Guria India Blog

I n the spirit of National Children’s Day, meet Imran! He’s an aspiring film-maker, wonderful singer, and student at our Shivdaspur Non-Formal Education Center. On this day, we celebrate the brightness of every child, but we should also rem ember the millions of children from whom the right to live freely and vibrantly has been stolen. Even on this day of light, we will continue to fight the darkness of sex trafficking. And thank you so much to everyone at  SPECKS OF DUST  -- Azza Cohen, Shaina Watrous, Lizzie Martin, Katie Horvath -- for creating the video! Keep an eye out for their upcoming full-length documentary about Guria, SPECKS OF DUST. To learn more about this film, visit  http://specksofdustfilm.com/

Last week, our annual Divali celebration at the Shivdaspur Non-Formal Education Center was a great success! To teach the children about the potential beauty in all materials, Guria held a decoration competition between the “new building” and the “old building” in which store-bought supplies were forbidden, and the children could only use junk they found to decorate. Check out the photos to see the incredible results of many weeks of the children’s hard work. Also, thank you to the groups from Where There Be Dragons and LEAPNOW for joining us to celebrate Divali and voting decide the decorations winner: the old building!

Yesterday on the day of Chatt Pooja, Guria took the NFE Shivdaspur Center and some children from the Boat School on a field trip to a beautiful waterfall location! Spirits were high, and the long bus rides there and back were filled with joyful screams, laughter, and plenty of singing. The children swam and played in the fresh river water, and it was a wonderful day of fun and celebration. We are so grateful to have such a loving community. This trip will surely be looked back on with a smile by all! Goofy kids :) Playing in the river! The water was beautiful. The children having an impromptu lesson! Laughter and smiles all around. The view out the window of the bus on the way home was spectacular.

Here is a picture from September of Ajeet with a few members of the Geneva Global team at their office in Philadelphia, USA! Ajeet met the CEO Mr. Doug Balfour and spoke on GURIA's initiatives to the entire team of about thirty members. Senior Director Mr. Gene White also organised a speech for Ajeet at Eastern University. It was a big day of learning and sharing and we are grateful for everything Geneva Global has done for us.

Please SIGN and SHARE –  goo.gl/p3oXqc In the news recently, you may have seen the horrific rape and murder of children and women in Uttar Pradesh – but shockingly it isn’t new, it is all too common. Join the rising movement of thousands of people across India and demand that the government no longer ignore the crimes of rape, sex trafficking, and child prostitu tion ! Simply sign then click 'Share in a private message’ to send the link to all your fb friends and maximize the impact of this fight against injustice!

Our Freedom Now event on Tuesday at  Princeton University  was a great success! Many friends showed up to enjoy dance, music, learn about Guria's work, and hear Ajeet's words of wisdom. Thank you to everyone who came, and to the Freedom Fund for bringing Ajeet to Princeton!

Asian Human Rights Commission July 4, 2014 came out with an appeal in support of Guria when they were implicated in a false case when they went to rescue 20 child laborers/bonded laborers from a brick kiln, along with the labor department, and the anti-human trafficking unit of Varanasi.  http://www.humanrights.asia/news/urgent-appeals/AHRC-UAC-100-2014