A new Challenge

A New Challenge

National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences conducted a recent multi State survey on Substance Abuse and Drug Addiction among Children. The results were shocking.  Kerala topped the list -74 per cent of school children in Kerala use tobacco! A total of 119 children in the state, between the age group of 5-18, were covered as part of the study, conducted to examine the pattern, profile and correlates of substance use.

In all, the study commissioned by Working Group on Substance Abuse and Drug Addiction among Children under the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) reached out to 4,024 children across 27 states and two union territories. 

 Alcohol, tobacco and inhalants are common initial substances which are easily available to the children. A. Shajahan, Secretary, Department of General Education said, “All educational institutions in the state have to take a note of this and strictly enforce laws of the land along with spreading awareness. Concerted action is the need of the hour; nothing should be left to chance.”

Here is one of our experiences. One day a call came to our child help line and the informer was a school teacher from rural Trivandrum. He said that there were a few students who regularly used addictives like pan masala in their school. But they would not disclose the details from where they obtained it, he added. He requested our team to come and speak to them. Our S4S team visited the school on Tuesday 22 July, 2014.

When the students met the team they did not hide their irritation towards awareness classes by saying “we have attended many classes.” Our team leader smiled and said politely “We are not here to conduct an awareness class, but I want to show you some people who have been using pan masala and other tobacco products.”  Then he showed pictures and videos of people  who suffer from mouth cancer due to addictive drug abuse. One of the drug users exclaimed at the end of the class: ‘I will never again use tobacco in my life’.

During the interactive session, some of the students gave the full details of the drug sellers. Together with the School authorities we formed  “an Anti-drug Squad”. The School Principal was happy to take immediate action; more surprising was that the drug abusers were ready to lead the squad.

Another Milestone

Another Milestone

Though Trivandrum Don Bosco Veedu Society’s primary focus is on the children at risk of Trivandrum city and its premises, our ultimate aim is to create a child friendly atmosphere in the wider Society of Kerala.  We had conducted a survey on street involved children in and around Trivandrum city in order to find the number of children on the streets, assess their primary needs in order to influence policy decisions in taking care of them. The funds for conducting the survey was provided by the Social Justice Department, Govt of Kerala. Others involved were Don Bosco National forum for Young at Risk (YaR) and Don Bosco Research Centre, Mumbai.

The rapid assessment survey of street involved children was conducted in 100 wards of Trivandrum Corporation. We found that:

•   The total number of children found on street was limited to 140.
•  The study shows that majority of the children were with families and not orphaned or abandoned - 44% children were staying with parents, 20% with relatives and 13% with single mothers.
• There were almost zero cases under run away or abandoned among the children found on streets.

The findings were very positive and it mirrored the effectiveness of our interventions on behalf of street children for over past 22 years. The survey conducted by us in 1994 showed the presence of over 2000 children on the streets. Child begging cases have dipped drastically to almost zero percentage. This phenomenal statics has been achieved through years of sensitization process. We can say that we have contained the problem of street children in Trivandrum.

Presently any child who reaches the city is taken in by us. The general public are sensitive and over 90 percent reporting to our helpline facilitates us to rescue children immediately and provide them shelter in our shelter home. The child rescue booth at the railway station brings in an average of over 200 children who reach to the city through trains.

The Social Justice Department, Government of Kerala, asked us for a presentation of the results of the survey and our major suggestion to provide for railway rescue booths and shelter homes in big cities of Kerala has been accepted by the Government. Three major stations (Ernakulum, Kozhikode, and Palakkad) have been selected for the same.

We are contended that care and protection to more children on the streets across Kerala have been effected through our intervention.

Rapid Assessment Survey of Street Children

Trafficked and Rescued!

Trafficked Child Rescued from Railway Station

Women and Child Help Center, the outreach center of Don Bosco Nivas Shelter Home at Trivandrum Central Railway Station rescued a trafficked child found on the railway platform on July 10, 2014. Our outreach staff Mrs. Amala found a 3 year old child begging on the platform. The child led our staff to her mother.  The baby was wearing shabby clothes and seemed not to have eaten for long. Mrs. Amala brought the child and the lady to Don Bosco Nivas.  From the interaction with the lady (Chettiamma) we were unable to ascertain whether the child was hers. As trafficking for begging was a possibility we asked her to produce documents and provided shelter for the child at Child Welfare Council. She gave the name of the child as Puteli.

Today (14 July, 2014) Police from Thiruvalla came to our office to enquire about the child.  They told that on January 2014 Mr. Siva filed a missing complaint of his daughter Vaigeswary. Vaigeswary is the second child of Siva and Rajeswary. Siva native of Andhra Pradesh has been living at Thiruvalla for the past few years and working as a cobbler. Chettiamma and her husband Raju had casual conversation with the family on the day the child was found missing. The police traced Raju in Andhra Pradesh and apprehended him and his wife. The police have registered case against the couple for child trafficking. 

This incident shows that there are children being trafficked and used for begging and many other abusive purposes. The rescue booth at the railway station has proved vital in saving Vaigeswary who would otherwise have been subject to cruelty and denied childhood and would have lost her family forever.  The rescue booth at the railway station rescues an average of 250 children every year and they are linked back to the safety of their homes. Many a missing children have been restored to their families

Awareness for prevention

An Unforgettable Experience

A call came to CHILDLINE from Sreejith, aged 12, saying that he was being physically abused by family at Kottoor near Nedumangad. When our team reached the place, Sreejith was the only one present. He had a swollen hand which was bandaged. Sreejith greeted our team happily. When our team enquired how Sreejith came to know of CHILDLINE, he exclaimed: “All our classrooms have beautiful posters of CHILDLINE and I am seeing it every day. I called CHILDLINE because of that”. We intervened with the family for the safety and protection of the child.

The above experience was an unforgettable one our team. Our efforts are seemingly bearing fruit. The poster campaign to all the schools in Kerala with help of the Social Justice Department has just been finished and almost all schools have put up the posters in every classroom. As the children are always seeing the posters with clear message to contact CHILDLINE when they are in distress, this incident shows that the message has gone across to children. There is a sharp increase in the number of issues being reported by children.

Don Bosco Veedu Society’s intervention to spread the message of child safety to over 12700 schools across Kerala is indeed benefitting over 38 lakhs of school going children across the state. Over the past few weeks there have been increased reporting of issues to CHILDLINE from children and this is a positive sign of child rights awareness among children. The safety of all children of our society is our aim. 

Child Labour

CHILD LABOUR BUSTED!

On Wednesday (02.07.2014) afternoon Don Bosco Nivas Shelter Home out reach staff at railway station found two children found wandering at the station.  They were dressed in shabby clothes and looked tired. They also had injuries on their body. We provided food and clothes and medical and while counseling them on the  same day, they (Anburaj aged 14 and Kartheesh aged 11) revealed that they were trafficked to work at Aluva-based JMS sweet shop. They were subjected to beatings on legs and faces and other physical abuse at the Sweet Company.

Anburaj said that more than 40 boys were employed at the unit and some of them had escaped when the unit shifted from its earlier place. They were brought to Aluva a few days ago by an agent Mr. Abraham by convincing them that they were being taken for a tour of Kerala.  Anburaj told that the name of the owner is Emmi (Emmanuel later police identified). They had beaten the children.  It is learnt that the children were at the factory for five days before finally escaping.

On Wednesday afternoon our staff contacted their family over telephone and verified their identities.  Maria Selvam mother of Anburaj and Chithra mother of Kartheesh reached CHILDLINE office on the same night.  They claimed that a neighbor called Abraham had offered to take the children for a housewarming ceremony in Kerala and promised to bring them back a couple of days later.

We passed the information to Eranakulam CHILDLINE workers and they traced the Sweet shop.  We intervened with the media and the police to trace and arrest the culprits. Aluva Police raided a confectionary unit in Aluva and arrested its owner and his two sons for employing minor boys from Tamil Nadu at the unit. The arrested -Immanuel (47), owner of JMS Sweets, Kunnatheri, near Aluva and his sons James (20) and Prince (18) of Tiruchendur in Tamil Nadu ­ have been booked under the Juvenile Justice Act.

The children were produced before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) on Friday 04.07.14.  CWC looked into the matter seriously. The mothers of these boys did not have any documents to prove that the two were indeed their sons.  The children will remain with Don Bosco Nivas till the required documents are produced by the parents.

The commitment of Don Bosco Veedu Society to the children at risk has brought many children like Anburaj and Kartheesh freedom from suffering and a life of dignity and worth. We hope that the state wide mass media coverage on the incident will bring in more awareness on the problems that our children face as well as deter people from harming innocent children.