This ain’t no Michael Jackson video

Thursday 08.11.11

You won’t see these street kids dawning leather jackets, slicked back hair, and waving around shinny pocket blades while perfectly dancing in sync to MJ’s “Bad” song. Street kids in Delhi, India are nothing the way Hollywood would like to betray it.

These children are smart, crafty, strong, and persistent – findingways to survive in a world that has been sounfairly cruel to them. On Thursday, our last full day in Delhi and with our Social Entrepreneurship class, we had an incredible culminating experience. The class piled out of our huge spectacle-mobile (as I lovingly call it) onto some side road near the New Delhi train station. We then took what felt like 50 different rickshaws to a small alleyway where we were split into two groups and told to follow some Indian high schooler around. I had no freaking clue what was going on.

And then I met Iqbal. This 19 year old boy (young man) with an illuminating smile and a very calm disposition is a shining example of the perseverance of the human spirit and what difference one organization can truly make. We didn’t hear his story till later on, but Iqbal didn’t grow up like me. Iqbal was abandoned at age 5 in a marketplace near his home after going to buy fruit with his father. His dad just left him there. This five year old kid scavenged for food, living on the streets till a wealthy couple picked him up and took him in their house as a servant boy. They beat him continuously until he ran away from the house, forced to live once more on the streets. Iqbal eventually ended up in Delhi, led by the desire for easy money (through pickpocketing) and the hopes of becoming a Bollywood star. Eventually Iqbal was found by a Salaam Baalak Trust volunteer who led him to one of their many city-wide centers where he was given a second chance at having a healthy childhood.

Pretty incredible stuff: this 19 year old seems to have it more together than many twenty-something’s and older people I know. Salaam Baalak Trust is one organization that is making a real, tangible difference in India. It doesn’t matter if the data is collected and analyzed extensively to prove the effects of SBT’s work – you can see their success in the faces of the thousands of children they have helped over the last 20 years. SBT is an organization that provides everything from basic services such as medical attention and a meal to shelter housing and education for runaway and homeless children, many of whom come to Delhi via the train system. SBT services are crucial when considering that many of the male street children have the potential to end up drug addicts and the female street children are quickly pushed into prostitution (currently there are over 3500 girls forced into sex trafficking in Delhi – nauseating stuff). SBT has volunteers at the train station in Delhi as well as a collaborative with the local police to lead street children towards one of 15 of SBT’s centers in India versus leaving the children to fight for survival on the streets.

Some children want the help, others do not. That was what was so sobering about this site visit. No matter the persistence of SBT and the police, in the end, the decision belonged to the child on whether or not they accessed SBT’s services and shelters or stayed on the streets. Iqbal, a former street kid himself, lead us through the tiny, dirty alleyways near the Delhi train station to show aspects of the daily life of a street kid. Our group visited one of the centers for SBT, a preliminary facility for street children just arriving off of the trains or the streets, looking for medical aid and some food before going back on the street. It took me a while to realize that some of the children sitting in front me, who couldn’t have been more than 15 years old, were on drugs. This center was a facility to provide basic services to the kids who didn’t want to get off the streets; who preferred a life of quick money, haggling, drugs, and alcohol over the strict sobriety requirements of the SBT shelters.

What I appreciate about this organization is that it remains very realistic – they recognize that changing one kid’s life is still a measurable impact and that this change can be as miniscule as a free meal. This program has the means of a sustainable difference through their City Walk program, which charges a small fee to have some of the graduated street children lead small tours around the Delhi train station to show the different centers and facilities that SBT has – as we saw on Thursday. This organization also sells postcards made from photos taken by some of the children going through the various arts programs hosted by SBT – in particular the photography course (which you can donate old digital cameras to). I purchased some of the postcards, moved by the captured worldview of these children; one of the photos was actually by Iqbal! I also made sure to make a small donation to this organization, knowing the importance of unrestricted funds for nonprofits (keep that in mind next time you want to help out an organization J).

I was really moved by this organization and really impressed by the palpable impact in their target population. Salaam Baalak Trust has a well-established network and services that brought together all the elements of the social entrepreneurship course from the last two weeks. Even though the organization was not functioning solely on independent profits, they definitely had a social entrepreneurial element to them: focused on giving back to the community they serve in every possible way. By hosting City Walks lead by former street children, having annual reunion events that bring in successful former street children who were once part of the SBT program (there are Bollywood actors, fashion designers, photographers, and choreographers galore), and developing unique products to sell that share the message of renewed opportunity, Salaam Baalak Trust is a great example of how an organization can invest extensively in a community; perpetuating a cycle of investment by that very community to ensure its continued success for many many many years to come.

My world changed because of 2 weeks.

"To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get use to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never, to forget" - Arundhati Roy

It's been a little over a week since I've been back home. I can't get India out of my head. I can't stop thinking about how little my life compares to everything I've seen, all the kids I played with, all the poverty I saw, the vulgar disparities and all the injustice that continues to take over our world. I go back to this quote because I haven't forgotten. I can't ever forget what I saw and how I felt. I can't even explain it. I've spent the last 10 days telling friends and family about my 2 week experience and it doesn't seem like it provides justice at all. How can the world be this jarring?

I spent the first day on my own crying. I wasn't sure how to express my emotions on that first day sitting at home and so crying just made sense. Since then every night before I go to bed I think about the kids the most. I miss their ability to be so innocent. It's not fair for kids to resort to drugs because it numbs their pain from abuse, violence, rape, forced labor. They were too small to make the decision so their path was chosen for them and now they suffer from addiction, loneliness, prostitution, and the liberty of basic essentials - a home, parents, food.

Our last full day in Delhi we went to Salaam Balaak Trust (SBT), an NGO dedicated to pulling kids off the street. Their mission - "to celebrate the spirit of survival". I can't help but think that so many organizations have the mission space to further livelihood - this NGO just wants you to survive.

Our role for that day was to go on a citywalk, otherwise known as a walk down memory lane. Our tour guides, past street kids, walk us along their journey of being a street kid to now having the opportunity to improve their lives. Our tour guide, Satender is a 19 year old boy who ran away from home because his father abused him, his siblings and his mother. He wanted to die but SBT saved him and brought him into a shelter. From there he learned English and is learning computer skills. To also help the visibility of SBT and to help show the world about the unspeakable violence he is a tour guide for the NGO. He walks us along the inner city of Paharjung, the railway stations where kids are belligerently high and how they get saved by SBT community workers, and the shelters where the children temporarily live. It was the hardest day for me.

I go to bed every night thinking about them. I continue to think what else can I do in this world. I have my own bed and I have support. I am damn lucky. How can I share that? How can these boys and girls sleep in their own bed and read their own books and be educated and change their life?

Our class ends by writing a business plan. Our goal is to build sustainability and self-sufficiency. I continue to contemplate how I will do this because what I write needs to be implemented. It just takes more than me. I didn't see a world through a different lens to just continue and watch. I did it so the world changes. I just hope it does...

Changing the world, one child at a time

In the public health world and in the nonprofit sector, so often it is necessary to wait until the numbers have been crunched to determine whether or not the services provided are making an impact. However, this is not the case with Salaam Balaak Trust.
On our last full day of the course, we spent the afternoon with Salaam Balaak Trust, an organization providing basic services to runaway and homeless children, many of whom come to Delhi and other major cities via the train system. Iqbal, our tour guide, lead us through the alleys and pothole-ridden streets of one of the neighborhood bordering Delhi's main train station, explaining the nature of the runaway community, opportunities they seek to earn money, and trials and tribulations of their journeys, literally and metaphorically, into and through homelessness. Iqbal explained that many children have been abused or neglected – he himself was simply left in a busy market by his father at 5 years old – and SBT works to reach out to children on a level they understand, building relationships based in respect and trust, and thus maximizing opportunities to reach these children.
We were lead to SBT's intake center on the second floor of a simple building next to the train station. SBT staff, each providing individual attention to one child, worked diligently to fill out forms, complete a basic medical exam or just talk to the child with whom the were working. Other children, who ranged in age from 10 to 18, sat on the floor together, talking amongst themselves while drawing or coloring.
We were then brought to one of the many shelter homes run by SBT, this one in particular for boys. Our group missed the talent show they put on just minutes before, but had the opportunity to spend some time with the boys. I sat down in the front of the room and was swarmed by 4 boys, all of whom quickly introduced themselves to me, and immediately challenged me to thumb wars, and taught me some of their handshakes. They were so excited just to have us there, to have their pictures taken and, I could tell, just to be noticed.
I can not begin to imagine the things some of these children have gone through, especially with no safety net to catch vulnerable populations such as young children should they fall. Social services to the degree of those available in the US are not available in India. If it was not for SBT and organizations like it, these boys, along with the 1000 other children SBT serves, would be out on the street. While this is a grant-funded organization, they do have an income generating aspect – they charge a small fee for tours, such as the one in which we participated, and sell t-shirts, postcards of artwork by or pictures of children served by SBT, and chai carriers made from wire. All proceeds go directly back into the organization.
The work SBT does is incredible, and the impact they make is palpable when standing in a room with those they serve. It was a great way to close out the course: in terms of social services, there is so much needed in India, and it was so refreshing to see a functioning organization making a real difference. They reach those who are outside of the system – children with no families or homes. It was exhilarating to just be in the presence of these children – to see how they clung to Iqbal the moment he walked in to the room – they love him and it is a direct reflection on the organization and the good work they do. SBT is an excellent example of innovation of services, as well as orchestrating efforts with others working in a similar space, such as ChildLine. This organization provides much-needed services to the under-served and I felt privileged for a glimpse into their work.

Dance Like No One Is Watching - Lessons from Salaam Baalak Trust

Our last site visit and meeting for this incredible trip was with the Salaam Baalak Trust, an NGO that provides education, shelter and social exposure to children who would otherwise be living on the street. The Trust operates within a street community in Delhi close to the local train station. Many young boys and girls escape their home lives in search of a better life and arrive in Delhi by train. However, many of these children arrive addicted to drugs for many reasons. The children sleep in the train tracks and the young girls are at an extremely high risk for trafficking. We were informed that only a few blocks from the Salaam Baalak Trust building we were in, was an area of Delhi that is home to thousands of trafficked child prostitutes, some as young as six, who are forced to entertain up to 25 customers per day. The Trust aims on locating children who are in this situation, as well as those who may simply be lost, and offering services to get the children on their feet and down a better path.

We were given a brief street life tour by one of the Trusts’ employees, who was once a street child himself. He told of his own personal story and how the program offered by the Trust had helped get him off of the street and eventually into the tour guide position he currently holds.
In contrast to PSI, who we met with a day earlier, Saalam Balaak Trust is operating truly at the community level, and they are seamlessly integrating both the not for profit model as well as social enterprise. When the Trust brings in a new child, they are using resources that come solely from donors or the government; however, once the children become a part of the organization and function as tour guides and in other roles they begin to generate income not only for themselves but also for the company. The model allows the Trust to bring in funds to support their programming, while also allowing for a specific target population to be served.

One of the most touching parts of my day with the Trust was when we were in the boys’ classroom and were shown an impromptu talent show. The boys, aged 6 to 21, were so excited to both share their own and witness other talents. It was truly inspiring. During the show, I couldn’t help but think about the pasts of these young boys. Where did they come from? Were their parents thinking about them? Were they abandoned? Are they lost? So many different questions ran through my head as I witnessed the display of unabashed pride and excitement of these boys sharing their talents. I couldn’t help but smile, not only at the talents, but at how these boys had overcome every disadvantage in those moments. It would be undeniably terrifying for me to get up in front of a group of my peers and do a dance or sing a song, yet these boys embrace the opportunity to showcase their talents and have the undivided attention of their peers.

The Salaam Baalak Trust provided an example of an organization that didn’t have a massive amount of funding, like the PSI’s of the world yet was providing an important service to the community while also generating revenue. And, certainly not the least important facet of this program, Salaam Baalak Trust provides hope and a potential future for the thousands of children who are a part of their programming.

This site visit was an inspiring end to our incredible journey in India. The grassroots efforts of the Trust, which incorporates so many different pieces of social entrepreneurship and non-profit work and comparing/contrasting this work to the other organizations large and small, provided a comprehensive look at different avenues of social change.

Day 7. Salaam Baalak Trust

There is something special about children. No matter how difficult their lives are, their eyes shine with curiosity and they are always ready to offer a sincere smile.

Today we met with Salaam Baalak Trust, an organization that strives to protect and aid children that live and work on the streets to reach their full potential.

Iqbal, who as a child lived and worked on the streets, was our guide for the day. He walked us through the backstreets of Delhi and the railroads providing us an insight of what children have to go through when living on the streets. Most children run away from home due to abuse or poverty, while the rest get abandoned by their parents or they simply cannot find their way back home and are left wondering alone. Iqbal told us there are close to 120 new kids on the streets everyday. That’s 840 kids every week.

Salaam Baalak has an office, or checkpoint, by the railway where kids can get medical attention and two meals until 2:30pm, but must return to the streets to spend the night. Also they have a shelter where kids can stay 24 hours, providing them with a sense of security and family as well as providing basic education. For kids to stay at this shelter they have to commit to stay for a minimum of 3 months- which most kids do not accept and end up back in the streets. Fortunately, Salaam Baalak personnel like Iqbal, are using their testimonies to reach out to these kids so they can take advantage of the much needed services offered by this organization.

We also learned that most boys start working as rag-pickers selling plastic bottles and other recyclable items for a few rupees. With this money kids play video games and buy drugs to help them forget about hunger and any physical pain they may endure. Girls do not last long on the streets. As soon as they set foot on the train platform, brokers are waiting to snatch them and sell them into prostitution- sometimes for a few rupees, other times in exchange for a couple of bottles of alcohol. I keep on picturing these girls being taken away; over and over again, trying to figure out a way to stop the vicious cycle.

Lots of thinking to be done…

The Eternal Hope of Youth

On the penultimate day of our trip, and our third in New Delhi, the GWU team visited the Salaam Baalak Trust (SBT). Started by Mira Nair, the director who made the movie Salaam Bombay in the 1990s, SBT works with runaway children who leave home due to abuse, poverty, abandonment and make their way to the streets of New Delhi in search of a better life. Each day approximately 30-40 children arrive on the platforms of the New Delhi railway station. Many of the girls are immediately picked out by canny predators for a life of prostitution and the boys end up living on the streets. SBT is committed, along with the Delhi Police and other Indian governmental programs (ChildLine 1098), to rescuing as many of these children as possible, providing medical assistance, daytime food, and short term shelter, attempting to reunite them with their families if they can be traced and if the child wants it, providing long term support like education and a home for the children who cannot be reunited with their families.

Salaam Baalak Trust receives about 40% of its funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), 50% from individual, private donations, and about 10% from the Indian Government. Recently, the USAID grant ran out and SBT is looking to submit applications to continue the funding.

SBT also functions as key partner with the Indian Government as part of the ChildLine Program, by serving as the social worker service center for the Central Delhi Zone (one of 86 such service centers nationwide).

We spent the bulk of our site visit participating in a tour provided by Iqbal, a young man who was himself a runaway child and was picked up by the Salaam Baalak Trust. Iqbal now functions as a roving ambassador with the SBT City Center Walk Program and conducts tours for visitors among other activities. Iqbal took us through the process a runaway child undergoes from arriving at the Delhi railway station to encountering SBT services through Contact Centers, some of the street life options the children experience such as working as ragpickers for the recycling industry, spending their money on video games or movies, getting into smoking and drugs, and finally joining a shelter home and abiding by its strict rules.

Our visit to a short-term shelter to meet with the 80-90 children living there temporarily was the most heartbreaking part of the site visit. The children range in ages from 4 to 18. The older children sat by the back wall of their classroom, quietly observing the strangers in their midst. Many of the younger children were still young enough to be excited about engaging with the GWU students, playing with our digital cameras, taking photographs, playing hand games, and generally talking a mile a minute and loudly sharing stories with us! The very youngest children were somewhat shy but had the sweetest expressions. All it took was one smile or an outstretched hand and they immediately responded with faces wreathed in smiles. Coming from a culture of plenty and a throwaway society, it also gave one pause to see these children in relatively good spirits despite their somewhat meager living and school conditions.

This experience was one of the saddest ones of the trip, it alternately brought out feelings of frustration and anger that children could be betrayed by their own families out of desperation and largely by society. But it also was one of the more hopeful encounters in that at least some of the children were being rescued and looked after and even supported in their educational endeavours till they were old enough to stand on their own two feet. It also demonstrated how some of the children, like our tour guide Iqbal, over the years are able to get past some of the traumatic feelings and positively contribute to SBT by supporting younger children who newly join the SBT fold.

One wishes the social conditions which give rise to the unbearable home conditions of these children could be eradicated, that all these runaway children could be rescued and helped, that these shelters and homes offered by organizations like Salaam Baalak Trust could offer more services and more spacious conditions, like more extensive counseling, anti-smoking and drug prevention programs, improving public health and environmental conditions, and that the revenue streams could be more stable to ensure continued quality of services.

A striking point was how artistically inclined and talented many of the children are and how one of the most common themes of their art was that of a beautiful home in serene surroundings. One hopes the children have in some measure found some sense of home and serenity in Salaam Baalak Trust and that they all find or eventually have their own dream homes where they feel safe and secure.

Visits to institutions like Salaam Baalak Trust also help reinforce the need for social entrepreneurship models and new ways of looking at things to tackle some of these intractable social problems. In a sense they provide the impetus for courses and study abroad opportunities like ours at GWU and challenge us to think of ways in which to apply our academic public health training and knowledge based on real-life ground conditions.