The New Year ushers in a new order and the new order brings in new ideas and helps us move closer to the goal of building a brighter future for the children. So, this edition we decided to introduce you to the new executive committee of Vibha. We have the future plans for Vibha outlined by our new COO, Rajesh Haridas. We also have updates about a project we funded called Guria from Varanasi, India. We would like to remind you yet again this month to write to us about what you would like to see in this newsletter and how we can help improve it.

Interview with Rajesh Haridas, COO

ED: Could you tell us a little bit about yourself - your education, interests, past volunteering experiences?
HR: I went to a high school in my home state of Kerala after which I proceeded to earn a Bachelor in Engineering from Bangalore University and a Masters in Electrical Engineering from Wichita State University. I am currently employed with Cisco Systems as a software engineer. As far as my interests go, I am a committed outdoor enthusiast and enjoy all kinds of sports and travel; I am also an avid hiker. Though my primary volunteer work has been with Vibha, I have also volunteered with the Habitat of Humanity, Second harvest food festival and few other organizations in and around the Bay area.

ED: When did you join Vibha? What was and is your personal motivation in volunteering for Vibha? What drives you on a daily basis?
HR: I joined Vibha in early 2001. My motivation comes from the need to do something worthwhile for the underprivileged child. My parents worked hard to give me a good foundation, which I feel must be put to good use. During my school and college years I watched children being denied basic needs and opportunities. I saw too many children begging. During undergrad, I saw child labor at its worst, young children working in hotels and workshops in hazardous work environments. All I could do is stand and watch. Looking back I see the impetus in these events collectively. They provided me with the urge to do something that makes a difference. What drives me on a daily basis? I have to say it is the enthusiasm of our hard working volunteers. Things go up and down in an organization, but our volunteers keep doing whatever they can to make a change. I am especially motivated when I review every successful project that Vibha supports at the grassroots level.

ED: What does your work as the Chief Operating Officer of Vibha involve? What is a typical day like?
HR: I am responsible for taking care of both, the day to day operations (which includes streamlining the various activities) as well as for planning and shaping the future of the organization. A typical day has 20 - 30 e-mails, a few phone calls, a couple of hours on conference calls and so on. The conference calls are the most interesting as that’s when we review projects for funding and decide on those that have the most impact.

ED: How do you manage your priorities with a full time career and family?
HR: But I have realized that even with the demands of career and family, there is always some time to spare. In fact volunteering with Vibha has helped me plan my schedule much better. In hindsight I feel that with each year, as I took up more and more responsibility with Vibha, I became much more efficient with my day to day planning. After all the Operations chief must practice efficiency to be taken seriously!

ED: What are your short term and long term priorities for Vibha?
HR: My initial priorities are to streamline the day to day operations of this organization. This is a crucial first step to prepare the organization to scale up to the next level. Today we are primarily a fund raising organization, more like a small foundation that is helping the grassroots efforts. My long term plans are to make Vibha a Child Development Organization. We should be able to identify and proactively propagate effective practices that bring about fundamental changes to the area of child development. To achieve this, I think, it is time for us to start Vibha India. Vibha India should be involved in the ground work, where in addition to funding the project, we should help in capacity building, scaling efforts and facilitating networking amongst projects.

ED: What do you think patrons should expect from Vibha?
HR: I thank our patrons for their tremendous support to the organization. They are the motivation for our volunteers and they help us achieve success. We would like to assure our patrons that Vibha comprises of a dedicated team of volunteers who work really hard to make sure that your dollars are spent wisely. We look forward to your continued support and together, we can make a difference in the lives of thousands of children.

ED: Would you want to offer any advice for people that want to start volunteering/ participating with Vibha?
HR: There is a lot that each one of us can do. It doesn’t matter if it is one hour a week or if it is twenty hours a week, it still makes a difference. I strongly recommend that new volunteers educate themselves about the organization. Our website offers opportunities for those interested and you are welcome to contact us.

The New Vibha Executive Committee

The new Vibha executive team assumed its position earlier this month. For information about the members of this new executive team and their responsibilities please click here.

Vibha is also happy to announce the newest addition to our office, Vivek Sharma. In his role as the Administrative Manager he is responsible for Vibha's financial management and accounting, receipting and a wide variety of other administrative tasks.

Project Profile

Guria Swayam Sevi Sansthan,
Shivdaspur, Varanasi - Uttar Pradesh

What is Guria?
Guria is a non-profit organization which has been fighting the sexual exploitation of women & girls since 1993. It began when Ajeet Singh, the founder of Guria attended a wedding in 1993 in his hometown of Varanasi. He was appalled by the plight of a sex worker who was dancing at the wedding. He adopted her three children and subsequently formed Guria. However he was trying to effect a social change by tackling the root causes of prostitution, poverty and inequality head on. Needless to say he met with numerous obstacles along the way. But Mr. Singh persevered and has become a beacon of light in the lives of sex workers and their children in the red light district of Varanasi.

What are its objectives?
Guria’s aims are education & rehabilitation of children, ending child prostitution and stopping second generation prostitution. To that end, Guria is running a Balwadi (Non Formal Education Center) in the red light district of Varanasi to educate the children of sex workers. Currently, the Balwadi teaches close to 200 children with a sizeable number going to mainstream schools after initial training. A computer teacher, a law student and a budding art major are just a few of the proud Guria alumni. In addition, they provide alternative means of income for the sex workers by organizing cultural festivals and providing vocational training. Guria's cultural festivals have been lauded by the media (BBC, Zee TV) and by eminent personalities such as Ms. Shabana Azmi, Member of Parliament.

What is Vibha’s role?
Vibha is funding a portion of a planned night shelter to provide refuge to the children of sex workers. Although the Balwadi has been very successful, children have to return to the unhealthy atmosphere of sex and drugs at night. This has an adverse impact on Guria's efforts and has led to increased drop out rates from the Balwadi. By providing refuge to these children during the night via the shelter, Vibha will give them an opportunity to have a normal childhood. This will also prevent vulnerable girl children from becoming victims to the flesh trade.

Rescue Operations:
In addition to the ongoing struggle against the trafficking in women, Oct 2005 presented a new challenge to Guria. During the last week of the month, Guria volunteers and the students and faculty of Benaras Hindu University rescued 31 girls including 17 minors from the clutches of prostitution. Subsequently, the brothel owners and pimps levied a series of false charges against the volunteers which forced Ajeet and the others into hiding for their own safety. Although the authorities were not responsive initially, they turned around quickly thanks to the individuals from around the world and organizations like the Asian Human Rights Commission, Asha for Education, Association for India's Development and Vibha. Since then 6 more girls have been rescued and the brothel owners and pimps have been arrested and denied bail. This situation is yet to stabilize, but notwithstanding Guria is working very hard to ensure that justice is served. We at Vibha support Guria and its volunteers in their efforts towards this noble cause.

Update after the Rescue Operations:
An Enquiry was conducted by forming a Fact Finding Committee and a report was submitted supporting the action taken by Guria, its volunteers & students of B.H.U. Bail applications of 15 brothel keepers and pimps were rejected. The kingpin of all the trafficking operations in Shivdaspur, Varanasi was killed in an encounter with the police in the outskirts of Varanasi, while trying to escape.
After the Rescue Operations, the Chief of Police (Varanasi) started Operation Dry out in the red light area of Shivdaspur. Several women in this profession subsequently lost their only source of income and each day became a struggle. Guria has been feeding 80 women and 120 children one meal every day since Dec 2005.
The central advisory committee on child prostitution met on this issue, and a presentation on the rescue operation unanimously supported Guria. The committee clearly spelled out that further re-victimization of the women should be avoided at all costs and rehabilitation should be a key focus area going forward.

Write To Us...

Your feedback is important to us. Vibha welcomes any comments, suggestions or questions you may have about our projects, programs, products, monitoring etc. If you are particularly interested in a topic and would like to see Vibha showcase it please let us know.

Vibha 1030 E El Camino Real, #424 Sunnyvale, CA 94087
Phone: 408-997-9992 | Fax: 775-593-1061

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Vibha is a 501(c)(3) registered non-profit, non-religious, non-political organization that seeks to restore to underprivileged children their basic rights to food, shelter, health and education - in short, a future.
All donations to Vibha are tax exempt in the US.