Dear Saligaonettekars,
Patricia Nazareth wrote:
And this, especially since you,
have outlined the magnitude and severity of the problem as it exists at
present in Goa, and the questionable availability of help should a child
desperately need it. (I hope I haven't misinterpreted that part of you
message.)
Very often the 1098 number is totally unattended, so we decided
to test it yet again, on a working Monday at 10.15 am,
an hour and a quarter after work started.
We rang once and expectedly there was no response. We immediately
rang again, because after exactly 75 minutes of work, it is
'chai-ek gello' (gone for a tea break) time in Goa. Silence was
never stonier at the other end of a phone line! Now do you
expect any terror stricken, child-in-distress to persist with a
3rd call? It is the same soundless sound track the little one
suffers time and again, when she/he complains to adults around,
about the abuse being perpetrated.
But we are just 'testing', see...so we dial a 3rd time.
Just when the ringing is about to stop,
a weak, slumber laden, utterly bored voice mumbles
something at the other end. Initial, painful enquiry reveals
that we have actually reached a human, in the Woman & Child
Police Station in Panjim. Further investigation gets nowhere,
because we are disinterestedly informed that we should actually
call the Childline office at Don Bosco's, Panjim.
What is the number, we ask. "Wait...", we are told sleepily and kept
waiting while chaos reigns supreme in the background. After what
sounds like a minor, 90 second, quake in the office, a voice,
wide awake and on duty takes over. "Yes, what do you want?" is
the polite question. And so we start all over again...
Anyway the latest information is that Childline, the organisation
that once looked after street children at Don Bosco's, Panjim,
and that had volunteered to respond to1098 calls, has now shifted
to the Nirmala Institute of Education at Altinho, Panjim. When
a child dials the number, the phone rings *both* at the Woman & Child
Police Station as well as at Childline at Nirmala's. If
Nirmala's does not pick up the phone, then the Police Station
does, says the voice! Chances are that if we ask Nirmala's, they
will tell us the exact opposite.
So maybe we need a new caption: "Dial 1098 x 3", because we now
have two agencies
each waiting for the other to pick up the phone while our
children are over worked, beaten,
burnt, molested and raped!
More information from the alert voice on duty:
- At Nirmala's, Sr. (Dr.) Rita Paes is the Director of Childline
- Office number: 2231996
- Mobile: 9421150675
- Though Sr. Rita is the Director, a Sr. Prudencia Vaz is
actually in charge.
("Her number?" "I will call you back in 5 minutes". It is 13
hours and 5 minutes later and we still have no call back!)
Other NGOs working on child's rights:
(i) *Children's Rights in Goa (CRG)*
- Contact: Sushma Pawar on 9822983336
(ii) Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN)
Contact: Adv. Emedio Pinho on 9925907100
or Audrey on 2462389 (Res.)
You can count me in as one of your staunchest supporters of Child
Rights, even across the 7 seas! It has always been, and continues to
remain, an issue close to my heart - even during my several years as
teacher in (various parts of ) Goa.
Thanks for the support! It means a lot to us to know that others
recognise the denial of child rights as a serious issue in
Saligao and Goa. There is always some assault going on somewhere
or the other in the village: molestation, rape,
physical/psychological/emotional brutality,
school children on drugs, child labour/slavery (last week, the
going rate
for a child house worker from the tribal belt in north India,
was Rs. 5,000/- to the tout + monthly salary,
with a guarantee of 3 years uninterrupted work for the buyer)
...it is all happening here in your beloved village!
We try and do our bit, but it is nowhere near enough...
This depressing, dark cloud cover has at least one silver lining:
Goa's archbishop Filipe Neri is a
sensitive prelate. You can talk to him. Give him the facts
if one of his shepherds is misbehaving with the *lambs or ewes*
in his flock,
or others in his care. He will investigate and act. We know for
sure. You have our word on that one.
Warm regards and solidarity with all who accept the reality that
the 'elephant'
is is no mood to leave the room. Not any time soon.
M&M.
--
................................................................
there *is* anOTHERgoa
at <http://www.anothergoa.blogspot.com>
& <http://www.youtube.com/anothergoa>
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muriel & mario,
c/o "FULKAR",
6/22, sonarbhatt, saligao.
bardez. goa. 403511.
tel: 0832-2278276 / 2409999
<anothergoa AT gmail.com>
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