More About Destiny

Destiny Reflection is a non-profit based in Kolkota, India that works to end human trafficking through the economic empowerment of women. You can find out more about them on their website but we wanted to explain the organization in our own words.

MAIN OFFICE

The main office is home to the production unit, stock room, and general work space. There are currently seven women working in the unit, all of whom were rescued after being trafficked and trained to sew by Destiny Reflection. Now, as employees, they use their skills to create beautiful products including scarves, bags, wallets, blankets, aprons, bookmarks, PJ pants, and more. Some of Destiny's partner organization's donate used saris that are then recycled and remodelled into these products. They also create their own uniquely patterned designs by block printing onto blank fabric, giving them freedom to play with the colours and themes of their products.

Stock Room at Destiny's Main Office

The Production Unit at Destiny's Main Office

Destiny Reflection strikes us as being both very organic and adaptable. The organization has continued to grow in response to local need and the resources that are available to them. They are a true example of local people helping local people. They have made excellent use of resources and networks to access space, materials, and volunteers. Although they also have a charity branch, the business allows self-sufficiency: products are sold for a profit and the profit in turn pays the salaries for all of Destiny's staff. Destiny exports products to various places in Canada and the US, so as the organization expands its' target market it will have the opportunity to increase profit enabling them to employ more women.

KHIDIRPUR COMMUNITY CENTER

Part of being adaptable means that Destiny has had to find ways to support women who are unable to leave the sex trade. This has lead to the creation of a community center in Khidirpur, one of the largest Red Light Districts in Kolkata itself. The community center runs a literacy program that teaches some basic math and English, as well as a sewing program, which sometimes leads to a job at the main office/production center. The center is fairly relaxed, women come and go as they are able to. From what we've observed and been told, the community center women value what they are learning and study hard. In an effort to introduce new, useful skills, there is talk of running a beautician course and a cooking course as well. 

Destiny sees the center as being a self-sustaining project. They helped to get it started and visit regularly, but largely the women at the center keep it operating on their own. This is important: Destiny does not need to be in charge of everything that happens here, the women can work together to keep it a productive space and continue to organize their daily activities according to their needs.

We facilitated a workshop on hairstyles at the Community Center

SUKANYA GOVERNMENT SHELTER HOME

Destiny also partners with a couple of different government shelter homes for girls under the age of 18. The staff visit a couple times during the week, and depending on the age group, they facilitate different craft activities and conduct workshop skills training. These visits aren’t necessarily to train the girls to be employed in sewing, but are a way of exposing the girls to different skills; ranging anywhere from basic cutting, gluing, or drawing, to sewing and product making. Beyond external support, like the type that Destiny provides, the girls are mostly left to entertain each other on a day to day basis. Importantly, many of these girls have been trafficked or orphaned and are at very high risk of being trafficked upon their dismissal from the shelter home.

Girls at Sukanya waiting to receive their new dresses during the Joy of Giving

HOSTEL
Once a girl turns 18, she is no longer able to stay in the shelter home. Having lived in the shelter for years, sometimes her whole life, it is very difficult to leave the shelter since many of the women have no direction, relatives or guidance of any sort. Sending a girl out to fend for herself like this is far from safe, yet support during this transition period is minimal. Thus, Destiny’s latest project has been a hostel/homestay for young women experiencing this transition. This is a safe, secure place where they can stay after their release (under the guidance of a housemother) as they figure out their next steps in terms of education and employment. 

Pandal Update

"Our" pandal is finally complete...and we're mind blown. There are no words. So here are some pictures: 

        

        

The Joy of Giving

This weekend is the start of Durga Puja, so we're in the middle of the season of festivity and the streets are filled with people shopping for gifts, building pandals, and putting up twinkle lights. The closest thing I can compare it to is Christmas, except that Kolkata has 4.5 million people and those 4.5 million people are all going to be celebrating outside in the middle of the streets as opposed to inside their homes.

Importantly, Durga Puja is also a time for giving back to the community, so much so that this week is even called the Joy of Giving. In celebration of this, Destiny Reflection set out on a mission to fundraise and buy new dresses for 150 girls living at the Sukanya Government Shelter Home. This mission was hugely successful and over the weekend we had the pleasure of going along with other Destiny Reflection staff and donors to personally deliver those dresses to the girls.

At first, Zahra and I were unsure about the notion of buying new clothes for these girls. We appreciate clothes as much as anything, but with that money wouldn't some form of entertainment or supplies be longer lasting and more versatile? We discussed this at length. The thing is, these girls don't get much of a childhood. They don't have doting parents to pamper them or to even just spend time with them during the holidays. One Destiny Reflection staff member told us a story about a 5 year old girl being extremely surprised to learn that in many cases, mothers and their children live together in the same home.

Another girl, 6 years old, was crying and asking to be taken to a bus stop so that she could make her way back to her Grandmother's house, saying she knew exactly where her family was if only she could just catch a bus. The older girls (teenagers) act as mothers to the younger girls, guiding them as best as they know. Several of these girls have their own children, some living with them in the shelter home, some staying in other shelters or hostels where they can receive an education (remember all of the girls at this shelter home are under the age of 18).

Sure, there are lots of things that this money could have gone towards, but by giving them new clothes, in their eyes it meant they got to participate in the Durga Puja celebrations. Something as simple as a new dress helps them feel part of the festival, included in their culture and gives them something that sets them apart from other girls.

It was two hours of calling names, handing out dresses, and seeing all of their overjoyed faces and then watching the crowds form once all the dresses had been given out and some wanted to exchange colours and sizes. At the end, everyone walked away with new clothes and big smiles.
Mission accomplished.

Pandal Anticipation

This morning was the first time that I woke up oblivious to the fact that I’m living in India. It didn’t hit me until later in the day, as we were going about our routine, that I’m miles away from family and friends. To my delight, I feel at home and normalized to the sticky heat, smell of burning incense, and chirping birds that had felt so strange to wake up to about a month ago.

I think I’m starting to truly enjoy the hustle and bustle of life in Kolkata. There are tons of people, markets, food stands, shops, and colourful ads that keep your eyes endlessly busy. Not to mention the thrilling experience of being driven around, which feels like you're in some sort of video game. All in all, I love the constant buzz around me. I’ve slowly started to understand the chaos, find my place in it, and simply absorb the city’s electrifying energy. A big part of this liveliness is due to the city’s preparations for the Durga Puja festival. Here, it is such a highly anticipated time of year that the build-up feels greater than Christmas time back home.

Our neighbourhood, though usually quiet and quaint, is clearly gearing up for this prominent celebration. In worship of Durga, a Hindu goddess that fights evils, the entire city - community by community - designs and builds structures called pandals. Hundreds, if not thousands of pandals can be found under construction around almost every corner and down every street. Come next week, each pandal will have a unique, colourfully expressed theme that represents its' community. Viewers from far and wide will embark on walking tours to take in as many pandal sites as possible and enjoy the elaborate artistry.

The pandal nearest our place (which has been the most helpful landmark since our arrival) has been growing like nothing we’ve ever seen. Just when you think it’s almost done, another segment is added on. Finding ourselves impressed by the speed at which “our” pandal expands, we suspect that construction must go on all through the night. And we can’t wait to see the finished product!

Here’s a look at the progress:

 
  

Puri in Pictures

This past weekend was our first trip out of Kolkata, to a city called Puri in the state of Odisha. Puri was not originally on our list of places to get to, but India is a big country and it turns out that getting to some of the must-see places is 20+ hours away! Puri is a mere 9 hour overnight train ride that is mostly spent sleeping. It was a nice weekend getaway trip and seeing the ocean occasionally is a treat (that might be our inner Vancouverites talking)!

Our trip was a mix of relaxation and adventure. I have decided it would be best told through photos so here we go...

We were both anticipating our first train ride in India. These before and after pictures pretty much sum up our train ride.

When we got to the train station we discovered that data was not working on our phone (so no booking an uber cab) and we didn't know how far away our hotel was (which makes it harder to haggle the price of a taxi). Ooops. This was particularly amusing as we had been exchanging stories of mistakes we'd made when taking trains elsewhere and not looking up how to get from the station to the desired destination was a common theme. We problem solved and ended up taking our first rickshaw ride through the monsoon.

After freshening up at our hotel, we were keen to walk along the beach. The waves were huge and the whole beach was lined with people wading, jumping over the waves, or simply sitting in the sand and letting the waves wash over them. No bathing suit necessary; we saw people swimming in jeans, skirts, even sarees.

Why hellooooo Mr. Camel.

There were A LOT of cows living harmoniously among people in the city. They were everywhere (and so was their poop but I didn't photograph that). In this picture, you can see a large group of cows stopping traffic to walk down the middle of the road.

We took a car ride about an hour out of Puri to see the famous Konark Sun Temple, built in the 13th century. This is one of the wheels on the temple that is built in the form of a giant, ornamented chariot for the Sun God.

We couldn't help but notice some rather.... suggestive imagery detailed on the outside of the temple as well. Further research has taught us that this is not uncommon in India. These Maithunas, erotic sculptures, are not uncommon to find on Indian temples and reflect a 13th century India where sex and sexuality was openly talked about. 

Back in Puri, we also visited the Jagannath temple in Puri, which is huge! There was a shoe stand the size of my old apartment and fences to corral people into an orderly line before entering the temple. As we are not Hindus, we could not enter the temple but had instead read in our Lonely Planet book that there was a library rooftop we could view the inside of the temple from. We climbed the stairs and a man greeted us and told us a long tale about all the visitors (including the Pope!) who had visited this library. He insisted we make a donation towards the library then led us to the rooftop. On the way up the stairs, he pulled out a long stick and started tapping along the walls and stairs. Seeing our shocked faces he explains "It's the monkeys! They bite! Don't worry I will be your bodyguard." He then proceeded to walk around the rooftop, occasionally jabbing out at monkeys and yelling while we took photos. Predictably, he then asked for a tip for being our bodyguard.

We are pretty sure the whole thing - from the picture of the Pope to the biting monkeys - was an elaborate scam to get our money. The view was pretty good but the sight of him climbing the stairs and fending of the monkeys was worth every rupee.

Dramatic clouds, sandy beaches, and the sound of waves was worth the whole trip.

We also ate "Kung Pao Paneer" at a Chinese restaurant and found a breakfast place with pancakes! However, we couldn't find the "Puri Cheesecake" or bakery we had read about online and spent an hour or more walking in search of baked goods. The second day also included a well-deserved trip to the spa. By the evening Zahra had an upset stomach and the monsoon was back so we hid out in a coffee shop and waited for the train. 

A rather hilarious weekend all in all. Not quite as relaxing as we had thought but also very eventful :)

Red Light District Visit

I do this thing sometimes, where I “Freaky Friday” myself into someone else’s body and try to imagine what it’s like to see everything through their eyes. When I’m on a crowded train, busy street or even sitting at a cafe, I picture where they must be heading…picking up their kids or their dry-cleaning…imagining what I look like through their eyes and how everything must look so different even from where they’re sitting, 2 feet away. We all walk around as if we’re the center of the universe, so I like to imagine I’m someone else to see what it would be like if I wasn’t at the center. It’s a fun little game I play back home because I love watching people; amusing myself that I was the beautiful woman with long legs walking by that I wish I resembled or imagining what it’s like to be a man. I’m a curious person, and it helps me understand the world around me. But in India this exercise is not quite the same light-hearted pursuit.

The other day we visited community members from the Khidirpur red light district in Kolkata. And I found myself doing the same thing. Watching the 30-40 year-old women I’d met that were trafficked and forced into prostitution but never fortunate enough to be rescued. I imagined myself in their bodies, as them. Replaying the movie of their lives in my head. Trying to fathom what it’s like to be in their shoes and relive their memories; seeing the the things that they’ve seen.

But the things they’ve seen are just that, a movie to me. Unimaginable as more than a nightmare or sad film. They’ve lived through my biggest fears and survived. Their strength is something I can’t seem to process. It seems unreal, even when they’re sitting right in front of me. I feel like I’m on another planet or in an alternate reality. Because how could the same reality have been so cruel to them and so kind to me?

Katie and I both felt this odd, confused state of being. I suppose we’re still in shock. Or maybe some form of denial? It’s a difficult sadness to accept. And a reminder that life really isn’t fair.

Better Alternatives for Girls' Survival

I first heard about Destiny Reflection in my introductory health sciences class at SFU about 3 years ago when my prof talked about some of her students doing an internship in Kolkata. There was also a huge poster advertising working at Destiny Reflection as an international coop that I would always pass on my way to the bus stop. It sounded like everything I was interested in: education, women’s rights, non-profit work, and analyzing the social determinants to create healthier communities. I was hooked.

I think that being so determined to make it here to Kolkata so early on in my degree shaped a lot of my choices and decisions over the last three years. I joined the coop program to get experience in health sciences fields. I took a course on Indian History and a course on Gender and International Development. I Volunteered with a non-profit that focused on doing educational workshops on different issues of social and environmental justice. In my social media accounts, there have been increasing numbers of posts related to feminism and women’s empowerment. In general, I talked about wanting to go to India and intern at Destiny Reflection. A lot. And, possibly most importantly, I got involved with BAGS Inc. as early as I could.

Better Alternatives for Girls’ Survival (BAGS) Inc. is a non-profit organization based in Vancouver that works in partnership with Destiny Reflection to support survivors of human trafficking and sexual exploitation in India. BAGS was started by a group of young women after their return from their internship at Destiny Reflection in fall of 2011, the same group of students who my prof had been talking about in my intro class a few years ago. Inspired by their time in Kolkata, these women have committed themselves to the issue and found a way to stay involved and make a positive impact.

BAGS is regularly in touch with Destiny Reflection in order to import Destiny’s products, sell them in Vancouver, and return the profit to Destiny. They are an essential link for Destiny to reach the North American market and expand their organization. This is important: the more products the Destiny sells, the more money they make, the more money they are able to hire to work at the production center for a liveable wage. Creating dignified employment and opportunity for these women is huge.

                                                                                                                                 

The ladies at BAGS do exceptional work and I am inspired by all of them as people and by the effort they have put into their social entrepreneurship. Having the opportunity to be part of BAGS and volunteer at markets with them was huge in preparation for coming to Kolkata, even if I didn’t realize it fully at the time. Moreover, it’s nice to know that there is something in place for me to continue to stay connected to the work I do this semester once I return home. In no way does the 4 months that I spend in Kolkata have to be in isolation.

Check out BAGS Facebook page here.

Check out BAGS Instagram here.