With your generous support, we raised $6,060 for New Light, an organization that provides safe shelter, education, and healthcare for victims of trafficking, women in prostitution, and children rescued from red light areas in Calcutta, India.
Blonde Ignition recently visited New Light. It’s very nice to see where our donations went and how we have affected people’s lives. Thank you again for your kindness and support!
These kids are learning relaxation tequniques in the Kalighat red light district of Kolkata that people in the States pay $50/hour for. Some instrumental music is playing, and they are instructed to sit quietly with their eyes closed. Many assume the yoga pose, which I think is adorable. Dealing with stress and anxiety is one of New Light’s challenges with small children. These kids are often exposed to violence and neglect.
Nearly impossible to hold a camera steady with these guys around. They are all photo hams. This is an evening shelter for kids in the Dalit community. Historically, they come from a caste that did the dirty work of society–cremations and handling of the dead. Although technically illegal to discriminate, these kids would have a rough time getting into an after school program with the upper castes.
Nap time here is more like siesta. Kids get lunch after school (they only go from about 7am-11am) and they are lined up to nap. Boy can they crash out. I couldn’t believe the commotion these kids deal with every day. These two on the end never stopped cuddling. That one sitting up was definitely an instigator…he kept sitting up and checking everyone out. There’s always one.
The newest addition to the New Light community is this wonderful boys’ home. There’s actually 20 boys here, but these are the ones who happened to be home to give us a tour. They kept us entertained with all their questions and showing us their schoolwork. It was pretty cool to see how proud they were of their library and all the books they could read whenever they wanted. I had to take a step back and think that without New Light, they’d be living on the streets of the red light district. That’s no life for anyone, especially a kid. Especially in India.