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Context |
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India
is a vast sub-continent covering geographically, six times
the surface of France, populated with one thousand million
habitants, characterised by a complex cultural structure,
with thousands of ethnic and many different languages.
 The country has millions of poor
people forgotten by the modernisation and despite of an
ever-growing economy, many of them, victims of drought and
famine, leave their villages in distress with the hope of
finding a new life in the cities.
In 1991, Calcutta
celebrated the 300th anniversary of its foundation. As the
capital of the British India until 1911, Calcutta has been
the centre of social, cultural and political reforms. During
its history the city has produced an almost unparallel cultural
richness. At the same time, Calcutta has become infamous
for its poverty and its slums. Today, its population is
said to be fifteen million - four times more than planned.
The city, thus having grown at a tremendous rate, without
much of town planning is the home of thousands of poor people
who come in search of food and shelter and live in conventional
slums or on the pavements.
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Who are they ? |
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These
children scattered in the train station or in some parts of
the city, have in most cases lost contact with their
families. According to the UNICEF, there are 100'000
children in the streets of Calcutta.
They are orphans or abandoned children
or then children who have fled from their own families.
The causes of this misery are of all sorts: poverty, illiteracy,
death or sickness of parents, drunkenness of the father,
prostitution by the mother, conjugal violence, divorce…..These children are victims of the socio-economic conjuncture
of the country which often leads to the break up of families.
Girls, either married at a very young age or then abandoned
but quickly taken into the prostitution network, are in
lesser numbers on the streets than the boys.
In a constant struggle to live,
these children have to use any and whatever means possible
to survive : searching garbage dumps, begging, stealing,
sweeping trains, polishing shoes, performing spectacles
on the streets; and of course, avoiding all the multiple
dangers : threats from the older children, rejection from
society, rape, sickness, drugs, prostitution… With
a desperate need to keep moving and be free, these kids,
over a period of 5-6 years, can do thousands and thousands
of kilometres in trains. They do not even have an inclination
to think about their futures. Their day starts on the streets
and ends on the same street. We call them the "three
F's" : Food, Films, Freedom.
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The actions of Ashalayam are addressed
to all these children, girls and boys from 5 to 18 years
of age,
who have made the streets and the train station
their home.
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