Learning

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Government of Bihar has enabled Apne Aap to establish a girl’s hostel for 50 girls from communities subjected to prostitution, like the Nat community, and other underprivileged castes in Forbesgunge, Araria, Bihar. This hostel protects the daughters of prostituted women from sex-predators by keeping them out of the brothel areas and provides quality education by helping them with homework and extra-curricular classes like karate and dance for overall development.

This is the first education project under the Government of India, Education for All Scheme, which is also an anti-trafficking programme. The hostel is called Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya. It is also supported by Ms Foundation.

Learning – Beyond the academic pursuit

Apne Aap’s first priority is to prepare and put children from red light areas and slums, especially girls into mainstream schools. It does this through easily accessible community class rooms located in its Anti-Trafficking Units manned by trained teachers. These classrooms are strengthened by the members of the women’s Self Help Groups who recruit, enrol and track children in the school programmes. Currently there are 854 children enrolled in both formal and non formal education programmes. Here learning also includes the women with the intent to generate awareness on relevant issues and instil among them a sense of confidence, self respect and dignity. The learning programme of the organization is all-encompassing where the child can learn relevant, practical skills, including basic and reproductive health, nutrition, hygiene, and HIV/AIDS prevention, as well as reading, writing, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.

Hence the programme could be further clubbed under the following segments:

Non formal learning:

Apne Aap supports community based centres at its areas of intervention. Here children from the vulnerable red light districts and other marginalized communities, who do not attend school, are encouraged to come to these centres. The process is to identify the learning needs of each child, design teaching methods accordingly, and eventually equip them to be bridged into mainstream education. The performance of the learners is evaluated periodically. Non formal learning also includes adult literacy for women in prostitution. As an integral part of the curriculum, the non formal model also caters to after school coaching support to children in mainstream education. The organization also supports crèche programmes in the red light districts, and prepares innovative teaching tools and teaching methods for the toddlers.
 

Formal learning:

Apne Aap has collaborated with the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), Delhi for an accreditation of formal learning in all the community learning centres. Presently, it is through the process of informal learning that the children are bridged into formal education. The organization has tied up with reputed institutions like Pratham, Loreto School, NIOS, Azad Hind Foundation, Saket English Medium School, etc. to facilitate mainstreaming of these children into formal education systems. The organization also works to get sponsorship for the children already enrolled into formal learning.
 

Life skill learning:

The organisation believes that learning must be functional, based on real needs. This makes learning practical and meaningful. Thus everything the learners learn should not only be potentially applicable to their daily lives, but also equip them to deal with their daily crisis. Hence life skills learning encompasses a range of curriculum like: awareness building on HIV/AIDS, discussion on mother and child health, hygiene & nutrition, training on using reproductive health toolkit, discussion on gender, sex and sexuality, learning techniques of self defence, conceptual understanding of vulnerability and trafficking. Various discussions and debates on relevant social issues are organized at public forum to instil confidence among the children and the women. Workshops and seminars are organized to make women and children aware of their fundamental rights by virtue of them being citizens of the country. Counselling of the women in prostitution and their daughters form an integral part of self realization, confidence building and coping with social stigma. The Bal Sabha (children’s group) is another initiative that entails children’s participation in decision making, recognition from the adult forum and convergence with larger community voice.
 

Learning as a therapy:

Apne Aap believes that learning could have a therapeutic effect on the victims/survivors of trafficking and prostitution and help them disassociate the stigma, guilt, shame and the sense of being inferior and impure that is deeply imbedded in their consciousness. Hence the organization has involved the children and the women in many such cathartic activities like: painting classes with occasional exhibition of the art work; camps, like the diwali shivir camp, to inculcate the value of togetherness, team spirit and peer support; conducting theatre workshops with the children on socially relevant themes or otherwise and storytelling sessions with the women; book making workshop; unique creative art therapy on HIV/AIDS that addressed the myths associated with the disease; community group discussions is used as a platform to provide peer support in solving individual’s problems; annual get together with the purpose of awarding outstanding work to the children and the women in the field of social work. The organization has moved a step ahead in using the community centres as cultural activities hubs, where children and women could freely give vent to their hopes, desires, pain and pleasure in creative forms. The Art Resilience Project undertaken by the organisation in the red light districts uses art resilience and family discussions to help children learn social skills for dealing with life’s challenges through various activities like dance, mime, group discussions, etc. This methodology has helped the children come out of self hatred, guilt and shame, and emerge with positive self image and confidence.