This week I watched Born Into Brothels. It was a really
powerful movie talking about the children who are born into Sonagchi, Calcutta
red light district. Normally I try to avoid movies like this because I truly
feel like what can I do? How can I help? And I was not disappointed. This movie
was both motivational and inspirational to make me want to help out these kids
among many others. But that being said I found myself unsure of how I could
help. I of course have told several friends to watch it to help spread the
awareness of the situation out there, but I found myself really hurting from
watching it.
I have often been called an idealist by my mom (and she says
it with pride!) because I am a firm believer in the fact that if something
doesn’t work then we have to change it. For example these kids are being born
into a vicious cycle and, at least for the young girls, being forced into a
life of prostitution. I have
always stated that if we take half of the money that we have in the prison
system and poured it into the schools then we eventually wouldn’t need a prison
system. It would eventually make it so that very few people have to be locked
up because they are smart enough to get high paying jobs that can support their
families and can rely on their brains rather then their bodies to make money.
(That also includes robbing people with force.)
But for some reason people seem to feel like well you can’t
take the money out of the prison because then we’ll have to let the prisoners
out and then there will be a bunch of scary people out in the world. Here’s the
thing. You don’t let the prisoners out. You keep them in and educate them too
while pouring the money into the schools. Yes it is a hard investment and we as
a society will be paying double at first. BUT then you’ll find after awhile
that we won’t have to pay as much for the prisons after all the kids stop
committing crimes. Also it costs way less to spend a little extra teaching
children the tools to be a productive member of society, then to keep a man
alive in a prison for his whole adult life.
This is exactly what Zara Briski (Zana Auntie) was trying to
do with the kids that she was working with. By teaching them a skill
(photography) and getting them interviews with the schools she was giving them
a second chance. It was hard to watch what all the kids had to do to go through
to even be considered. Like the HIV tests that they had to take. I’ll admit as
a gay man I do often get tested and it comes up in my life more then I wish.
While I am negative and safe because I was born lucky and into a family that
teaches safe sex I forget that the kids who are born in the red light district
are not always taught this OR more importantly might have been born that with
the disease(s) already infecting them.
That moment alone in the movie made me really want to help
out. But how can I help? I keep asking myself. If you go to the website http://www.kids-with-cameras.org/bornintobrothels/ you cannot only purchase prints of the photos that that kids shot in the film but also copies of the DVD. All of the proceeds go to helping the kids education and their well being.
Another two moments that really spoke to me was were the
moments where the kids were brought to the beach and also when they were
brought to the zoo. In this moment you see all of the kids being what they are
kids. They’re playing with the animals and running into the water and al around
enjoying themselves. You forget for a moment that they have problems. For a
brief while it seems as if these kids are just kids enjoying their lives. As it
turns out though in every interview that we see, these children are not in fact
children or allowed to live out their childhood. Suchitra is forced into the
brothel at her young age, and Avijit's mother is burned alive in her kitchen by her pimp. These kids also have
no real hope to become anything other then what their parents are unless they
get to go away to a school or get to go away period. While I was thrilled that Avijit, Tapasi and Kochi make it out into schools, I was unhappy with how not all of them made it out of
the red light district.
Truthfully though until we as a whole change how things are
done this is going to repeat itself as a pattern over and over again. We need
to help educate these you kids and make it so that they can live lives that
they want to pursue. Not the lives that have supposedly been chosen for them.
Have you seen the film? What were your favorite moments? If you haven't then nows the time to pick up a copy and watch it. You'll be inspired to help!
Jason
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