India

Collective Voices towards attaining Livelihood and Sustainable Development

Partner | Darjeeling Mary Ward Social Centre

Location | West Bengal, India

Overview

This project supports marginalised indigenous communities to understand, enact, and promote their rights in four key areas: education, protection, health and nutrition.

Collective Voices focuses on communities working in remote tea plantations in the Darjeeling region of India. These communities have no access to government services, and there is a lack of awareness on issues such as human trafficking, domestic violence and child abuse. It is common for children to receive a low standard of education, if at all, and most adults do not understand their fundamental rights. Women make up over half of the tea plantation workers, though cultural values continue to disadvantage women in every aspect of their lives.

Collective Voices began in Panighatta, Darjeeling, on International Women’s Day, 8 March 2009. The project’s goal was to create a model “Woman-Youth-Child Friendly Community” whereby women, youth, and children are helped to participate in community planning and gain access to vital needs. Though the project has evolved over the years, it still aims to encourage local leadership, access to government services, demand basic rights and educate on issues relevant to the community.

Challenges

Many of the communities where Collective Voices operates are still unaware of their rights and the strict laws regarding protecting those rights. Without awareness, women and children become vulnerable and exposed to many forms of social abuse, such as domestic violence. This situation has worsened since the pandemic, leaving many women without an income or only part of an income for the same amount of work.

Lack of opportunity to earn an income or livelihood in these remote communities increases the possibility of human trafficking. Many young people are lured to big cities by ‘agents’ with a promise that they will get well-paid work, only to find they are isolated and trapped without money or family support.

Impact

The long term aim of Collective Voices is that women and children from these vulnerable communities can secure their rights in health, nutrition, education and protection.

Using a participatory approach, participants network by forming self-help groups (SHGs) and linking themselves to regional offices, panchayats (village councils), banks and other government and non-government agencies. This approach provides participants with a level of self-determination and control over their choices and lives.

The project also includes forming a ‘children’s parliament’ comprising 35–40 children aged 12–17 years. The parliament meets weekly for at least two hours, during which the children learn about child rights and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) developed by the United Nations. Like the SHGs, the children’s parliament provides children with the opportunity to feel that they have choices and direction in their own lives.

Ultimately, this project will result in less human trafficking, lower domestic violence and child abuse levels, improved health outcomes, and greater access to legal entitlements within the most vulnerable communities in India.

Activities

• Link women’s SHGs to local banks so they access government services.
• Provide women’s SHGs with skills development training.
• Conduct legal workshops for communities, focussing on the rights of women and children.
• Rescue trafficked and abused women and children and support their rehabilitation.
• Conduct evening classes to develop basic writing skills.
• Finalise children’s parliament ministries to cover all aspects of the SDGs.
• Organise health check-up camps at each project location.

Ethical Enterprises Initiative for Young Women

Panighatta Sewing Project and Sukna Jute Products

Partner | Darjeeling Mary Ward Social Centre

Location | West Bengal, India

Overview

The objective of the Ethical Enterprise Initiative is to provide at-risk young women with the education, skills, and tools required to become strong, independent, and financially self-sufficient.

Ethical Enterprises is an ongoing program. The two initiatives, Panighatta Sewing and Sukna Jute Products, operate across many tea plantations in West Bengal. They both began as classes to teach young women the skills to produce paper products, and over time have progressed to sewing and jute making skills to meet the demand for these products.

Women are at risk of exploitative work practices at the tea plantations and, should they travel further afield to find other work, risk human trafficking and sexual abuse. Girls are lured to large cities under the pretext of lucrative employment, only to find themselves trafficked.

Learning skills in making jute products and sewing allows women to seek local employment and microenterprise while providing them with opportunities to meet, socialise, network, and learn about laws relating to rights, employment, health and protection.

Challenges

The pandemic has meant many tea plantations have been forced to close to reduce the spread of COVID-19. When this occurs, traditional workers have no access to food or money to support themselves. During these times, the Loreto Sisters provide hundreds of food parcels for these families, along with health support and home visits.

Impact

The goal of the Ethical Enterprises Initiative is to stop the unsafe migration of girls and young women. This is achieved by supporting them to complete their education or create income-generating opportunities within the community, thus reducing the need for girls to travel outside the area for work. This further minimises their risk of being trafficked, which is still a significant issue in the north of West Bengal.

The initiative also provides vocational training for participants and develops skills that are useful for future employment. Participants can also explore microenterprise opportunities, enhancing the confidence and self-reliance of the women.

Like Collective Voices, the initiative creates a network amongst the women, acting as a safety net against human trafficking and abuse and ensuring that the girls are educated about their rights and how to access their entitlements.

Activities

• Conduct open space sewing and jute making workshops for approximately six hours each weekend.
• Support participants to return to education or continue their education by supplying them with basic educational materials.
• Identify participants to join a permanent sewing and jute making group.
• Deliver business skills and microenterprise training.
• Conduct women’s leadership seminars.
• Provide career guidance.
• Support participants to pursue higher education opportunities such as nursing or teaching college.  

Brickfield Schools Project

Partner | Kolkata Mary Ward Social Centre

Location | Basirat, North 24 Parganas, West Bengal, India

Overview

Throughout India, there are thousands of brickfields open-air factories where clay bricks are made by hand. Most of the workers are migrants, including children, who spend up to 8 months of the year in the dusty fields in temperatures that can reach 40 degrees. Children come with their families to the brickfields, and most work from 11 years of age. There is no education within the brickfields except in the schools run by the Kolkata Mary Ward Social Centre (KMWSC) and a few other NGOs.

Since 2008, KMWSC has operated open-air schools for three hours a day for the migrant children living in brickfields on the outskirts of Kolkata. It is difficult for these children to enrol in local government schools due to the migratory nature of this work.

This project delivers education to the children of the seasonal migrant brickfield workers across ten brickfield schools. The project also seeks to increase awareness amongst migrant families about social issues such as child marriage, labour, healthcare, rights and entitlements.

Challenges

Brickfield classes have been adapted to incorporate COVID-19 safety measures, increasing the school day by 30 minutes. Each day, the temperature of every child is taken before class. As per government protocols, children with high temperatures cannot join class, and health action is taken. Seating arrangements in class have also been altered to ensure a minimum of three feet between children.

The establishment of a learning resource centre in the Basirhat area was planned for 2021 to cater to the education, health needs, and life skills development of migrant children. The centre was also to be used to deliver teacher training, health camps and awareness seminars. Unfortunately, the pandemic required funds to be redirected to the urgent needs of the community, particularly the migrant labourers who were unable to return to their homes.

Impact

Brickfield Schools seeks to empower and educate up to 900 migrant children from the brickfields and mainstream them in the formal schooling system, giving each child the best opportunity to break the poverty cycle.

The project uses a holistic approach to child development by providing children with an education as well as supporting their health, physical growth and mental development. It recognises that the social awareness of parents is critical, particularly in the areas of health, education, child rights and safe migration.

Landing Pad

Partner | Kolkata Mary Ward Social Centre

Location | West Bengal, India

Overview

In India, young girls and adolescent women often grow up with limited knowledge of why they have periods because their mothers and other women shy away from discussing the issue with them. Menstruation is a taboo subject in many parts of India and historically has been associated with uncleanliness, impurity, shame, and fear.

For many girls in rural areas, having their period is a reason to quit school due to lack of facilities and appropriate sanitary products. This results in irreversible effects on their personal development, economic status, and their health.

This project targets rural women and girls in three districts in West Bengal, with the distribution of free sanitary pads and menstrual health education and awareness training. Other beneficiaries of this project are the many vulnerable women and girls living in the red-light district in Sonagachi, Kolkata.

With support from the Raskob Foundation this year, the Landing Pad project is able to increase its sanitary pad production to over 15,000 pads by purchasing additional machinery and raw materials.

Challenges

A recent survey conducted by the KMWSC found that approximately 62% of adolescent girls do not use sanitary pads during their menstrual cycle. Young girls often grow up with limited knowledge of menstruation as a biological process. As a result, only 13% of girls are aware of menstruation before their first period which leads to high rates of school absenteeism and dropouts.

In rural India, many women and girls use unsanitary materials such as old rags, husks, dried leaves, grass, ash, sand, or newspapers as ‘sanitary pads’ because they do not have access to affordable, hygienic and safe products.

Impact

This project aims to provide sanitary pads to more than 5,000 vulnerable women and girls; deliver training on the effective use of sanitary pads; and educate women, girls, and men on health, hygiene, and menstruation.

The success of this project will see girls empowered through the elimination of social taboos surrounding menstruation, and thereby increase the number of girls attending school who would otherwise stay at home during menstruation.

The Landing Pad project looks to pave the path for future innovative programs regarding female reproductive health. However, some immediate issues regarding menstrual hygiene and menstrual health need to be addressed now, and the success of this new project is an essential first step.

Bringing Lights to Sundarbans

Partner | Kolkata Mary Ward Social Centre

Location | West Bengal, India

Overview

The Sundarbans stretch of mangrove land is a UNESCO protected world heritage site with a diverse and complex ecosystem. The entire Sundarbans region is affected by the volatility of this ecosystem – high salinity levels, regular flooding, poor soil conditions, and high temperatures mean many struggle to survive.

The COVID-19 pandemic has seen families lose jobs and earnings become scarce. Many families are on the verge of starvation. Super Cyclonic Storm Amphan in mid-2020 further caused widespread damage and destruction across eastern India – hitting the remote Sundarbans particularly hard. The devastation wreaked havoc in the lives of the population, particularly those living in remote villages. Together, the pandemic and cyclone have severely impacted the already minimal delivery of electricity to the area. Thousands of families remain without electricity, while many have used kerosene lanterns as their only source of light for years, the toxic nature of which causes chronic disease, breathing problems, asthma, and cataracts.

This project delivers solar lanterns to remote villages enabling children to safely study at home and provide light to cook meals and weave fishing nets. The solar light also offers income-generating opportunities to the villagers – women can sew, and men can fish in the evenings to trade at the local market. The solar lanterns further protect villagers at night when they need to use the outdoor toilet – poisonous snake bites are prevalent in the Sundarbans due to the lack of street lights in the villages.

Challenges

The Sundarbans have again been affected by a cyclone; however, there was no storm and no heavy rain this time. The effect of Cyclone Yaas has seen the rise of water levels, which has broken the banks of rivers, entered villages and houses, and ruined many crops. More than 250 families are now living in tents covered with plastic and tarpaulins. Unfortunately, the Sundarbans will continue to be affected by its volatile environment, making solar power even more important to local communities.

Impact

This project provides communities living in the Sundarbans with an independent and reliable light source, enabling children to safely study in the evenings and parents to work at night.

The project also supports women to access their legal rights and entitlements through self-help groups (SHGs). Over 130 women are part of a SHG that provides training on the use of solar lights and ensures the women can access government support services and other legal entitlements.

The solar lights themselves provide the community with skills training and employment opportunities through the local solar growth centre, where each lantern is assembled and maintained.

Activities

• Identify the families without electricity and ensure they have the necessary legal documents to access services.
• Assemble lanterns at the solar growth centre.
• Provide training on the use of solar lanterns and solar energy.
• Form two solar groups – one will be a women’s group to help and assist the technicians.
• Organise advocacy and networking meetings with stakeholders to ensure project take-up.
• Arrange SHG meetings – topics include rights awareness and information on solar lanterns.

Legal Aid

Partner | Darjeeling Mary Ward Social Centre

Location | West Bengal, India

Overview

The Darjeeling tea states were first planted by the British in the 1800s and continue to operate in the same feudal manner over 150 years later. The estates operate as economic production units and social institutions which control all aspects of the lives of those who reside there. The workers are poor and vulnerable, with no access to alternative accommodation or income. They are often deprived of their fundamental rights and entitlements and unaware of the statutory and legal remedies available.

The Legal Aid project is a way to address this power imbalance. It provides vulnerable tea plantation workers access to a network of legal advisors known as ‘barefoot lawyers’. While not formally qualified in law, barefoot lawyers have received training to guide and support community members in legal matters, including worker exploitation, family violence, and human trafficking. When issues cannot be resolved with the assistance of a barefoot lawyer, a qualified lawyer will be engaged.

The project also provides a safety net for those who fall victim to abuse, utilising the DMWSC’s strong support network from government and non-government shelters, the police, and the broader community.

Challenges

Tea plantation workers are one of India’s most vulnerable communities, and many argue that their living conditions are far worse now than during the colonial period over 100 years ago.

Labourers in the tea estates live in shack-like houses, known as kuchhas, with no electricity, sanitation or running water. Below minimum wages make it impossible for families to move in pursuit of better economic opportunities.

Medical facilities are very poor, and there are high rates of health issues from being exposed to the chemicals used on the plantations. Every year hundreds of tea plantation workers are affected by water-borne diseases, with many suffering from tuberculosis and malaria.

With no other options, many people, particularly women and children, are easily preyed upon by human traffickers, promising them a better life elsewhere.

Impact

The Legal Aid project will create awareness amongst tea plantation workers of the common legal issues their communities face in Darjeeling, India.

Through this project, the tea plantation community will become better equipped to combat worker exploitation, human trafficking, domestic violence, child labour, and sexual assault, all common within tea plantation communities. It will also ensure that victims of crime understand the process of seeking justice, knowing they will be provided with support services, including access to legal assistance, restorative services, and emergency shelter, if required.

Activities

• Train legal advisors, known as ‘barefoot lawyers’, in issues commonly faced by tea plantation workers. This includes human trafficking, child labour, domestic violence, worker exploitation and land ownership.
• Develop and implement legal rights awareness programs for schools and the community.
• Rescue and support victims/survivors of human trafficking and other forms of abuse.
• Meet and network with key stakeholders, including the police, judiciary representatives, and other state and non-state organisations.