Becky Bavinger, formerly TEN's Student Programs and Event Director, is now fighting slavery in Kolkata(Calcutta) India. She is assisting our partners throughout India and Nepal, as well as opening the first TEN production center.
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Banged up in Bangladesh
Yesterday, I took a twelve hour bus ride from Kolkata, India to Dhaka, Bangladesh. I went to visit several NGOs so that we can start working with some of the organizations there. Unfortunately, I was there for only two days when I had an accident and broke my ankle in 3 places. My friend took me to the best hospital in the country, and the orthopedic surgeon informed me that I needed immediate surgery to insert metal plates and screws. A bit nerve-racking, I'll admit. But the hospital, Apollo Dhaka, is excellent and the staff did everything they could to keep me comfortable. My friend and his family visited me every day, and after I was discharged took excellent care of me at their house.Click to Read more
New Year, New School, New Hope
April 16, 2009
Yesterday was the Bengali New Year, and throughout the day I received calls from friends wishing me "Shubo Nobo Bosho!" It was indeed a joyous day for ten children from Kidderpore's red light area. These children have been enrolled in a very well-known boarding school outside of Kolkata. They left today after saying goodbye to their mothers, who are so excited that their children will no longer grow up inside a brothel. I went to say goodbye and asked the kids if they were nervous about leaving. But all of them smiled and proudly said, "No, didi, we're happy because there's a good school and more kids to play with!"Click to Read more
Leaving home, Coming home
March 11, 2009
Happy Holi!!!!!!! As usual, I'm flying on Holi, one of the biggest Indian Holidays. It's the Festival of Lights, the Hindu celebration of the coming of spring and first harvest. People across India throw colors at each other, which is symbolic of one of the legends of Krishna. He's the blue god and one day, a bit jealous of his lover's fair complexion, playfully threw colors on her. But just like last year, I missed the fun because of a long flight. It seemed to take forever to get home this time, mostly because I was so anxious to see the women at Destiny.Click to Read more
Florida Fun
February 3, 2009Click to Read more
Volunteers Galore
For the last few months, Smarita and I have been organizing a volunteer trip. A grand total of 14 volunteers came to spend 2 weeks working at several of our NGO partners. Some were sent to volunteer in one of the red light districts drop-in-centers. Others were sent to set up a preschool inside a shelter home, and the rest went to lead arts programs at a shelter home for recently rescued survivors.Click to Read more
The gift of education
My family has always been supportive of TEN's work, even though I'm away from them for most of the year. They've helped with donations, hosting awareness parties, and even coming to visit India to see the work first hand. Right before I left to go home for Christmas, we had arranged for a high-risk girl to be admitted into one of the shelter homes.Click to Read more
Family Visit
November 13, 2008
Well after a year of living in Kolkata, my family has finally come to visit. My mother, two aunts, and two friends arrived last week in Delhi. We toured Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Udaipur and Mumbai for ten days, then flew to Kolkata. After ten days of what I call the "American Princess Tour," we're finally back in my comfort zone of Kolkata.Click to Read more
Festival of Lights, at whose expense?
October 28, 2008
Today is Diwali, the festival of lights, perhaps the single most celebrated day in India. The mythological origin of Diwali is to celebrate the return of the Rama, his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana after a war in which he killed the demon Ravana. It was getting dark, so people along the way lit oil lamps to light their way. So Diwali is a festival symbolising the destruction of evil forces.Click to Read more
Survivor Wedding
October 22, 2008
Sometimes people say that being in India makes them feel "alive." I imagine they mean that it's an overload of senses, that each experience is an adventure, and that each good thing is invaluable. But I didn't quite have that same feeling of "being alive" until today. I had the honor of attending a wedding of four survivors. Click to Read more
My bag is made of garbage
October 17, 2008
Sarah arrived this week to see the Destiny center and to visit some of TEN’s other partners in India. Our newest partner is Darpana, an art institute in Gujurat that instructs students from across India, and in fact around the world, in classical Karnatika style. They also use the art forms, such as theatre and painting, to teach rural villages about social issues like HIV/AIDS and gender equality. Their recent project is to purchase plastic bags from the slums (thus providing some form of income for garbage-pickers), and to employ women from rural villages to weave these plastic bags.Click to Read more