Slaves of the Lake

I'll admit I was feeling uneasy for a few days after publishing my previous post. But then I realised that keeping quiet about it doesnt help in the least.

My study at Winneba is over! We interviewed all sorts of children - who sleep in abandoned cars, who havent eaten in a week, who dont have money to even bury their dead parents...I honestly cant bring myself to write about it, but I know I should.

 

Luckily, I happened to chance on this documentary which says all that I am unable to!

 

Do spare some time and look at it - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEDVFndYuT0

 

The last 2 days were all about the Presidential Elections in Ghana - campaigns, lobbying and agenda-pushing....I wonder if the cause of the slaves buried in the lake can even surface for air!

Fishing for life

I was sure that she could see behind my forced smile! I could hardly bring myself to touch the woman whose hand I was shaking.  I was staring at her face, taking in every little detail so that I could recognise her when I saw her again. To most people, she was normal. Like many others, she had sold two of her children and sent them to work on the Volta lake.

 

The Volta lake in Ghana is the biggest man-made lake in the world, the kind that makes tourists gush about its beauty. The lake joins the sea and also boasts about an economy that thrives on unbelievable abuse of orphaned or trafficked children. These children are as young as 4-5 years and are sold by their parents to fishing businessmen for as less as 8 Ghana Cedis ($4). They are paid nothing but given food everyday. They toil endlessly and sleep on the sea in their boats. They are required to engage in the notorious deep-sea fishing throughout the day and night.  Deep-sea fishing is a risk to your life.

 

According to my field surveyor who did a study on this - “Every blessed day at least one child is lost to the sea”!

 

These children are subjected to terrible abuse by their “owners”. They are beaten and starved if they don’t work. They are robbed of their childhood for absolutely no fault of theirs. It doesn’t matter if they die, the “owner” would just buy another!

 

The organisation I work with does wonderful work in preventing this type of trafficking and rescuing these children!

 

Parents who are unable to take care of their children or are in urgent need of money sell their kids to this cause. Many do it just because they don’t want the responsibility of taking care of the child. Like the woman I was talking about. She didn’t look particularly poor. She was sitting across from me, talking and laughing as if she didn’t have a care in the world. I wonder how she sleeps at night!

 

Sometimes, I hate that my job exists!

The Wallkill Rotties!

Have you heard of the Wallkill Rotties? No? Well, very briefly, there is this 64-year old woman who lives in Middletown, New York. She had a puppy mill (aka unlicensed dog-breeding centre) with around 74 Rottweilers. According to reports, these dogs were in deplorable and heart-breaking conditions - bent legs, blind in one eye, housed in mud and filth, skin issues, flea ridden cages, stale food and water; it was almost unbelievable.  

On Facebook, there was a rage among dog-lovers and rescuers alike, all striving to get people to sign a petition for maximum punishment for her cruelty. The petition can be found here, signed by 12400 people currently. A dedicated group on FB, which currently has 3325 members has been doing a wonderful job of spreading the message, helping in finding foster homes for the rescued dogs and collecting money for the cause.

Personally, I was shocked after reading the reports and seeing the pics of the pain and misery these dogs had to go through. I urge every reader of this post to check out the Facebook group. The dedication, empathy and determination of the supporters comes so clearly through! And God knows those dogs needed it. I really shudder when I think of how many dogs worldwide must be being subjected to terrible abuse for the sake of money. 

The tale related by one volunteer really tugs at my heart. Ive reproduced it below from the Petition Page:

I was a volunteer there on the second day of clean-up and this is the tale I have to tell....

When we arrived on this 'persons' property she had the top of her driveway chained off preventing any vehicles from entering. As I am not good at judging distances, I will just tell you the drive way is LONG. Approx 10 of us climbed over the chain and carried 40lb bags of donated dog food up this long driveway to feed and leave for the owner.

The first kennel I came upon was separated from the others and had a small young female full of milk, but no puppies. She circled and whimpered, clearly distraught at not being able to find her puppies. We did the best we could to find a semi dry, safe place to leave the bags of dog food and continued on to where the 'real' kennels were. My heart sank. As a Rottweiler owner for 15+ years, to see the condition these dogs were in made me wish I wasnt a human.

Walking the length of dilapidated, uncovered kennels, I saw dogs that were born with black hair, now brown with caked mud. I saw dogs with eyes swollen shut from infections. I saw dogs with legs so bowed that you could fit a basketball between them. One little girl had paws that turned completely in, her front legs so severely bowed she could barely walk. I saw dogs, so shut down, they laid in the far back corner of their kennels with eyes that said "please just let it end". In one kennel, was a small female, missing a front leg, stuck in mud so thick she couldnt walk; in another a dog with an eye that looked like it had been pushed in, the eyeball a solid milky white color. An occasional rat running parallel through the kennels, the only form of 'toy' these dogs have ever seen. Kennel after kennel after kennel, of what was once a noble, intelligent breed, circling in their enclosures, broken mentally and physically.

All of us swallowing our anger and heartbreak got to work cleaning the empty kitty litter containers used for water... broken and bent metal bowls with jagged edges for food. We fed and we watered, we gave treats to those trusting enough to take them. All of this being done, while being watched by the owner of the property from a second floor window of her house.

Tarps were brought to partially cover the kennels and give the dogs some semblance of refuge from the elements and provide shade. Blankets were brought to put in the sparse, dirty, broken Dogloo houses, barely big enough for a dog 50lbs, never mind 2-3 rottweilers.

Eventually the owner came out of her house. She approached me and stood in front of me staring directly at me. In that moment what I saw made my skin crawl. Dark, empty eyes looking at me and for the 1st time in my life I knew I had met someone completely devoid of a soul. She walked away and proceeded to refuse the tarps, the blankets and the dog food. She wanted all of it removed from her property. ALL of it.

When the time had come that all the dogs had been fed and given fresh water and there was little else that could be done for the day, I picked up a bag of dog food, forcing my feet to put one in front of the other and walk away from these dogs, knowing I was leaving them behind in hell. After a 3 hour drive home, I changed my clothes, showered, sat on the floor with my dogs and sobbed for the rest of the night.

This is why I signed this petition!

Courtesy: https://www.change.org

For better or worse!

It all happened very quickly. The postwoman was getting a receipt signed on the road. A guy  sneaks up to her, snatches the gold necklace she was wearing and starts running away. Unfortunately for him, the woman's husband is waiting for her on his bike. He chases the guy and catches him.

The thief gets beaten by almost everyone on the road..the postwoman takes a crowbar lying around and  starts hitting him like there is no tomorrow...the guy is not able to even beg her to stop...he gets beaten just short of death...

A month ago, I wouldve been shocked at the beating he got...but once you know how it feels to get robbed, its not quite the same....Its pretty much what I would do if I ever meet that lady....

The lady with the card

We saw the thief today...and man, shes so totally a pro! I thought someone must have picked up my wallet and run amok with the cards...but no, this is totally a professional job...someone lifted the wallet from my bag, someone else tore through the Saturday evening traffic to a strategically chosen  low profile jewelery shop....and the lady who used the card had an accomplice waiting for her outside giving continuous updates ...she was Muslim and her face was clearly visible through her headscarf on the CCTV, and she handed my card over the counter as if its the most natural thing to do, it was really disturbing to see it...she was pretty ordinary looking, you're likely to see her opposite you on a train seat or at the nearby table at a restaurant...

Not very smart though to get caught on the cam, I really thought she would have covered her face and she managed to totally fudge my signature, which has got to be easiest in the world.......I wonder what she eats and how she sleeps at night...I can only hope she feels pretty in all the big fat jewelery she bought...

If you are reading this, just buy me dinner the next time you see me, I really am broke :(

going going..gone!

My life sucks...yes, right now, it positively, totally sucks! My wallet  got stolen today..and the bitch who took it wasn't content with the ridiculous amount of money there was in it..she actually felt the need to go indulge herself buying gold with the credit cards..leaving me with a bill that chills my spine each time I think of it...all in a matter of 15 mins...not to talk about the hassle of running around trying to lodge a police complaint and worrying that she may misuse my IDs....or even the fact that I am totally cut off from all my finances and that all my cards are blocked...Yeah, shes smooth and fast...and they've asked me to come check out her face tomorrow at the shop she blew all my money at.....apparently, its on camera...but I am willing to bet my life that she'll be veiled or something...after all shes not stupid right???? 

So goodbye to all my savings....hope we meet sometime soon....:(

Once a papa met a mama under a mango tree...

Its official now...and a post on it is overdue. I have not understood so far the supposed pleasure men experience in harrassing women. Their only motive I can think of is power and it works both ways - if we dont react, then we're pinned as scared of them, and if we do, they're totally invigorated. Isnt that so?

It can be anything - prolonged stares, sexually explicit remarks, cat-calls, shoulder brushes, grabbing...all depending on where you are and how far they think they can go!  There was a time when I used to take these very personally. In fact, I am riddled with such memories especially  from when I was a child. Heres a scary fact - its easy to get over it if you think its not your problem, which is totally justified if you were not equipped to react.

That dispensed with, what do we do when we are greeted with it the minute we get on a bus or walk by a wine shop? There are those who advocate ignoring them and I go with that as long as it remains verbal. But most people misinterpret your silence as a go-ahead to treat you worse.

I would like to relate an incident that took place last friday on an overnight bus. I was totally exhausted from the day's fieldwork and started sleeping as soon as I sat down. In the middle of the night, the girl sitting next to me woke me up saying the guy behind was harassing her. She was literally in tears because he had been  making lewd remarks, pinching her under the pretext of adjusting the window etc.

I couldnt really comprehend what she was saying becuase I had a splitting headache and everything  seemed  vague...Whats is wrong with you? They were pinching you too...In fact they even touched your face, didnt you feel anything???

No, I really didnt! I was dead beat and lost to the world...I am ashamed to say I just told her not to worry and went back to sleep....When I woke up at 6 am, she wasnt there...she had already gotten down....now that I could think clearly I turned around to look at the guy she was talking about...the man with the mustache in blue and gray clothes...he was fast asleep!

Soon it was the last stop and we all had to get down..the guy behind got a call... from his wife I would say by the sound of it...and he was positively sweetness and light....

On an impulse, I stayed where I was and allowed him in the queue in front of me...just when we were about to get down, I mustered all my courage and might and kicked him as hard as I could on the shin....he yelped in pain, stumbled and almost fell....pepper spray in hand I was ready in case he hit back...but he didnt...the coward just picked himself up, didnt even glance back and proceeded as if nothing happened....everyone saw it..the driver, the bus-boy, the other pasengers...no one asked me why I kicked him and I didnt bother to explain...

A giant step for me, a small step for womankind...

Who will guard the guards?

News comes to us in fragments. Scandals, accidents, allegations, verdicts - we rarely connect the dots and see the power-play involved in what seem like isolated incidents stretched over many years. More so because we are so totally removed from it and dont have any stake in it. They are after all, stories of  "other people".

This is the story of a family friend, which I learnt just yesterday. I had no idea whatsoever, and it left me shaken to the bone. Here is the gist, without too many details.

Building a medical institute from scratch is no easy play - the licenses, the paperwork, the permissions, the bureaucracy, the brown envelopes, the marketing, building the competencies and facilities, the investments, the risks - many a time people give up because it doesn't seem worth all the trouble. But this gentleman was not one of those - he persisted and succeeded in building  what went on to become one of the  biggest and most well-reputed medical institutes in India.

Once it was established and started earning good repute, he got a call from a  Union Minister asking him to resign from the institute. The Minister wanted to gift his son-in-law the Directorship of the institute. This gentleman (lets call him SJ) refused. But not wanting to earn the wrath of the political party in power, he agreed to have the son-in-law co-appointed as the Joint Managing Director.

They didn't agree to this compromise. SJ had the patronage of the Chief Minister in the state (from a different political party, of course) which protected him from life threats and so he was able to continue  without any problems for a while. But then, the Union Minister and his party hacks decided to discredit SJ and filed a false case on  him, accusing him of fraud. They created dummy witnesses and bogus evidences. But still, he refused to resign from his post.

In the meanwhile, the Chief Minister changed because his party lost power in the state. Now, there was no hope for any help from them. But SJ and his family fought till the last - they lost their assets, their house, their land in their effort to save their own repute and that of their institute. They fought for seven long years. The case went up to the Supreme Court and finally, the verdict came in their favor...all their struggle had paid off....

The very next day, there was yet another false case filed on him. He resigned immediately.

The die has been cast

The weather is perfect - its pouring with rain, and theres not much to do in office, where the Internet  and electricity have walked out on us. No time like the present for a cup of coffee, watching the rain outside. Perfect !!!

Well, almost perfect...since I saw a very disturbing scene unfolding in the building in front of my office. Take a look at this pic with the old man in blue on the stairs and the dog in front of the gate below. Its not  very clear due to the rain .

Looks like any regular pic right??

Wrong....

While I watched in disbelief,  this man dragged the dog out of the house in the heavy rain and tied it to the gate and left it there...he then goes back upstairs and stands watching it get soaked....through its pitiful whines which were getting louder than life by the minute for all to hear....

For a few minutes, I thought I had imagined this...I HAD to have...there surely was some other explanation? ...no one could bring themselves to do something like this right???

Wrong again....

The man studiously and steadfastly continued to watch the dog suffer, glancing surreptitiously around once in a while to see if anyone was looking.....and no amount of my indignant waving could get his attention...So,  my boss Shreyas and I started calling out to him but our shouts were drowned in the rain...

We finally we managed to get his attention...upon which, he suddenly  sprang to life, took one horrified look at his dog and proceeded to fall over himself to put it out of its misery....Oh HOW I wish I had been able to video this....would've most certainly made it to the Oscars for the brilliant acting with no questions asked (among other things!!!)...

For once in my life, I am at a loss for words...I am unable to formulate  any sentences to express  the hideousness we witnessed....

Ah well, as the title says.....alea iacta est...the die has been cast....for the highway to Hell!!!