No longer lonely, Akshay is loved and cared for!

The 2.8 million sex workers in India are highly marginalised, vulnerable and unreached due to the burden of severe stigma, the commoditization of personhood, forced poverty and debt bondage. Doubly disadvantaged, their children face even worse consequences in these red light areas, including physical danger, vulnerability to violence and sexual exploitation. Many of these children are kept drugged under the very beds upon which the trade is carried out. Also, as their mothers work through the night as sex workers, they wake up late in the afternoon and their children invariably miss meals and become malnourished. Perishing in hunger, neglect, illiteracy and hopelessness, these children long for the day their childhood would be theirs again.

Akshay is a child of a trafficked woman from the Turbhe red light area, one of the innumerable poverty stricken red light pockets in Mumbai, India. His mother was HIV positive and suffered from brain tuberculosis. Akshay has witnessed his mother beaten and thrown on the streets as well as all the physical and sexual abuse pervasive in the area. After seeing the dangerous situation the child was in, Sahaara pre-primary teachers intervened and counseled Akshay’s mother to release Akshay into the custody of the Mahima Home, a supportive residence for youth. His mother was reluctant but eventually signed the legal papers. Two days later, she passed away.

At the Mahima Home, Akshay receives quality education, accommodation and wholesome nutrition within a loving family environment afforded by dedicated house parents.

Akshay is a sensitive, physically fit and active seven year old boy. Normally there is a period of adjustment for new residents, but Akshay adjusted quickly to his new environment.

Your generous donations, Venkat and Manda, will enable Sahaara to provide three fresh and nutritious meals to Akshay for four months, thereby ensuring that he remains healthy and performs well in his studies.

Thank you all so much for coming together in support of Akshay!