Programs for the urban community

Provide psycho social support for sexually exploited minor girls

Mumbai has a traditionally large red-light area, but now this has replicated itself into the length and breadth of the urban area which is a convergence of 3 cities of Thane, Navi Mumbai and Mumbai. A March 2007 report in a leading Mumbai newspaper states that the city has 500,000 women in prostitution with 45% of them below age 18.

Nirnay seeks to use its expertise in counselling children to provide psycho social support to adolescent girls in 4 Homes at Mumbai who have been rescued from the Red Light area. We seek to work in partnership with other NGOs who will take care of other aspects of After Care such as health care, education, vocational training, legal aid etc. The main goal is that victims of sexual exploitation/human trafficking live productively, independently and are restored to dignity.

Training of Trainers Workshops (TOT)

Many organizations, schools and not-for profit groups have approached us to help them address issues in their communities on topics such as Child Sexual Abuse, Pornography, Bullying, Basic Counselling skills etc.. Through the training of trainers workshops we train individual with a view to preparing him/her for his/her future role as a trainer. This is a process which aims to develop his/her capabilities and capacities of imparting training to others as a skilled professional. Moreover, TOT also aims to help organisations to build their own team of trainers.

Mentoring

Mentoring is a time-proven strategy that can help young people of all circumstances achieve their potential. Our mentors at Nirnay are caring individuals who, along with parents or guardians, provide young people with support, counsel, friendship, reinforcement and a constructive example.

One such mentoring program is being conducted with boarders of a particular school in Mumbai. These children come from economically backward single-parent or no-parent families. Many weekly sessions were conducted by volunteers (with inputs and guidance from Nirnay staff) on anger, aggression, peer pressure, child sex abuse etc. The young volunteers bonded very well with the young leaders and good rapport was established. The feedback of these young volunteers has been excellent and they have enjoyed their interactions with the students.