eventually trafficking was identified as clear problem in the area. I'm not sure how I can ever process the information Dr Singh then continued to educate us with...in fact, how can anyone process the fact that a mother is willing to sell her own child for two dollars, and less than in the very hospital we were sitting in (in this area the average cost of a two year old child is $2US and 11 year old $40US - did I just say child and cost in the same sentence???), how can anyone process the fact that female feticide still occurs with baby girls being choked by grains, wrapped in plastic and thrown out with the rest of the garbage, or thrown into the river to be eaten alive by ants, how can anyone process the fact that a 3 year old girl sold into an abusive home has been burnt so badly but refused any medical attention, how can anyone process the fact that girls are being smuggled into countries as far as the middle east, how can anyone process the fact that a mother and her seven children have to escape bonded labour and walk for 8 hours in the night to seek medical attention with two of the children arriving at the hospital unconscious, how can one process the fact that girls are sold at the age of 2, frequently sexually abused by the time they are 5, married by the time they are 10 and pregnant many times over when they reach puberty. I don't think I or anyone could every process these realities but they are real stories to tell, our stories to tell, as long as we, being a part of humanity, continue to let this happen.
We ask Dr Singh what keeps her going and she gracefully replies that it's the two girls they rescued from a bus stop last week, it's the baby they rescued from the river banks, it's the hope that's restored in the children's eyes once they start rehabilitation, it's one child at a time...that's what keeps her going. Dr Singh also coordinates and runs a school for rescued women to help educate and rehabilitate.
Human trafficking and modern day slavery is a global issue and needs to be stopped by prevention and education. Raising awareness and creating noise and conversations are key on a collective scale. I'm quickly learning that if I thought I knew about humans trafficking before, I was in for a rude awakening about the depths and unfathomable truths of this modern day epidemic.
Tonight, as I sit and write, I'm thankful for silence. Silence in a world so full of noise we often forget about the harsh realities of life. Silence so I can try and process the education we've had today, but I come to the realization that sometimes things can't be processed but rather used to create a platform of change. We can't sit silent anymore.

For your reference...
http://www.ehastrc.org/about-us/emmanuel-hospital-association.html

True Survivors

We leave Nirmal Bhavan with mixed emotions. We carried heavy hearts for Z's story but at the same time felt hope and love through her survival. Survival takes on a whole new meaning here, and with each woman we meet we see the true definition of survivors.
We move onto the Learning and Livelihood Centre (LLC) which Oasis operates to provide ongoing education, empowerment and integration back into society for women who have been rescued from trafficking. Here we meet 4 more survivors, U, P, R and T. All their names representing hope. We are accompanied by Accamma who runs Nirmal Bhavan and we meet Soulika and Abhay both who facilitate in the running of LLC. They take us through the programs where each woman is equipped with the academic and social development required to safely progress in their lives. A program is specifically designed for each woman as they are at different phases of rehabilitation and from the program charts it's clear that they are designed to provide a balanced education for all.
We get introduced to four young women who have been rescued and all who have been at LLC for various lengths of time. One is U is studying for her final exams in accounting, P is a tailoring apprentice learning from T, and R who is learning to become a beautician. Its evident these women do not take education for granted. Their eyes light up when we ask them what they want to do after they finish their training. They are determined and courageous. Their stories are similar to that of Z's the difference being that one U escaped from punching a hole through the roof of her captors and P is recovering from alcoholism at the tender age of 16. We sit in a circle and chat, like girls do, about boys (P was quick to ask me if I was married, apparently an universal question I can't seem to escape wherever I go, sigh. She says God is still searching for me, amen) jobs, Australia, kangaroos, aspirations, dreams and hope. They are candid about their experiences but we can sense that certain experiences still requires an alternative truth, to mask the depth of trauma and mental scarring endured. These women define what it means to be survivors.
We say our goodbyes for now and the women joyfully head home, a home now free of violence and oppression. Accamma kindly escorts Carolyn and I on a long bus ride home, where we are left once again to wonder in silence how this injustice can go on.

Z's Story

Vasu suggests that we take a train to our next destination, as we wouldn't have the total Indian experience otherwise. I was excited at this possibility as I'd heard about trains in India as much as the food and culture. When we got to the station we paid 5 rupees, I had to do the calculation in my head twice as this equated to 1/10 of an Australian dollar. We don't even have one cent currency in Australia! We walk up the stairs, the platform slowly revealing itself and we reach the top just in time to see a train pass by at fast speed...and everything I'd heard and imagine was true. The carriages were packed, so much so that people were spilling out of them, hanging on for dear life, the breeze casually passing through their hair. Vasu sees my expression and tells me that this isn't peak time so there's not many people on the trains. If we had come a few hours later we would have witnessed people, young and old, on the roofs of these trains and that approximately 8-9 people die every day as a result of overcrowding. Next time i'm on a crowded train I will think twice about complaining. Vasu sends Carolyn and I off to the women's section and the train quickly arrives. We pile in and I wait for the doors to close but alas, no door. We hang on to what we could in the middle of the carriage while other women comfortably stand as the barriers to the carriage slightly tilting their heads out to maintain balance. An indian experience indeed.
We arrive at Nirmal Bhavan "house of purity" a home for rescued women.
Here we meet Z, one of the women who had found refuge at Oasis and is now working as a mentor to other girls who find themselves in similar situations as she once faced. That's the thing about human trafficking, Z's story isn't just her story, it's the story of so many.
Z was ten years old when her mother passed away. Faced with an abusive, alcoholic father she ran away from home and was picked up by a woman at the local train station. The woman promised her a home and work and so Z was lured into a web of deception. Very traumatic experiences ensue in a house with other trafficked children including mistreatment, slavery, no pay, electrocution to keep them awake at night, hormone injections given to girls to control their menstrual cycles, sexual, verbal and physical abuse...the list goes on. Z goes on to show us her wrists, where a few scars are evident on her wrists and arms. She and other children used to cut themselves to escape the pain of the cruelty of the only world they knew of and eventually after many years of torture she would sit in desperation and pray that she'd contract a terminal disease so she could be free. My heart broke and left me speechless to think that we live in a time where once innocent children robbed of their fragility and pureness wished upon themselves deadly diseases in a desperate bid to leave the world that was supposed to protect them.
Sadly, Z ended up with HIV, an epidemic that still blankets this nation.
She ends her story with a whisper, our translator communicates to us her sentiments.
"Oasis is my father and mother, and forgiveness is what truely freed me".
Z is now happily married and lives to tell her story in a bid to free others.

* for the protection of identities and respect of privacy I wont reveal full names of the victims and survivors on my posts
** all stories on my posts are that of the of survivors, some facts may not yet be officially documented

Lane 1.

Borivli is a suburban area located approximately 18km from Mumbai city.
Slums seem to be an economic necessity in India and although not legally recognized they become validated over time. After hearing more about slums from Vasu, its clear that they aren't exempt from the politics and complexities of being a community.
We are greeted but Tandur and Sonal, who are also part of the Oasis team and work in the slum community in Borivli - lane 1 to be exact. Here, the slum is divided into lanes and numbered as such, a pseudo address for those who inhabit them. 40 lanes, 10,000 people. Within the lanes there are even smaller alleyways which would seem to be invisible if you weren't made aware of them, here people take up residence in whatever space they can find. Here for the first time I notice a distinct smell. A smell you would expect in a place of poor hygiene and abundance of garbage. It's also a pungent reminder of the realities of slums and poverty.
We stop in front of a small space half way down lane 1. It's shielded by a thin makeshift curtain which, when peeled back reveals a small group of children, all not much older than 3. It's a day care class in progress, we'd walked in somewhere between c is for cat and 2 apples in a market.
Rosie is also with oasis and coordinates the class for the day care. By day care I mean about 10 children crammed in a room no bigger then probably your bathrooms at home. It's labelled as a day care but it's really a protection mechanism for children who would otherwise be so vulnerable to the realities of kidnapping which occurs as often as you would take a sip of water in a single day. In fact, statistics show that a women or child goes missing every 7 minutes in India.
We take a walk down the lane and it's evident the extent of poverty that exists in these slums. But life goes on, children in school uniform skip joyfully down the lane, hand in hand, I sense the strong sense of community which takes me back to Tijuana and Delmas - two other communities we have participated in community developments - That's the difference in these parts of the world to Australia, the poor are never lonely.
The team in Borivli also provide health assistance to 15 families affected by HIV and support in breaking down barrriers and remove stigma to enable integration in society.
Sonal advises Carolyn and I that when we come back in August it is monsoon season in India and Borivli will look different as the grounds rise with water and with this so does the underground waste. Homes get flooded but she says with grace that the community adapt to each climate and again, life goes on.
We continue to listen and it quickly becomes evident that our journey here will be full of conversations, as each person we meet and every community we visit will have their own unique story.
For now we say goodbye and walk out of lane 1 onto the busy road, the labyrinth of poverty now behind me.

For your reference...

http://www.oasisindia.org/
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/29/world/asia/in-indian-slum-misery-work-politics-and-hope.html?_r=2&hp
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/12/books/review/katherine-boos-behind-the-beautiful-forevers-explores-a-mumbai-slum.html?pagewanted=all

Oasis

It's always a privilege to meet people who work as the eyes, ears and hearts of the invisible. They provide a voice for the misplaced and marginalized and put names to faces who otherwise would have been just another statistic in situations sometimes so dire, it seems impossible to even make a difference.
Today, we were connected with the team at Oasis India. They work tirelessly, often invisible themselves, to restore dignity and grace to women who have suffered soul destroying traumas so unfathomable, no human should ever have to endure. I was humbled by the teams compassion, love and dedication to changing the lives of others and having the courage to stand up for what is not only right but give those rights back to those who have been so aggressively victimized.
We first meet Vasu. He works as the director of programs at Oasis India and it was particularly significant when he came to greet us at our hotel in the morning as we had been in conversation with him for several months as our point of contact and coordinator of our journey here. Vasu is just as pleasant in person as he has been over many prior emails and Skype conversations and is such a wise man with a heart of gold. We are in great hands.
After a short debate on where we should go to start our debrief we decide on the only logical answer...McDonalds. No journey is ever complete without experiencing the local McDee!
A couple of hotcakes later (for your reference, hotcakes in India taste the same as Australia) we get down to business. Vasu outlines the programs for the next couple of weeks in detail, 7 states in 10 days.
We will be working with the oasis team and various other organizations who share the same heart for the prevention of human trafficking.
We meet Abu and Seena, programs managers who both have kindly come to greet us. In Mumbai, Oasis run 9 projects, 6 of which focus on individual care on the trafficked and abused and 3 focus on wider community development. You can find out more about the various projects Oasis run on their website but they include the following:

6 which focus on individual care

1. Drop in centre for women who provide outreach, education and rehabilitation programs
2. Day care centre for children which is a safe place for them to be looked after while parents work
3. Night shelter for children of women who work in brothels
4. Government home where young girls and women who have been rescued initially stay
5. they are then moved to rehabilitation centre called Nirmalbhaban, which means "house of purity" where they can spend 9months to 2yrs focusing on recovering and education to enable means of independence back in society
6. Learning and livelihood centre, a 9-5 training facility to equip the women and girls with further education and employment opportunities
The hope here is then the women and girls are able to sustain an independent living with the ongoing support of Oasis.

3 community development projects, 2 in Bandra and 1 in Borivli (both Bandra and Borivli are slums in Mumbai)

1. Blue Edge in Bandra is a program which focuses on education and Learning programs for youth, boys and girls, who have dropped out of school so that they can be equipped with skills in computer, English and general well being so that they don't fall into the trap of trafficking
2. Also in Bandra, federation strengthening and self help groups focus on empowering women and providing education of managing finances
3. In Borivli, Oasis provides assistance in child care and comprehensive health inputs for 15 families affected by HIV.

These are only some of the projects Oasis run in India and abroad. I tell Vasu that I'm excited to get on the road and officially start our journey. I came to India expecting the unexpected, in anticipation of sharing stories, be educated and be further equipped of the realities of trafficking. Looking back on our first day, l had underestimated the power of being present, of hearing the stories first hand, and understand the deep responsibility that was to be bestowed upon us.
We hop on a rickshaw (or rick as they are known here) which is essentially a motorcycle with a metal shell around it. There are no doors, seatbelts or etiquette in riding a rick. In fact, in general, the only road rule in India is that there are none. We weave through cars, buses, entire families on motorcycles, men hanging off trucks, cows, people, more men hanging off trucks. I say weave because that's what vehicles in India do, weave in and out of any space they can fit. Cars, ricks, buses it doesn't matter, if it's quicker to drive on the other side of the road that's ok too (WoS who will be here in August, you may resort to a few gasps, teeth clenching and double takes on the road when you experience transport for the first time in India, but you quickly get used to it).
20 minutes later, We arrive in a slum district in Borivli.

For your reference...

http://www.oasisindia.org/