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Frishta News - Issue 24 - Autumn 2011

Welcome to our latest edition of Frishta news. Here in India the Monsoon season is over and we are enjoying cooler nights and mornings. We hope you enjoy catching up on all our latest news.

Nigel's Update:

News from the Pilot Frishta Children's Home

Two new girls have joined the Frishta home, Aarti and Savita, bringing the total to seven. In the picture below are all the Frishta children with their foster parents Bhupinder and Sandeep and their own daughter Noor.

In summer temperatures can reach 45C – the hottest months are May and June - and as it is hard to study in such heat the schools close for a long summer holiday. The Frishta children enjoyed picnics (see picture below) and trips to Chat Bir Zoo, the Rock Garden and Sukhna Lake in Chandigarh during their school holidays.

Also below is a picture of Jyoti making an Indian flag for the Independence Day celebrations at school on August 15th.

Each day, Mittu (not his real name), a four year old boy, was teased in the street by other children about the tragic death of his mother. Today he has the biggest smile you've ever seen and a home where he is loved and cared for, because your support has taken him from the street to his home, from tears to smiles

We are aiming for 100% of our children to be sponsored by the end of October and we're well on our way there. Your sponsorship will provide a Frishta child with everything they need to improve their education and their quality of life, and to break free from the cycle of poverty. Join the growing family of Frishta child sponsors supporting children like Mittu.

 

"The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches, but to reveal to him his own."
Benjamin Disraeli

 

India: child fact

There are 31,000,000 children in India who have lost one or both parents due to all causes (UNICEF 2009).

Christmas Cards

Order your Frishta's Christmas Cards in time for Christmas! The cards are available in seven attractive designs and sizes, to raise funds for Frishta and the Society for Mentally Challenged School (SOREM), which Frishta works with. Do visit our website at http://www.frishta.org.uk/cards/2011/index.html to view these cards and contact Simone at simone@frishta.org.uk with your order by the 18th of November (after this date cards will not be available due to Simone's own Christmas delivery!).

2011 Census: India's unwanted girls

We have drawn attention before to the strong preference for male children here in India. The 2011 census shows a serious decline in the number of girls under the age of seven - activists fear eight million female foetuses may have been aborted in the past decade. The BBC's Geeta Pandey explores what has led to this crisis:

Kulwant has three daughters aged 24, 23 and 20 and a son who is 16. In the years between the birth of her third daughter and her son, Kulwant became pregnant three times. Each time, she says, she was forced to abort the foetus by her family after ultrasound tests confirmed that they were girls. "My mother-in-law taunted me for giving birth to girls. She said her son would divorce me if I didn't bear a son." Until her son was born, Kulwant's daily life consisted of beatings and abuse from her husband, mother-in-law and brother-in-law. Once, she says, they even attempted to set her on fire. "They were angry. They didn't want girls in the family. They wanted boys so they could get fat dowries," she says.

Common attitude
This story is common and repeated in millions of homes across India, and it has been getting worse. In 1961, for every 1,000 boys under the age of seven, there were 976 girls. Today, the figure has dropped to a dismal 914 girls. Although the number of women overall is improving (due to factors such as life expectancy), India's ratio of young girls to boys is one of the worst in the world after China.

Many factors come into play to explain this: infanticide, abuse, and neglect of girl children. India outlawed dowries in 1961, but the practice remains rampant and the value of dowries is constantly growing, affecting rich and poor alike. But campaigners say the decline is largely due to the increased availability of antenatal sex screening, and they talk of a genocide.

'National shame'
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described female foeticide and infanticide as a "national shame" and called for a "crusade" to save girl babies.

In 1994, the Pre-Natal Determination Test (PNDT) Act outlawed sex-selective abortion. In 2004, it was amended to include gender selection even at the pre-conception stage. "What is needed is a strict implementation of the law," says Varsha Joshi, director of census operations for Delhi. "I find there's absolutely no will on the part of the government to stop this."

Ms Joshi says most offenders are members of the growing middle-class and affluent Indians - they are aware that the technology exists and have the means to pay to find out the sex of their baby and abort if they choose.

Delhi is not alone in its anti-girl bias. Sex ratios have declined in 17 states in the past decade, with the biggest falls registered in Jammu and Kashmir. Punjab and its neighbour Haryana, are the two Indian states with the worst sex ratios. However, since the last census, Punjab and Haryana have shown a slight improvement.

Sabu George, India's best-known campaigner on the issue, says, "We have to take effective steps to control the promotion of sex determination by the medical community and file cases against doctors who do it. Otherwise by 2021, we are frightened to think what it will be like."    Source: BBC News at bbc.co.uk/news (with permission)

Nigel's note: Along with our architect we have recently been re-designing the cradle that will go at the entrance to Frishta's Village, so that any unwanted girl (and boy) babies can be left with us rather than disposed of.

Construction Project News

During the Monsoon months of July to September, progress has slowed owing to the rains making our approach track impassable for delivery trucks and also some construction workers leaving due to the sighting of snakes! However, the rains are over now and we look forward to the first home (out of four) being completed before Christmas.

Above L: The homes will have a mixture of exposed brick and cement plastered and painted walls. Above R: A view of the internal courtyard that will be open to the sky, although we may put a roof on if flies and mosquitoes are a problem.
By the next Newsletter I promise to take some video for you to have your own personal tour of the site and the homes!

We are very keen to avoid creating an institution and so we have been thinking about how to make each of the children's homes unique. Besides a home name, there will be different colour schemes and floor designs. One of my favourite simple design ideas is to have a hopscotch court laid in the floor of the clothes-drying court.

In the past month we have been busy choosing toilets, wash basins, taps and wall and floor tiles for the homes. There have been numerous trips to suppliers, negotiating hard to get the best prices as there is no such thing as a fixed price in India. By enthusiastically playing our charity 'card' we have been able to negotiate discounts of up to 40% off the list price from some good-hearted shop owners. This is vital as inflation continues at 10% and the cost of steel, cement and diesel increase at an even faster rate.

There are all manner of items that we need to buy for the four new homes (see below) and if you would like to donate money for a specific item please get in touch: nigel@frishta.org.uk

Fridge Freezer (Rs. 15,000/ £215)	Washing Machine (Rs. 10,000 / £143)
Dining Table and benches (Rs. 9,500/ £136)	Sofa and Chairs (Rs. 6,000 / £86)
Bed & Mattress (Rs. 4,000 / £55)	Gas Stove (Rs. 3,500 / £50)
Bookcase (Rs. 3,000 / £43)	Rug (Rs. 1,500 / £21)
Pillow, Bedding & Towel (Rs. 1,650 / £23)	Ceiling Fan (Rs. 1,100 / £15)
Curtain / Blinds (Rs. 1,000 / £14)	Floor Cushions (Rs. 1,000 / £14)

Finances and Fundraising

Income and Expenditure for 2010

Income for the year was £60,384 (22% lower than 2009) and UK expenditure was £7,526, leaving a surplus of £52,858. At the end of December 2010 total funds in the UK were £317,001 and funds in India (including local donations) were £68,434.

Give as you Live

Would you like to help turn the £6.8bn that will be spent online this Christmas into £s for Frishta? You can as thousands of stores will donate money to Frishta when you shop online with 'Give as you Live' created by Everyclick.
Sign up here http://www.giveasyoulive.com/christmas

2011 London 10K Run

By Stephen Atkinson: 'On July 10th 2011 Frishta took part in the British London 10km run through all of the city's most iconic areas. Alongside thousands of other participants we ran down Piccadilly, jogged on the Embankment, panted across Westminster Bridge and wheezed across the finish line on Whitehall. The streets of London were awash with glorious sunshine and discarded water bottles, but more significantly, with the satisfaction that was experienced by all involved, found in raising money for charity. With ten runners clad in Frishta T-shirts, the charity raised over £2,108 to go towards the vital efforts of building a children's village in India. It brings a smile to my face to have seen such accomplishment in our capital city, and to witness the good that people can do on behalf of others. The camaraderie between each and every runner was touching as we all were aware of the good that was being achieved for each charity. Though I found it exhausting, there was no limit to the entertainment offered by those running in superhero costumes, gorilla outfits, and pantomime kits. It was certainly an experience that I hope to have again soon.'

Why not join the Frishta team running the race in 2012 (8th July)? Each runner will receive a timing chip and an official race photograph. For your guaranteed place please contact Joe (joehammond@frishta.org.uk).

...and besides running the London 10k Heather Quinn also took over 140 beanie baby soft toys donated by an HSBC work colleague to a church fete and raised £124 and also £45 was raised from a work dress-down day.

A Birthday with a difference!

David Steinegger in Luxembourg, a Frishta supporter (and Nigel's former boss) decided to celebrate his recent milestone Birthday with 50km of sporting activity (10kms each of running, rollerblading, canoeing – see photo - cycling and walking) and to raise money for Frishta and two other charities. After over 12 hour£s and having covered a total of 58 km David raised almost €10,500 with around €3,500/£3,000 coming to Frishta. Many congratulations to David on his Birthday and for such a fantastic effort!

 

Introducing Sally & Roy Winsor

I'm delighted that Sally Winsor has recently joined our board of UK Trustees and also that her husband Roy is helping compile the Frishta Newsletters. Here is more about them both....

In 1974 Sally's family moved to Nailsea, near Bristol.  Southfield Church had a vibrant youth group which she joined.  Other teenagers there included Frishta founder Nigel Studley and fellow trustee Martin Harris.

Sally qualified as a nurse in 1980, eventually specialising in Care of the Elderly. She has two adult sons, and a grandchild.  In 2002 she married Roy, another member of the youth group from the 1970's.  He had broken his neck in a car accident in 1998 and was paralysed from the shoulders down. Two years later she ‘retired' from nursing to become his full-time carer.

Sally's interest in India came from her Father, who was stationed there during World War Two. The utter poverty and misery of the street people turned him towards social action for those less fortunate.

Sally inherited his passion for helping others. Her sunny disposition, enthusiasm and energy, will, she hopes, help to introduce more people to Frishta's vision of giving Indian street and orphaned children a home, an education, a hope and a future.

"If you cannot feed a hundred people, then feed just one."
Mother Theresa

The Perils of Indifference - Millennium Speech

On 12 April 1999, Elie Wiesel, Nobel prize winner, gave an impassioned speech at the White House, as part of the Millennium Lecture series, hosted by President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton. Here are extracts from his speech. (Hear the full speech on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqFIEeK0Jyg)

‘We are on the threshold of a new century, a new millennium. What will the legacy of this vanishing century be? How will it be remembered in the new millennium?

Surely it will be judged, and judged severely. So much violence; so much indifference.

What is indifference? The word means "no difference." A strange and unnatural state in which the lines blur between light and darkness, dusk and dawn, crime and punishment, cruelty and compassion, good and evil. Is it necessary at times to practice it simply to keep one's sanity, live normally, enjoy a fine meal and a glass of wine, as the world around us experiences harrowing upheavals?

Of course, indifference can be tempting - more than that, seductive. It is so much easier to look away from victims. It is so much easier to avoid such rude interruptions to our work, our dreams, our hopes. It is, after all, awkward, troublesome, to be involved in another person's pain and despair. Yet, for the person who is indifferent, his or her neighbour are of no consequence. And, therefore, their lives are meaningless. Their hidden or even visible anguish is of no interest.

Indifference elicits no response. Indifference is not a response. Indifference is not a beginning; it is an end. And, therefore, indifference is always the friend of the enemy, for it benefits the aggressor - never his victim, whose pain is magnified when he or she feels forgotten. The political prisoner in his cell, the hungry children, the homeless refugees - not to respond to their plight, not to relieve their solitude by offering them a spark of hope is to exile them from human memory. And in denying their humanity, we betray our own.

Indifference, then, is not only a sin, it is a punishment. And this is one of the most important lessons of this outgoing century's wide-ranging experiments in good and evil.

In the place that I come from, society was composed of three simple categories: the killers, the victims, and the bystanders.

What about the children? Oh, we see them on television, we read about them in the papers, and we do so with a broken heart. Their fate is always the most tragic, inevitably. When adults wage war, children perish. We see their faces, their eyes. Do we hear their pleas? Do we feel their pain, their agony? Every minute one of them dies of disease, violence, famine. Some of them - so many of them - could be saved.

[Elie Wiesel concluded his address at the White House by recalling his boyhood and survival of the Holocaust death camps with these words...]

And so, once again, I think of the young Jewish boy from the Carpathian Mountains. He has accompanied the old man I have become throughout these years of quest and struggle. And together we walk towards the new millennium, carried by profound fear and extraordinary hope.'

Open Invitation

You are invited to help and get involved in making a positive change and real difference to the lives of disadvantaged children. Why not become a Friend of Frishta?

Funny Indian Road Signs (2)

Continuing on from the last newsletter, here are a few more road signs from the creative Indian road authorities.

And to close...

"Give justice to the poor and the orphan, uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute. Rescue the poor and helpless"
Psalms 82: 3-4a

How do you feel when your rights are overlooked or trampled on by someone else? It hurts, yes? Makes you mad? But I'm not talking about somebody jumping the queue in front of you (although I admit that is a pet dislike of mine). Rather I'm referring to fundamental rights that we all take for granted.

For many people and children in India, oppression and the denying of their rights is much more than the minor inconvenience of queue jumping: it's a daily dignity sapping experience. To feel utterly powerless in the face of a society and system that is against you and to have no voice that anyone will listen to is be oppressed.

Last year I had a taste of what it feels like to be oppressed, something I hope will never be repeated. Without going into too much detail, our only car was stolen, we had our water and electricity cut off at the height of summer and our landlord and the Police victimised us with false accusations. Why did I have to learn that lesson? Had I become hardened to the plight of the children I saw every day? It was a terrible time, but it only lasted a matter of weeks. What of the Dalit children who are born into a life of oppression? How do they feel and how do they cope with such a hopeless existence?

As an NGO concerned with children's rights we are doing all we can to right the wrongs wherever we come across them. But it's not our concern alone. As the Psalmist says, we should not become hardened - it concerns all of us. Thank you for your support of Frishta.

How to Become a Friend of Frishta click here

Your part

We can't serve the children of India disadvantaged by poverty without the help of people like you. Would you consider praying, volunteering, giving, or simply forwarding this e-mail to a friend?

Thank you.

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