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MISS UNIVERSE® 2000
and UNFPA GOODWILL AMBASSADOR
TAKES ACTION IN HER HOME COUNTRY OF INDIA

FACE TO FACE WITH ADOLESCENTS IN INDIA

Lara Dutta, the current Miss Universe and a Goodwill Ambassador for UNFPA, visited her home country, India, from January 22-25 as part of the Face to Face Campaign for Women. She spent three days visiting UNFPA and NGO project sites in Calcutta and Bombay. The fourth day was devoted to a live WebCast and Chat On-Line sponsored by the Times of India and UNFPA face to face Campaign, where she answered questions on reproductive health, family planning, love and dating, education and peer and parent relationships, among others, posed by a group of young women and men from Bombay.

Lara began her India visit with a two day stay in Calcutta. On January 22, she visited an innovative project for youth and young women and men in the small village of Kockpukur, some 20 kilometers south of Calcutta in a rice growing region. Here Lara was able to talk at length to young women from the Kishori Bahini (adolescent girls’ brigade) and also to leaders of the local Mahila Mandal (women’s development groups), set up with assistance from Family Planning International Assistance, the service division of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. The funds were used to establish the NISHTHA project – Improving the Reproductive Health of Young Women and Men.

One of the dynamic young women that Lara met was Jogomaya Manna, a 25 year old member of the Mahila Mandal in Kockpukur village. Jogomaya has been an active member for 12 years, when she joined the adolescent brigade. It has been an uphill struggle for her and other members of the group.

"When we began to form adolescent and women’s groups the men tortured us like anything," she recalls in a clear steady voice. "They threw hard rice at us and beat us, but we would not relent. We started with just 24 members, but now have over 60. We fight for the rights of adolescent girls and women in this region. No one will speak for us, we have to stand up and do that ourselves. Until now," she continued, "no one bothered to come to this village, but with Lara’s visit we now have more legitimacy, more power to change things. Someday we will be free of the societal chains that have shackled us for centuries."

In another unprecedented event, Lara was permitted to perform an ancient Hindu ritual called Briksha Ropan, whereby a coconut seedling is planted by hand. Up to this day, no one but Hindu priests were allowed to perform this sacred ceremony, which represents the germination of new life.

On January 23, Lara spent the day visiting three project sites in the slum areas of Calcutta that cater to the special needs of desparately poor children and adolescents, many of them abandoned, abused and homeless. The project, initiated by the Child in Need Institute (CINI) in 1975 now provides education, a safe home environment and health care, including sexual and reproductive health, to some 5,000 children and adolescents in 10 slum wards.

Dr. K. Pappu, CINI Deputy Director, explained the basic approach of this grassroots community NGO: "Education is the foundation upon which good health is based. Therefore we want to ensure that every child has an opportunity to get a basic education. For without it there will be no personal development for these children and no development for the country."

As part of its country programme for India, UNFPA provided funds for the family life education material produced and distributed by CINI. This community-based initiative began to work with street children and homeless adolescents, but now includes the girl children of slum dwellers forced to drop out of school to help earn money for the family. "Without and education, these adolescents will never rise out of poverty and improve their lives," affirms Dr. Pappu.

CINI now operates 50 centers in Calcutta servicing a population of 500,000 out of a total of 5.5 million slum dwellers, or 50% of the entire population of West Bengal’s largest city.

On January 24, Lara spent the day talking with adolescent girls and young women living in the Thane District of Bombay, a disadvantaged suburban area of the city largely bypassed by government programmes. Lara visited the Skills Development Centre and a clinic for commercial sex workers in the slums of Thane City; two projects supported under the Integrated Population and Development project of Maharashtra State made possible with financial and technical assistance from UNFPA’s Country Programme for India.

At the Skills Development Centre, Lara met young women whose lives have improved significantly because they can now earn money and help support their families. Lara met one such beneficiary, an attractive 21 year old named Manisha. Recently married, she knits children’s clothes from her home and earns 200-500 rupees a month in addition to the salary her husband brings in. The income she makes has given her a real voice in her family. Manisha is adamant about controlling her own fertility and not letting her husband or in-laws decide on when or how often she should become pregnant. "Because of my training in family life and reproductive health, I now know where to get information and services to regulate my fertility. We will wait to have children until I can guarantee their education, including any girl children we may have," she says emphatically.

At a second stop in Thane, in the red light district of Bhiwandi, Lara was able to talk with young commercial sex workers on the subject of preventing HIV/AIDS and STIs. UNFPA has supported the establishment of a health clinic in the district, easily accessible by sex workers, to give them information and counseling services aimed at increasing their negotiating and bargaining skills and helping them avoid contracting STIs and HIV/AIDS.

On January 25, Lara participated in a Live WebCast followed by a Chat On-Line sponsored by the Times of India and UNFPA Face to Face Campaign. In the studio were 50 young men and women from Bombay all brimming with questions for Lara. Topics ranged from boy-girl relationships , love and marriage, careers, to drug use and relations with parents, teachers and peers.

The WebCast was seen in over 25 countries.

Stated Lara, in answer to one question about the difficulties of being an adolescent and how to take control of your life: "You have a right to know your own body, to control your own lives. This is tremendously important. But you must get an education. Know what you want to do with your life. Knowledge is the key – knowledge of rights and responsibilities. Once you have this foundation, nothing should stop you from achieving your goals."