Scheme for slum women to earn a living to save kids

GUWAHATI: Next time you carry your merchandise in colourful paper bags when you leave a provision store, you can feel satisfied that your purchase may be a contribution towards saving some slum children from abuse of any kind.
Project-32, a slum women empowerment scheme taken up by an NGO to save slum children from being abused, was launched on Wednesday by actress Zerfa Waheed.The project involves slum women to make paper bags and earn a living with dignity while being able to provide a safe environment for their children. The NGO, Utsah, works for child rights protection.
"My team at Utsah has been working in the field of child protection
for the past three years. Mothers are the foremost protectors of children and to empower them means also to help save their children from abuse and harm", says Miguel Das Queah, chairman ?Utsah'. "We have recently conceptualized this project and named the campaign as ?Project 32' because thirty two is the poverty line limit. Very often, we have seen parents selling their children or neglecting them because of poverty, making them more prone to abuse. Now ?Project 32' is all about making these mothers financially empowered and socially aware, so that hope and dignity is created for them."
Utsah holds the belief that better financial conditions will naturally minimize the risk of children being sold for petty amounts or even save them from being physically abused within their environment. Utsah has worked towards making Hafizpur slum a child-safe zone and transformed it into an organized slum area in recent years.
Launching the project, Wheed said, "I am happy to be launching ?Project 32'. I have visited the Hafiznagar slum at Bamunimaidam with the Utsah team and have gradually seen the transformation among the children there. They not only display good etiquettes but are also taking their education seriously. They often recite poems to visitors. This is quite commendable."
The actress said she often told these children never to take any money from strangers, or get lured by promises of employment by anyone. "I have tried to make them understand that such people can sell them or sell their organs by taking them away from their home. Even while speaking to the mothers, I have seen that they are now aware of the importance of safety for their children."
Wheed is happy that Utsah has chosen a specific area and is seriously working on improvements of all kinds there. "There is no superficiality in their work as we can see the difference they have made. They are helping these mothers find practical way of dealing with problems and I hope they maintain a consistency in what they have started," said the actress.