TeamworkingREDlightdistrict
Shocking doesn’t even come close to describing the red light district of Pune, India. In this tiny neighborhood there are about 6,000 prositutes. In the entire city there are an estimated 200,000. We wondered how do these young men & women get trapped in this terrible lifestyle. It was disturbing to hear that often times a father or brother will sell these young people into this life. Once they are sold, they are trapped until they pay off the amount paid to their family by the pimp. This takes years & years. In the midst of this incredibly horrible situation, there is a small team of people who are living in that area to bring hope to them. The team does HIV prevention education, & they do all they can to prevent new young people from coming in to this lifestyle. They also offer a safe house for children of prostitutes. Without the “creche” (children of prostitutes safe house) these tiny children are often drugged or given alcohol each night to render them unconscious during their mother’s working hours. The creche gives them a way to escape the horrors of this, at least for a few hours each day. ChildrenofProstitues PuneWhen we visited the creche, the kids were praying together & singing, and we saw the crafts they had made. Even though most of the children of prostitutes will themselves become prostitutes, this team is bringing the answers to break the cycle.