What are the crimes children in Kannagi Nagar are involved in?

A large percentage of children in Kannagi Nagar are addicted to drugs. Most of them use marijuana and spend their time at street corners with friends using drugs. If they smoke near my house I often tell them to leave.

Where do they get marijuana from?
Someone will buy it as bulk from the city and distribute it to the children here for various sinister reasons.

What kind of reasons?
Adults use children to steal for them and to sell drugs. The only way they can get them to do this is by paying them with drugs. Adults use children to commit crimes because hiring adults is not cost effective. Therefore they entice children with drugs and alcohol.

At Oasis, our hope is to help youth and children who are caught in this vicious cycle. From the initial survey that we conducted at Kannagi Nagar, we found that almost 50% of children face alcoholism and substance abuse issues. Our combat strategy against this is by beginning a holistic education center for children between the age group of 7-14 years where they will focus on four core areas: academic development, personal development (mentoring, activity-based learning), behaviour modification (sports) and creating change agents. This will help children take ownership of themselves and their community.

Sheena* was married at just 17 years of age. She was very young with two daughters when her husband left them to remarry. In an effort to find her husband, she took her two children and went to Bangalore. In the railway station, two men approached her and promised domestic work in Mumbai. Sheena knew she had to take care of her children, so she agreed to travel with them. Little did she know, that these men would sell her and her children to a pimp in Mumbai. Trafficking is very real. Traffickers spot individuals who are vulnerable and manipulate them with love and care. It is therefore important to be aware about the signs of trafficking.

Sheena endured 5 years of abuse and torture in the hands of the pimp and the customers. She did not receive any money and was forced to stay in the brothel with her two small children. Finally they were rescued by an organisation and brought back to their hometown. Her children were placed in foster homes for safety. This is when Sheena was tested HIV+ and was placed in different hostels and rehabilitation centers in the course of the year.

Sheena moved back in to take care of her sick father. Later that year, he succumbed to his illness and again Sheena was left with nothing but loneliness. With a hope to find help, she came back to Bangalore. This is when the pandemic hit and she was stuck with no place to stay. We at Oasis, stepped in to assist with Sheena’s overall well-being. Since she is HIV+, her health was deteriorating fast and she was in need of consistent health care. We took her on hospital visits, got her medications and also placed her in a shelter home where she receives counselling and guidance. Sheena is living with the hopes of getting well and meeting her children one day.

*name changed

During the lockdown, Meghala Manickam, our livelihood coordinator in Chennai saw a great need in the community where she lives. Identifying these people, Meghala began her relief work by connecting 231 widows in the Perumbakkam resettlement area with an individual who supplied dry ration for them.

Beginning here she felt the need to reach out to more people in the rural areas who have not received any relief support yet. In her search, she found people in Tirukazhukundram in Chengalpet district who had received relief support once but there were many in need. All of these people are dependent on agriculture for work but due to the lockdown their work has been on a hold. There were also daily wagers in that community. Meghala says, “This particular area had no electricity, no water or street lights. I was fortunate enough to connect with a friend who provided dry ration for 31 families in that area.“

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meghala then connected with some of her friends and started looking for more places with people in need. They identified Irulas, a Dravidian ethnic group who were living with no basic amenities in the most interior places of the Chengalpet District. During field visit, Meghala’s team found that this tribal group lived in damaged houses, with no proper water or food and their children were clearly malnourished. Meghala began speaking with the people and listing down their needs. Touched by their miserable state of life, she connected with Madras Christian College’s social work department through which 300 families were provided with dry ration. Also in collaboration with the Social Work Department, Meghala hopes to assist the Irula families in receiving legal entitlements, government proofs, etc which will qualify them for government schemes and benefits.

Meghala says, “My team at Oasis was my greatest support. I am happy to have been able to bring some kind of change and support for the people around my community at this time of need.”