EDUCATING CHILDREN IN CARE HOMES IS NOT AN EASY TASK

It is with great effort that NGOs are striving to mainstream the children in the formal system of education with the non-formal education being restricted to those who belong to higher age groups or to those unwilling or unable or unsuitable to pursue the present educational curriculum.

I firmly believe that more the children participate in the formal system of education and the better they perform, the greater are their chances to succeed in life, but such belief has remained more institutional with the inmates failing to appreciate, understand and utilize the same for their own benefit. One must not assume that despite an adverse past, the children staying in care homes are less intelligent or less enterprising than their counterparts in middle-income families elsewhere in the country. There is no dearth of books, educational materials, supportive tutorials and other recreational and training opportunities at such homes, but many of the inmates prefer to waste their time as non-performers by failing to attend their regular classes and supportive tutorials and gradually succeed in dissociating themselves from their studies.

I've often asked myself why such educational set backs are more frequent in the settings of a care home and not in a regular home ? Do these developments at all affect the inmates seriously ?

In my effort to seek answers to these questions that have always troubled me, I have observed that many of these children view their studies as optional and equate the same with some extracurricular activity/vocational training program that may be pursued at one's discretion. This outlook has been further strengthened when dropping out has never invited great flak or criticism or ever resulted in adverse stay conditions in the home. I have seen intelligent as well as average children give up studies in high school and join a vocational training like stained glass and never suffer from any moroseness in the later life. This urge to attain economic freedom at the earliest and probably the lure of settling down to a married life with a partner of one's own choice in the future are the driving forces behind such a drastic, self harming decision.

The million dollar question remains whether the inmates will have a vocation in the future ?

Theoretically, the scope of vocational trainings in care homes is the only option available for an inmate who does not study, to prepare oneself and find a means of economic viability in the future. The traditional trainings offered in a girls' care home are tailoring, embroidery, block printing, stained glass, cooking and bakery. There may even be the occasional exposures to a beauticians' course or to a primary nursing training program for a limited few. An inmate pursuing such a training should learn the subject well and it is even possible for her to excel in a particular craft after years of practice under the supervision of an efficient trainer, but the million dollar question remains whether she will be able to follow a vocation at the end of such a training period ?

In consideration to the love and demand of such crafts in the contemporary world, a training leading to expertise in block printing appear to be most suitable followed probably by tailoring and beauticians' courses. The rest of the traditional vocational trainings seem to be sadly out of tune with the needs of modern society and thus may be replaced by more contemporary ones that are better appreciated as of date. A sense of interior decor may provide a rough guide and the arts of making soft toys, decorative candles, small wooden showpieces, glass paintings, jute and other stationery items can very well be incorporated in the list.

Expertise and knowhow in a particular craft can never be the only criterias for establishing oneself in a vocation. A stipendary allowance of Rs 500 - Rs 1000 per month may suffice in the initial introductory phases but that certainly needs to be augmented several times at the end of the training period. I have heard frustrated inmates voicing such doubts after years of learning a craft and not being able to earn enough to maintain oneself. One should keep in mind the diverse origins of the children, their capabilities and their future prospect of ushering in greater responsibilities on the attainment of majorhood at the completion of 18 years of age. That the supportive infrastructural facilities of care homes will no more be mandatory and may be withdrawn at the discretion of the authority is a stark reality and the preparation of the children as productive members of the society, able to maintain themselves away from such homes, are thoughts that have to be addressed on war footings.

Thus a proper survival (marketing) strategy of mass production need to be followed by NGOs, supported by a network and tie-ups with effective and popular retail outlets. This last point is an important link in vocational support and one can even raise funds needed for future expansions and/or provide incentive gains to the inmates through solo/combined exhibitions of ones products on a regular basis. The dynamics of demand and supply are to be studied carefully in the selection and production of items and may if necessary be grounded on the principles of market survey, with the children being able to effectively utilise such networks in their future business ventures.

Our success in reaching out to these young minds has been quite limited and probably need further evaluation. The inclusion of a psychologist in the regular staff may surely help us in conveying this message of empowerment to the children and focus its impact on their future rehabilitation.

AGNISIKHA ROY – A teacher and my clinic assistant in one of the centers at sonagachi

I would like to introduce you to one of my clinic assistants, Agnisikha Roy (name changed), who is actually a teacher in one of the centers at sonagachi. Agnisikha does not have any formal paramedical training but she is a sensitive person and does her job exceptionally well and I have nothing to complain of.

Agnisikha Roy, unmarried, aged 41 years, MA (philosophy honours) and a B Ed, is highly qualified and still has opted for being a teacher in the red-light area of sonagachi. The payment is meager but that did not prevent her from taking up the job. She has been teaching for the last 20 years and wanted to do something different, so when this offer came her way her curiosity about the social fabric of sonagachi won over her initial hesitation and apprehension. She felt that there was really no need for her to know from where her students came from and her duty only lay in teaching her students and helping them to excel as good human beings and establish themselves as productive members of this society in the future.

I once asked her why she opted for such a job. Agnisikha replied that she could have easily earned thrice as much by teaching children of the average middle-income families and this was exactly what she was doing for the last two decades. She now wanted to perform in a more challenging field like teaching the children of marginalized people, such as the sex workers, who are a taboo to the general populace.

Agnisikha finds that the average sex worker child is no less intelligent than his/her counterpart in the modern society, only the child is in need of more love, more care, more protection and empathy. She has been working at this center for the last two years and feels that she has been a recipient of much love, respect and regards from her students, their parents, her teacher colleagues, her supervisor, the dance teacher and “daktarbabu” whom she addresses as “Sir”. Agnisikha feels that the children are going astray due to parental misguidance and the particular environment that prevail in the locality.

She has been a keen observer of the local rowdiness and hooliganism, the frequent police raids, the excessive use of abusive language, the uninterrupted availability and consumption of liquor, the frequent social functions with blaring hindi music and the great celebrations duing “Durga and Kali pujas” and even during pujas like “Manasha” and “Kartik”. She has also been a silent witness to the politicization/unionization of the trade and its ineffectivity in changing the lives of the sex workers for the better. She feels that the unwanted and untimely knowledge of parental involvement in the sex trade at an early impressionable age has catalysed the early sexual initiation of the boy child in the role of a tout/liquor vendor. Such knowledge has probably also resulted in a much more earlier sexual initiation in case of the girl child at times by the mother herself and/or her baboo or some elder sibling in the family. Agnisikha knows that the traditional thought of considering the girl child as a future earning prospect is gradually undergoing a change and that though it is a herculian task to bring about such a change, even a minor change, there is no better way to pursue her dream than by joining Women’s Interlink Foundation, where she will get a chance to work and probably effect certain changes in her own way, through her personal advocacy and teaching efforts.

She always has a silent prayer and a hope in her heart, that the girl children may be able to flourish in an atmosphere away from the overcrowded dinghy lanes of sonagachi where mothers are forced to degrade themselves in front of their own children and jostle with friends, foes, touts, dalals and clients alike, to eke out their daily existence.

THE BACKDROP OF MY CLINICS IN SONAGACHI - A RED-LIGHT AREA IN KOLKATA

I have been working in the red-light area of Sonagachi since 2001. Initially my clinics were held at a single center but now there are two such centers in the same locality. The centers are unique in concept as these function as ICDS (Integrated Child Development Scheme) centers in the morning and also as child drop-in centers in the evening hours, when the mothers are busy servicing clients. It is during the evening hours that I conduct my weekly clinics that are attended by the children, their parents and a certain group of sponsored aged sex workers who are no more in the profession but are in need of regular health check-ups.

To understand the nature of the centers, we must try and understand the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), the most important national scheme in the field of child welfare, initiated by the Ministry of Social Justice and Women’s Welfare, Govt of India in 1975. The scheme has been implemented and upgraded to cover the urban poor living in recognized slums and has since been extended to include the urban poor who reside in temporary and illegal settlements in the cities and those residing in red-light areas and remain vulnerable to frequent political, communal or state sponsored violence.

Each of these centres in the red-light area of Sonagachi cater to 1000 urban poor population in accordance with the GOI Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) and provide for health check-ups, immunization against tetanus, regular immunization, supplementary nutrition, iron and folic acid supplements, health education, family planning facilities and referrals if necessary for pregnant women, nursing mothers and their children and other women between the ages of 15 to 45 years as per the merit of the case. The sex workers between 15 to 45 years if suffering from STIs are treated as per National AIDS Control Program (NACP) guidelines. Children upto the age of 6 years attending these centres are also provided with nutritional support, regular health check-up, non-formal education and referral services. The children are referred to the nearby KMC Urban Unit / Govt Hospital for regular immunization and vit A supplements and both adults and children are referred to the same KMC Urban Unit for diagnosis and treatment of fever cases like malaria. The costs of all medications and investigations prescribed by me are borne by Women’s Interlink Foundation, the NGO that runs these centers and our efforts over the years have culminated in significant reduction of malnutrition, morbidity and mortality in the target population.

The organisation also ensures that the children are mainstreamed in formal schools in due time with their progress in school being subject to continuous monitoring by the supervisors of the centers. Thus there has been an appreciable reduction in the school drop-out rate through awareness generation among the sex workers on the need to educate their children and by ensuring extra nutritional and educational supports (evening snacks, remedial classes, educational materials, school uniforms, bags and shoes) to the same children during their daily four hours evening stay at the drop-in centers beyond the regular ICDS guidelines. Recreational activities like annual picnics, visits to the zoo and extra curricular activities like dancing and drawing are highly encouraged. Arrangements have been made by WIF, the concerned NGO to train the willing children under the expert guidance of a dance teacher leading to successful public dance programs on the stage.

It has also been a constant endeavour of the organization to place as many girl children of the sex workers, on parental request, in its care home “NIJOLOY”, away from sonagachi, where they will be able to continue their formal education, their dancing classes and also undertake vocational trainings in block printing and tailoring under the watchful eyes of dedicated house mothers and grow up into responsible young adults who will have no link with this trade in the future. The stay at NIJOLOY with all its facilities is free for the children, with financial responsibilities being shouldered by WIF and its sponsors.

THE FIVE DAUGHTERS OF FATE

I present the narratives of a select group of five children, who were victims of trafficking and sexual abuse and had come to stay at the care home "NIJOLOY" (Your Own Home) in the recent past.

Incidentally, I am the "doctor uncle" who is responsible for their physical and mental wellbeing. Presently there are about 100 inmates like Aparna, Laila, Reshmi, Priya and Pala. I have allowed the children to narrate their own true stories and as such, these narratives not only reflect the inhuman pain, helplessness, physical and mental trauma that these young girls have been subjected to but also how with the passage of time, counseling and the utilisation of educational, health and vocational training facilities provided by Women's Interlink Foundation Kolkata, they have been successful in reconstructing their shattered identities at the care home, "NIJOLOY".

APARNA, AN INMATE OF NIJOLOY TELLS HER STORY

I'm Aparna Mondal (name changed), a hindu, born on 01.01.92, in the village of Jamtala, Sunderbans, 24 Parganas(S). My father Rakhahari Mondal is an agricultural labourer and my mother Kousalya works in a brick-kiln. I have an elder sister and an elder brother. We all worked in the same brick-kiln and I was a class IV student at Gangadhar Palli Sishu Siksha Kendra, when I left my studies about five years ago to start on this new life. Together we earned about Rs 250 per day and were a happy family.

My parents gave me in marriage to Monoj Naskar, an agricultural labourer an year ago in 2008, when I was about 16 years old. My two months stay with my in-laws was very traumatic. I was subjected to much mental trauma and survived four attempts of poisoning on issues related to dowry.

I ran away from my in-law's place and went back to my father. My parents did not allow me to continue my work as they feared repercussions from my in-law's family who had already lodged a false police complaint in my name. At home, I was bored with my the then way of life and was finally much relieved to accompany a neighbourhood aunty "mashi", who promised me a beautician job that would fetch me Rs 700 per month.

We crossed the river, reached Canning and then took the train to Kolkata. I enjoyed the bus-ride from Sealdah to Sovabazar, where the "mashi" put me up in a lodge. The good lady bought me some dresses and that was the last I saw of her. I expect I was sold the same day to the owner of the lodge , whom I never saw.

It was very fortunate that a police raid took place that very night and I was taken into custody with some other girls of my age and then handed over to Cini Asha (a NGO working with trafficked girls). I was later sent to SUKANYA GOVT HOME, where I stayed for two months. While staying at that home, I had the opportunity to join THE GREEN POLICE but couldn't continue the job as my in-laws were on my lookout and could physically harm me. I was then shifted to NIJOLOY on 18.11.08.

I really enjoy my stay at NIJOLOY and my loving house mother, Nilima Roy (Boro Ma) has really made things comfortable for me. I have joined the cooking and canteen training from 12.01.09 and am really looking forward in becoming an excellent cook in the near future. As I am too old to join the regular school, I will also attend the non formal classes at the home. I hope to rejoin "THE GREEN POLICE", after my case is settled and I go back to live with my parents.

LAILA KHATOON TELLS HER STORY

My name is Laila Khatoon (name changed). I am a seventeen year old muslim girl but they also call me Bindiya, the auspicious mark on the forehead. My father Mhd Kurban Ali was a mason and we lived in Deula village, Sardarpara in Diamond Harbour. Ours was a big family with three brothers, three sisters and my father who was an alcoholic. My mother had died a few years back. The earnings were insufficient to maintain the family and I had to leave school after finishing class II.

I was so disgusted with life that I ran away from home about three years ago and while on the run, I struck up acquaintance with a lady who drugged me and took me to the Pune red light area. The lady sold me to a "malkin" and I had to service clients for almost seven months.

I was very much resigned to my fate and was instrumental in trafficking another girl named Saheeda. All of a sudden a police raid took place and I was among those taken into custody. They sent me to Nanapet Home in Mumbai and from there I was transferred to Mandua Home. I never really liked those homes. Those homes were so different, in an alien land and was much relieved when I was again transferred to the Sanlap Home in my part of the country. My inner self never accepted the situation I was in. I was later transferred to NIJOLOY (a care home) on 05.03.07. The situation did not help me much and initially I could not adjust to the new surroundings. My whole self was in conflict.

I was not ready to stay at NIJOLOY. I was very rude and loud in my behaviour and ended up fighting with almost everybody in the home. I underwent regular counseling sessions and gradually my nature underwent a transformation. Now I speak softly and understand the economic need to enter a profession. I have taken up tailoring and block printing in my vocational training classes. I definitely prefer tailoring and one day dream to become a master tailor. Doctor uncle has promised to buy me a sewing machine, if I can learn the art well within three years. I would also like to join the non formal classes and continue my education from where I had left off. When I will earn a lot of money in the future, I will go back to my family. I miss them very much.

In my almost two years stay at NIJOLOY, I have not gained in weight but in experience and when doctor uncle asks me how am I, I say doctor uncle. I'm fit and fine.

RESHMI TELLS HER STORY

I am Reshmi Roy (name changed), 17 years old, hindu. I have read upto class III, my mother tongue is telegu and I was sent to NIJOLOY from Sukanya home in March 2006.My father Sudharanjan was a government bus driver and we lived at Khera, Rudrapur near Bilaspur. My father suddenly resigned his job and took to drinking. My mother, Sabita had no other alternative but to work as a labourer at construction sites. My father whom I miss very much, ultimately left my mother for another woman. My mother who also had a son by a previous marriage asked him to come and stay with the family.

My elder step-brother thus came to stay with us and that decision had a disastrous consequence on me. He used to beat me frequently and was occasionally bold enough to sexually assault me.

I started working as a maid servant at Udham Singh Nagar, Dineshpur, which was just adjacent to Khera. I avoided coming back home, as he had repeatedly raped me on several occasions.

I was in such a mental state that one day I fled from home, took a train from Rudrapur station and reached Delhi after an overnight journey. I knew no one in Delhi. I was repeatedly raped on two separate occasions by unknown people who had struck up acquaintances with me. I was much afraid to ask for help but help soon arrived. I was rescued by the police and sent to a local home called Prayas.

I did not like the home and fled from there with another girl. We took a train to Kolkata, reached the girl’s house. I stayed at my friend’s place for three months (details of this friend is not available).

I was later rescued by the police and sent to Cini Asha. I was then sent to Sukanya Home (Govt Home) where I stayed for two months before being finally sent to NIJOLOY for vocational training and rehabilitation.

I have gone through such multiple traumatic phases in my small life that I am quite astonished that I still want to enjoy life. My counseling sessions in the later part of 2006 helped me to find a new meaning in life. I want to stay at NIJOLOY as I have found my best friend in Naina Biswas at NIJOLOY.

Shall I tell you a secret ? I have met Naina’s brother, who works in Delhi. I like him very much. I am going to marry her brother some day.

Nowadays I am quite calm. My irritation and aggressiveness have lessened to a great extent. I have grown stronger both physically and mentally. I have grown taller and gained five kgs in the last three years. I also have a great appetite. I am also into non formal studies as well as dancing, tailoring and block printing. I hope to do best of both. Though my mother tongue is telegu, I can read and write Bengali very well !

(Reshmi is presently married to Naina's brother and living happily in the outskirts of the city of Kolkata.)

PRIYA NARRATES HER STORY

I'm Priya Sarkar (name changed), aged about 17 years and hindu by birth. I come from a family consisting of my father Sambhu Sarkar, my mother Saraswati Sarkar, three brothers and one sister. We lived in the village Jaitara in 24 parganas(N). I was the youngest among my brothers and sisters. My father had a collective earning from a cycle spare-parts shop, five generators on hire and monthly rents from three other shops besides the family business of puffed rice. My father left for Mumbai when I was only three years old, in search for a better job and better prospects.

My mother developed a relationship with one of my father's friends during his absence. Her marriage which was already under much strain broke up. My father remarried after three/four months and had two sons by this second marriage.

My father's cousin sister then took me away to the Andamans, citing better study prospects but she actually made me work in her home there as a maid servant for the next five years. I was then only nine years old and disillusioned as I was, I ultimately convinced my aunt to send me back to my father. On reaching my parental place, I once again got admitted to school and continued my studies till class V.

I was around 14 years and very immature and my step-mother would always physically abuse me. Oneday, one of my friend's mother took pity on me and offered me a job in Kolkata. I thus left my father's place only to be sold by that helping lady to another woman in Kestopur, a suburb of the city of Kolkata. That woman married me off to her impotent son, Dipankar Sarkar, who worked as a labourer with a local marble contractor. I had to live a life of torture and shame for the next two years.

Unable to tolerate the intense physical abuse, I ran away to my natal place but my father sent me back to my in-laws. I once again returned to my father's place and this time for good. My father in the meanwhile had built a house at Jaguli, 24 parganas(N) and I was much relieved to secure the work of a house maid in that area.

But fate had other strange things in store for me. My step-mother decded on a match for me with a 40 year old man who had already been married twice before and had a four year old daughter too. I ran away again to Hanspur on the pretext of visiting a mela. My elder brother brought me back from Hanspur but father was in no mood to give me shelter and threw me out of the home. I had no other alternative but to start looking for a domestic help job.

Nirapada Mondal, an elderly neighbour promised me to find a nurse's job in Kolkata. I trusted "Nirapada kaku" and his wife "Radha kaki" and accompanied him to his sister-in-law, Amala's house at Sovabazar, a famous red light area in the city of Kolkata, where I was sold again. I was thus forced into the sex trade from the very first day and had to entertain four to five clients each day. I stayed at the brothel for twelve to thirteen days, during which time I managed to build up a friendship with the cook who helped me to escape from that place. I managed to reach Habra station and ultimately join my home at Jaitara. Women's Interlink Foundation intervened at this point and with the help of the local police at Gaighata, brought me to NIJOLOY on 22.04.06.

The stay at NIJOLOY has been beneficial for me. I have managed to overcome my initial depression and tried to pursue my studies with renewed interest after the many counseling sessions during these three years.

I have been recently been promoted to class VIII. My interest in the finer arts, particularly dancing have culminated in successful stage performances with my friends under the guidance of "Shyamal Sir", our favourite dance teacher. I have also won prizes in recitation and sports at my school.

(Priya is presently married to the boy she loves. I met her a few days ago when she came to the home to get a skin condition treated. I didn't see a patient that day, but a radiant young girl happy in marriage and bubbling with joy.)

ALL IS NOT WELL WITH PALA

My name is Pala Mondal (name changed). I am about 24 years of age (DOB : 08.08.85), hindu and my mother tongue is Bengali. I have come to NIJOLOY from CHILD CARE HOME.

I used to stay with my parents, an elder brother and my grandfather at a small village in Andhra Pradesh. My mother committed suicide by jumping from a running train in front of my brother and myself. A lady traveling on the same train took charge of us and brought us to Midnapore, where I was appointed in a shop as a child labour. My elder brother also got a job in a hotel in Canning. Thus we were separated from each other at a very tender age.

I worked in that shop for almost ten years and then left that place to go and meet my brother at Canning. My brother got me married to a local boy, but I fled from there on the day after the marriage and boarded a train to come back to Kolkata. On my way back, I met a lady on the same train who having listened to my plight offered me a job in the city. As I was urgently in need of a job and with no place to go to, I gratefully accepted the offer.

The lady took me to the Khidirpore red light area where I was forced to enter the flesh trade. I had no other option but to entertain clients daily. I had to bear this inhuman existence for about a year before I could manage to flee from there too. The police got hold of me on the way and I was sent to the LILUAH HOME (Govt Home), from where I was sent to CHILD CARE HOME. After staying at this home for a considerable amount of time, I was shifted to NIJOLOY on 14.02.06

The mental and physical traumas in my life, starting with my mother’s suicide, working as a child labour, getting into a married relationship at a tender age and finally becoming a part of the flesh trade have all affected my brain and made me very stubborn and foul mouthed. I do occasionally pick up quarrels with other inmates of this home and even the house mothers. I sometimes do understand that I am quite helpless about the prevailing situation and behave without any control over myself. I have undergone several psychiatric and neurological checkups and allied investigations at govt/private institutions after been diagnosed with Bipolar Mood Disorder about five years ago.

I have also undergone several counseling sessions at NIJOLOY. This has helped me to gain partial control over my anger and frustration but I still need medications to tide over the frequent headaches and the manic episodes that punctuate my life. At times I refuse to take the medications and feel that the doctors have not diagnosed my case properly and as such the medicines are not benefiting me in anyway. I feel very sorry about such occasional turn of events and pass through a lot of stress, strain and agitation before relenting to accept the medications as advised. I was also diagnosed with bilateral axillary lipoma in May 2007 and had a left ear tympanoplasty operation in Nov 2007, for which I was hospitalized.

Inspite of all these problems, I try to remain calm and take an active interest in cooking and other cooking related activities.

(Presently Pala has left the home and gone to her brother's place. She has also married.)

UNDERSTANDING THE WEB OF CAUSATION IN HUMAN TRAFFICKING

FIRST PHASE :
TRAFFICKING VICTIM DETECTED / POLICE CELL ALERTED

It is been argued that the presence of trafficked victims is a common place knowledge of the people involved in the sex trade and those responsible for preventing it. The unhealthy nexus between these two power lobbies have rendered the trafficked victim invisible and only when there is the occassional police raid in a red-light area or a high alert in a border area, do their presence come to light.

One may ask why do I say so ?

I am responsible for running health clinics in a famous red-light area in Kolkata (Sonagachi), for the last eight years and never during my weekly visits, did I find the police posted in that locality ever interested in actively locating such trafficked girls (many of them are also minors), they being more interested in their daily quota of gossip, tea and snacks. Again the self appointed guardians of the trade, a group of sex workers who have formed an NGO are always vocal about the number of minor girl children they have prevented from entering the trade but are peculiarly silent about those who are already in the trade and are visible to anybody and everybody who care to visit the locality.

SECOND PHASE :
TRAFFICKER ARRESTED / VICTIM RESCUED

THIRD PHASE :
TRIAL CONDUCTED / VICTIM SHELTERED IN TRANSIT HOME - LEGAL AID

LAST PHASE :
TRAFFICKER CONVICTED - SENT TO JAIL / VICTIM SENT BACK TO FAMILY

To understand this situation, one has to have a deep insight into the SITA (1956) and ITPA (1986), Acts that deal with trafficking and during this span of 30 years the emphasis having being shifted from suppression to prevention of trafficking. Although the victims of immoral traffic and sexual exploitation are mostly women and the traffickers and the exploiters like pimps, brothel owners, racketeers, local hooligans and the police are mostly men, the number of women arrested under ITPA far outnumber men - a paradoxical situation.

The police and courts are invested with enormous powers and the connivance between the implementors and the traffickers/racketeers has often resulted in unfair extortion of money from sex workers and no punishment to the traffickers/racketeers. Thus ITPA fails to meet its goal in prevention of trafficking. The lTPA Act was thus amended in May 2006, but the results have remained far from being satisfactory.

Many of the girl children in care homes are victims of trafficking and are able to narrate their past with enough clarity, so that efforts may be made by appropriate authority to reunite them with their natal family. But the situation is not an easy one. I have seen parents rejecting their child due to societal pressure or due to poverty, children unwilling to go back to their parents, children going back to their parents only to be re-trafficked and children running away from the care homes and voluntarily entering the trade.

It is time that we should start seriously considering the future of these girl children at care homes. Where lies their future and how that future should be achieved, are questions that have to be answered urgently.

THE PSYCHE OF GIRL INMATES IN CARE HOMES

The basis of this discussion is based on my experience as consulting physician in two care homes.

As if to compensate their varied origins resulting in a significant dissociation of the mind and body (a detailed list of such children has already been provided in my previous discussion and to this we may add child victims of rape and abuse, children of sex workers and HIV infected and affected children), I have observed a variety of emotions at play among the inmates of care homes. These emotions range from

1. Anger towards self

2. Anger towards others

3. Attitude of revenge

4. Running away

5. Rudeness

6. Attention seeking behaviour

7. Self destruction

8. Helplessness

9. Frustration

10.Withdrawl

11.Drop out from studies

12.Mental affections

13.Depression

14.Death wish

15.Suicidal tendencies

My observations led me to conclude that due to their diverse origins, some of the girls at these two homes had problems in bonding. As interactions were basically limited to members of the same sex, there were reported instances of same sex orientation and attraction. The human brain is an unique example of conditioning and deficit in love, affection, respect, duties and education in the past may have acted as seeds of adolescent and behavioural problems, slow learning and probably mental retardation. Prior exposure to physical and/or mental trauma may have also led to mental affections needing lifelong medications. And above all the incapability of house mothers to recognise all such instances may culminate in volatile/mute expressions of any of the above emotions, that may prove detrimental to the developmental needs of the child.

THE LIFE STORY OF SM

SM, a graduate in arts , presently aged 53 years is a house mother in a care home for girls. She is at her job for the last 23 years and has a rich collection of stories to narrate. On my first visit to this care home about four years ago, I was drawn to SM as she would help me in my consultation job, that would take hours and hours to complete and she would just keep on providing me with the requisite datas without ever venting her own thoughts.

I once asked SM why she had chosen such a job as her career, when she could have got a better opening, probably a clerical one with a better pay packet, allowances and retirement benefits.

SM never took much time to answer me. She just adored children, a quality she had imbibed from her parents. A lot of children used to come to their home and while she was still in her teens, she formed a small club called "Manimela", for those children at her home. Her first job with a local NGO had her working in the bustees for eight years, but when she was selected for this particular post, she did not hesitate to take up the offer though she had no prior experience.

She was introduced to a completely new world and gradually as she adjusted to her new surroundings and became so involved in the day to day administration of the home that she just failed to recollect how the 23 years have gone by.

SM did not have time to marry and her family consists of her colleagues, the three other house mothers and the girl children at the home who lovingly call her "ma". SM is happy among the children and rarely visits her natal home in the outskirts of the city of Kolkata. She loves the children and her job but has no expectations in her heart.

So far I assess, SM will continue with the job as long as she will be able to. Though she has been diagnosed with parkinsonism about a year back, SM doesn't let that burden her soul.

JUVENILE JUSTICE ACT AND CARE HOMES

To understand the status of children, particularly the girl children, in the environments of a care home in India, one must have a deep insight into "The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2000", and its subsequent amendment in 2006.

This is basically an Act relating to juveniles in conflict with law and children in need of care, protection, treatment and ultimate rehabilitation by catering to their developmental needs through the adoption of child-friendly approaches.

The first category of children are those who are alleged to have committed offences and have not yet completed their eighteenth year of age.

The second category of children in need of care and protection are a varied group comprising of those who are homeless, found begging or are street children or working children, living under threat, who are mentally or physically challenged, who are suffering from terminal diseases or incurable diseases, having no one to support or to look after, whose parents/guardians are incapable of looking after them, who have been abandoned by parents, missing and run away children whose parents can not be located, who have been or are likely to be abused, tortured or exploited for purpose of sexual abuse or other illegal acts, who are vulnerable and likely to be inducted into drug abuse or trafficking and those who are victims of armed conflicts, civil commotion or natural calamity.

And it is the intent of the government to provide for such children as per the provisions of the Act, in children's homes established either by the state government or by voluntary organisations, certified by it. Such a vast and demanding work, but with very little infrastructural support ! Though my experience is limited to two care homes exclusively for the girl children, the first thing that I had noticed even in the initial stages, was the great overcrowding in these homes. The children living there had come from diverse origins and were almost like secluded islands, who needed a little time in settling down before begining to interact positively with others.

I have always considered a house as a physically demarcated space with definite boundaries. When people live in a house, it becomes a home. The inanimate becomes animate. The inhabitants belonging to both sexes are generally of common origin and form a family tree. There is mutual sharing of love, affection, respect and duties among the inmates. A care home has only same sex inmates from diverse backgrounds who form an extended family. The functioning of such a care home is unique and challenging because house mothers/fathers have the dual role of a guardian and administrator whose basis is firmly grounded in the universal concept of CARE (C - concern, A - affection, R - rehabilitation and E - empathy)