Kolkata: A Kolkata-based NGO has innovated a unique way to fight child marriage.
SAHAY recently organized a kite flying competition at a Kolkata suburb to make the masses aware on the ill effects of child marriage. The NGO, affiliated to Children International of the United States, is engaged in child and youth sponsorship programs and works with child protection and child rights in eight districts of West Bengal, an eastern Indian state.
The institution led scores of young people, armed with kites, who marched through the streets of Jorasankho, an area in northern Kolkata. The event began with a slogan writing competition on kites, which were then distributed to children, youth and adults interested in flying kites.
“Slogans like ‘Stop Child Marriage’, ‘Children are best seen with toys- not in bonded marriages’, ‘Prevent Death culminating from Early Marriages’, were written on kites by the participants and the gathered crowd,” reports Chandrika Dey a youth leader of the NGO.
This was followed by a rally of more than 350 people who walked through the localities of the slums where the NGO works. Participants shouted slogans in Bengali and Hindi demanding an end to child marriages.
Urged by the youth, several others joined in to swell the numbers and thereafter gather at the nearby corporation park. Once there more kites with slogans were distributed among new participants.
“All present there then took a pledge against child marriage by repeating a simple oath read out by one of the staff members of SAHAY-CI,” reports Chandrika.
Subsequently the first slogan-bearing kite was hoisted off by Malika Singh, director, SAHAY, declaring the friendly competition open. The sky was soon a glorious riot of colors as the gathered people and the field staff flew kites on the playground and nearby building terraces, rooftops and even balconies.
SAHAY also carries out the Aflatoun program which contains both social and financial themes.
Aflatoun a dynamic network of organizations interested in social and financial education for young people has its secretariat, based in Amsterdam.
Aditi Mukherjee, Aflatoun Facilitator, SAHAY-CI stated, “Kite flying is a popular game in these localities and areas hence we used this as a tool for the mass awareness. We sought to educate the people against the evils of child marriage, by especially focusing on boys and young men. We found the methodology to be extremely fruitful and attractive along with being very cost-effective.”
Partha Sarthy Chakravarty, field staff member and the brains behind the idea, opined, “People from the community were enthusiastic, even as we tried to spread such a serious message through the means of a game. We hope that whenever the elders of the family consider marriage for their below 18-year-old daughters, they will recall this event and gathering which will ring a bell and hopefully prevent them from carrying out the marriage.”
Explaining that the event was especially crafted for “the male members of the community,” Singh asserted that largely among people “men still are the decision makers in their family.”
She also said it was “very important to sensitize the men” and “awaken the logical reasoning ability in them on the issue of child marriage.”