Guria India Blog

Here is a video of the beautiful dancing of the children from Varanasi's Red Light Area. Thank you to Atul Vidyalaya in Gujarat for inviting these children to perform as special guests. Through art, these talented dancers were given the chance to overcome social stigma, rise out of the dangerous and stressful community they were raised in to participate in the mainstream world.

Pallavi Khare's art exhibition, Unspoken, was featured in The Times of India, New Delhi. Thank you Pallavi for donating the proceeds from your exhibition of art work in Delhi from 9th-11th September.  The entire donation will  be tripled by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. A big thanks to the foundation !! Here is the article featuring the exhibition:  http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31808&articlexml=Delhi-mall-hosts-art-exhibition-10092016107005

Today, South Texas College screened "Specks of Dust" at their Human Trafficking Conference. The film was followed by a Q&A session with Ajeet Singh over Skype. Artworks were also on display for the FREEDOM NOW Global Art Exchange and Exhibit. #‎ humanrights‬   ‪#‎ humantrafficking‬   ‪#‎ slavery‬   ‪#‎ freedomnow‬   ‪#‎ Guria‬   ‪#‎ justice‬ ‪#‎ rape‬   ‪#‎ sextrafficking‬   ‪#‎ sexslavery‬   ‪#‎ childprostitution‬   ‪#‎ specksofdust‬   ‪#‎ art‬

The 2016 FREEDOM NOW Global Art Exchange & Exhibit was a great success! Thank you to all those involved!  ‪#‎ humanrights‬   ‪#‎ art‬   ‪#‎ humantrafficking‬   ‪#‎ slavery‬   ‪#‎ freedomnow‬   ‪#‎ Guria‬ ‪#‎ justice‬   ‪#‎ rape‬   ‪#‎ sextrafficking‬   ‪#‎ sexslavery‬   ‪#‎ childprostitution‬ ‪#‎ commercialsexualexploitation‬   ‪#‎ bondedlabour‬   ‪#‎ forcedlabour‬   ‪#‎ rescue‬

The 2016 FREEDOM NOW Global Art Exchange & Exhibit was a great success! Thank you to all those involved!  Press Coverage!

Guria declares March 4th a worldwide day of art, awareness and solidarity! The FREEDOM NOW Global Art Exchange & Exhibit is part of Guria’s ongoing awareness campaign called FREEDOM NOW and is designed to shed light on sex trafficking, child prostitution, and rape. On Friday, March 4th, schools and organizations around the world will exchange art about trafficking and orchestrate student art exhibits in a worldwide day of solidarity. This campaign is open to any individuals, schools, NGO's,etc. who are determined to raise awareness, spread empowerment and demand FREEDOM NOW. For more information about the FREEDOM NOW campaign, please contact Guria intern Diana M. Chen at guria.intern@gmail.com

Last week’s Diwali celebration at the Shivdaspur Non-Formal Education Center was a great success! The children were broken up into two teams, and a decoration competition was held between the “new building” and the “old building”. Children were only allowed to decorate the school buildings using materials they had found on the streets. Congrats to this year’s winner: the new building! Both teams worked extremely hard, and produced incredible works of art! Check out these amazing pictures:  

It's been now 6 days since the french volunteers arrived at Guria and we have loved having them! Since they have been here they have participated in drama classes, impromptu dance parties, and have helped paint another beautiful mural on the walls of the Varanasi center.

Only two days before the FREEDOM NOW Global Art Exchange & Exhibit on March 18th! The whole team is staying late at the office to get all the paintings ready. It’s 11:20 pm and we are laughing and working our butts off! MARCH 18TH IS GOING TO BE A GLOBAL EVENT OF ART, AWARENESS, AND SOLIDARITY! Students from 45 schools in Angola, Brazil, China, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Japan, Montenegro, Romania, Senegal, South Africa, Switzerland, and the United States, have all learned about human trafficking, created art, shared that art with each other, and will hold art exhibits in their schools on March 18th containing student art about human trafficking from around the world! Check out www.freedomnowcampaign.org  to learn more and see all the art!