These are the words graffitied on a wall in the rural town where I’ve been living for the last 3 weeks.

In India they do not want girl children.

The cost of their dowries is impossible for a family who lives in poverty & they see girl children as a huge liability.

Since being in India, I have been working with Rescue Pink which is a non for profit organisation that exists to fight against female infanticide and 5 days a week we head out to surrounding villages & interview women who are either part of Rescue Pinks nutrition or entrepreneur program.

Here are just 2 of the stories I have had the honour of hearing since being in India. 

Their full names have not been used for the protection.

     

 J is a 30 year old Mum who was married 11 years ago.

Her husband is a daily labourer & she is a housewife. Both are uneducated.

She has 3 children, one is a 9 year old daughter who has 4th standard government level education named G, another is a 4 year old son named S who attends the village school & lastly baby Mercy (who we had the honour of naming) who is 6 months old.
J had another daughter but she died 5 years ago at the age of 1. She fell into a well when no one was watching.
After having daughters she was pressured to have a boy child. Now she has had an operation so she can’t have any more children.

She was surrounded by her relatives at the time of this interview so did not want to speak out against her husband but he is lazy & an alcoholic & does not go to work often. 
If he doesn’t go to work, her children go without receiving food & the proper nutrition they need.

J has been taking nutrition through Rescue Pink for 6 months now & has noticed that baby Mercy is much healthier than her other 2 children and she also feels much healthier.
Through Rescue Pink she has learned how to better take care of her children.

In the future J would like to open a small provisions shop or purchase a stitching machine so she can help provide for her family.
Her dreams for her children are for them to be happy & to study well.

S is a 23 year old mum with 2 daughters & 1 son.

Her daughters H (7 years old) & R (5 years old) both have 1st standard government education.
After having 2 daughters her husband pressured her to have another child, so she had her son A who is now 3 years old.
She was married at age 15, so has now been married for 8 years.

Before Rescue Pink S was casually doing daily labour, while her husband would drink.
Because she is very beautiful it caused her husband to have doubts & worry about her whenever she left the house.
1 year ago her husband left her & her children, so she is now living with her Mum.

She was worried about having 2 daughters because of the cost of their dowries & education so Rescue Pink loaned her money to start her own stitching business.
Now she likes that she can work from home, taking care of her children at the same time. She chose to start this business as before marriage she had learned to stitch.
She stitches blouses, sarees and dresses for children.

A lot of people stitch in her village so she has found it a little hard to get customers & hopes that the business will improve. But through this business she has learned how to stand on her own two feet & save money for her children’s future as well as being able to afford proper food & nutrition for them.

S dreams that H can be a teacher when she grows up, and that R can be whatever she wants. Even though her husband won’t return she still hopes that her son can grow up to be whatever her husband wishes.

 

Want to help?

Rescue Pink is always looking for new donors to help support more women & children. Head to www.rescuepink.org to find out more.