We started off the morning with a tour courtesy of Salaam BaalakTrust. This is an organization that was founded in 1988 after the success of
the movie Salaam Bombay. The movie featured the plight of street children in
India and inspired the director to found the organization to help children in
real life.
 |
| Aman, our guide through the streets. He lived as a homeless boy since age 6. |
Our tour was
hosted by Aman, a young man who at age 17 had been on the streets since the age
of 6. Aman explained the many reasons why children in India end up away from
their homes. Often they come from broken families or impoverished families in
the rural areas. The children learn about opportunities and glamour of life in
the big city and run away from their own situation in order to have a better
life. Or, if the family travels to a big city for a festival or celebration,
they may get lost and separated from their families. Young children may not
even know their last name or the name of the town they came from and there is
no way for authorities to return the children to their families. Quickly they must
learn how to survive on the streets.
They may beg
for money or be taken in by a group of other children who teach them the ways
of the street and perhaps introduce them to some of the vices that are
available such as drugs and alcohol. They may start stealing, picking pockets,
or rock picking, which means digging through garbage to find materials that can
be sold to earn a few rupees a day.
Children
learn where to get food from churches and rescue organizations, so the
money they earn goes towards entertainment and soon enough towards drugs. The
children must spend whatever they earn in a day because they cannot sleep with
money or it will get stolen.
Girl children
may endure even more abuse on the streets than boys. They may become part of a
prostitution organization such as a large brothel behind the Delhi railway
station, or be sold into other forms of human trafficking and sexual abuse.
Salaam Baalak
trust operates in areas that are known sites of human trafficking. They have a
phone number that children can call if they feel they are ready to seek
assistance. There are also contact points in the cities, and children who are
already in the program who can tell them about the benefits. Younger children
who decide to join become part of a residential program where dormitory housing
and food is provided. Counseling Services, mental health, vocational training,
and education are all part of the program. The children are taught to speak
English because that is vitally important for being able to obtain a good job
once they reach the age of 18.
Children may
return to the streets for a time if they are unhappy with the education and
other strict requirements and would rather just continue running around, left
to their own devices, but over time about 70% of the kids who join complete the
program to age 18 and are considered a success by the trust. Currently, the
trust helps about 10,000 children a year, and employees almost 200 people.
Funding comes from international organizations such as Save the Children. The
other funding comes from City Walks, in which the older children lead a tour
group like ours to learn how to interact with people, and develop their English
skills. Tour members are asked to contribute a token sum to the program, and
materials such as journals, postcards, and t-shirts are available for sale.
Our tour
guide Aman was under the guidance of Hasif, an 18 year old who had completed
the program. They both told the harrowing stories of how they had ended up on
the streets. They both had excellent English skills, and were very competent in
giving the tour, sharing information, and telling us about the organization.
They were also very funny and able to make quick jokes! The tour took us
through the alleyways and streets surrounding the Delhi railway station and
gave us an up-close-and-personal view of the city's loud, chaotic, vibrant and
busy life.
In the
afternoon, we took a bus outside of New Delhi. Our tour guide, Raj, explained
many aspects of Indian life as we rode, including Indian religions and the
caste system. We stopped at a farm roughly 60 miles outside the city. The trip
took about 2.5 hours with traffic. This farm is a research farm for holistic
medicine and plants important for religious purposes. It used to be privately
owned but the farm was turned over to the government because the owner owned
more land than is allowable under the land ceiling regulations.
 |
| Touring the botanical research gardens |
The farm
owners stated that its purpose is to connect local people to herbal and
medicinal plants. There is common knowledge of these plants in the culture but
as the country modernizes, some of the old ways of life disappear. The farm is
a research and educational facility that hosts visitors from all over the world
who wish to learn more about the plants and possible commercial uses. We saw
plants that could help with diabetes, fever, mental illness, reproductive
health, and many other complaints. None of the plants grown here are sold
commercially but they give out samples to people who would like to try
different remedies.
Next we
drove to a working farm and did a field tour. The main cash crops in the area
are rice, wheat, and sugar cane. Sugar cane is less popular because it takes
eight to nine months to harvest a crop and there are government controls that
sometimes slow down payment. Crop rotation is not popular; fields are often
planted to the same crop every year. Most producers can grow two crops per
season.
 |
| Scott Biskeborn and Adam Ehlers examiningthe wheat plants. |
The field
we looked at was a rice field and a potato field which was a new experience for most of the
class. All of the crops in that area are irrigated connected via a series of
canals. This is a necessity since the average rainfall in the area is only 12
inches a year. When harvested, the straw, or paddy, of the rice has multiple
uses, including mixing with manure to make dung cakes. The cakes can be easily
stored and are used for fuel for cooking or heating.
 |
| Brian Gilbert holds up one of the dung cakes. |
 |
| The pile of dung cakes laying in the sun to dry |
 |
| Dancing with our hosts |
We
concluded our evening with a festive and beautiful reception at the Banni Kherafarm.
As we exited the bus, a red carpet was rolled out and we were greeted by
dancers and a drummer who blessed us with flowers, a traditional Hindu red dot
on the forehead, and a shower of rice to encourage prosperity. Our hosts
provided a “snack” that could have easily been a full meal with baked goods,
fruit, lentil salad, corn salad, guava and lychee juice, and other traditional
foods.
As the sun set over the farm and chai was served, class members enjoyed
the music and dancing. A group of local children gathered on the edge of
property watched and waved, enjoying the novelty of the visiting Americans.
 |
| The reception at the farm. |
 |
| Our class with our hosts and dancers |
 |
| The parting view of the beautiful farm house |
 |
One of the children who danced with us.
|
This blog post was written by Dani Hanson and Jen Henrie
Salaam Baalak
trust operates in areas that are known sites of human trafficking. They have a
phone number that children can call if they feel they are ready to seek
assistance. There are also contact points in the cities, and children who are
already in the program who can tell them about the benefits. Younger children
who decide to join become part of a residential program where dormitory housing
and food is provided. Counseling Services, mental health, vocational training,
and education are all part of the program. The children are taught to speak
English because that is vitally important for being able to obtain a good job
once they reach the age of 18.
Our tour
guide Aman was under the guidance of Hasif, an 18 year old who had completed
the program. They both told the harrowing stories of how they had ended up on
the streets. They both had excellent English skills, and were very competent in
giving the tour, sharing information, and telling us about the organization.
They were also very funny and able to make quick jokes! The tour took us
through the alleyways and streets surrounding the Delhi railway station and
gave us an up-close-and-personal view of the city's loud, chaotic, vibrant and
busy life.
In the
afternoon, we took a bus outside of New Delhi. Our tour guide, Raj, explained
many aspects of Indian life as we rode, including Indian religions and the
caste system. We stopped at a farm roughly 60 miles outside the city. The trip
took about 2.5 hours with traffic. This farm is a research farm for holistic
medicine and plants important for religious purposes. It used to be privately
owned but the farm was turned over to the government because the owner owned
more land than is allowable under the land ceiling regulations. 
We
concluded our evening with a festive and beautiful reception at the Banni Kherafarm. 
