Growing numbers at the Night School:-
Ten new students have sought admission to the Night School in the month of January. They were influenced to join by others who are already in the school. Five of the ten new boys have never been to school before.
Regular classes were conducted and the month was spent reinforcing all the old concepts. The students were provided with note books and stationery.
Many festivals in the month of January such as Id Ul Fitr, Lohri and Makar Sankranti were celebrated with gaiety and other important national days such as the Republic Day and Martyrs Day were observed with due solemnity.
The students took part in role play and drama on many occasions during the month to highlight important issues in their lives.
Tihar Jail No. 5 and 6
Our lawyers continue to help the poorest of the poor. They visit the jail twice a week.
A total of 277 inmates of Central Jail No 5 consulted with our lawyers in the month of January. Nine inmates secured bail and 36 petitions have been drafted for other inmates during the period.
The inmates continue to benefit from the computer classes and the vocational training. This is combined with the exercise of earning while learning. Ritinjali volunteers visit this jail twice a week and extend help to any of the on going projects be it essay writing, poster painting or even adding books and magazines to the library.
The library is gaining in popularity. Our volunteers provide both emotional and legal counseling and there is a lot of personal interaction when the adolescents come to the library during ‘Khulli Ganti'.
In Tihar Jail No. 6 our volunteers are getting increasingly involved with the inmates in educational pursuits and vocational training. This is with the view to enable the inmates to become entrepreneurs on release.
A lot of clothes have been given to the inmates who do not get any visitors especially the foreigners. Our volunteers continue to be patient listeners and serve as sounding boards for the inmates. We share their memories of home sometimes their anguish but mostly their anger at the unexpected turn their lives have taken.
Naari Niketan - a Home for the Victims of Crime
Ritinjali's association with Naari Niketan is nearly nine years old. And our volunteers who visit this home every Tuesday have developed a great rapport with the staff there. Ms. Arora, Ritinjali's teacher at Naari Niketan, teaches the inmates knitting and embroidery using the material provided by Ritinjali. This activity is therapeutic in nature and reduces the stress levels of the mentally unstable and the highly traumatized women. Some of them are incredibly creative.
Ritinjali volunteers make sure that when a woman is 'restored' to her
family, she does not go back empty handed. Not only do we provide new
clothes and toiletries, we also make sure that she has enough money on her.
On every visit to the home the volunteers carry snacks for the inmates. It breaks the monotony of the bland food of the Home. Fruits, with chaat
masala and nimbu for fruit 'chaat', panneer and tomatoes and green chillies for a savoury snack, samosas (made in Tihar Jail 6), chips, biscuits and 'gur ki mithai' are some of the snacks provided to the inmates. In addition to this bread, butter, jam and pickle (made in Tihar Jail 6) are bought for the inmates.
The women there look forward to the visits and they wait to exchange confidences with the volunteers. These visits have brought about a noticeable difference to their lives. The volunteers have often felt humbled by the terrible experiences some of these women have been through and every visit has been a learning experience.
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