"Born into Brothels" won the Oscar. This was quite amazing but it made me think of lots of other things.
We got to see the documentary when it opened in Berkeley. Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman were both present. It was a moving and inspiring film. The kids were incredible and talented. Zana impressed me with her courage and perseverence. There has been criticism that the film is self congratulatory and that the kids are worse off now than before the film was shot.
I was disturbed by the perception of absence of NGOs that do work in the red light district. I am aware of Asha's work in red light districts in other parts of India. I didn't find anything in Kolkata but it might be that these organizations appear under the guise of adult education or street children rehabilitation. It does leave me conflicted--knowing that there definiteley exists discrimination against prostitutes, but having worked with Asha for Education and seen the grassroots work that goes on in India, it seems to me that the discrimination exists less among grassroots workers and more among donors. It also seems to me that there does exist some sort of "white" savior mentality in those that do work in Kolkata. Inspite of all this controversy, I hope that all this does actually benefit the kids. Note to self: Read Christopher Hitchen's The Missionary Position.
When we were in India, there was a news article that caught my eye. Carlos Duran--founder, director of Sabera Foundation (Kalitala) had been deported without any kind of notice. The Sabera website is "under construction". He was married to a young Indian girl who he met when she started working at the foundation. At the time he was deported, she was pregnant. She couldn't leave the country as someone had to be there to take care of the girls at Sabera. There was no reason reported for the deportation.
There was a note about conflict between the US and Kolkata braches of the Kalitala Foundation over which branch should control the money. Carlos wanted Kolkata to control the money. Money became a bigger issue as bigger and bigger names became supporters of Sabera--including Melanie Griffith, Penelope Cruz and Ricky Martin. The Spanish connection going back to Carlos and renowned Spanish singer/songwriter/producersinger Nacho Cano with whom he founded Sabera.
It seems like a lot went down in 2002.
The Telegraph reports that "Following a rift, Cano and Duran split, after which Griffith and Cruz allegedly snapped ties with the foundation."
The Sabera Foundation is the same organization that the kids were all taken to in the documentary. Carlos is the man in the documentary telling the mothers that they should send their kids here only if they were serious--no funerals, no festivals. But that is not why the name caught my eye. When I was looking at the kids with cameras website I saw Lina Srivastava's name and noticed that she had been CEO of the Kalitala Foundation's office in the United States prior to joining Kids with Cameras. Lina is (?) also on the advisory council of Asha for Education's NYC/NJ chapter.
We come a full circle but questions still remain unanswered. What I am most curious about is the deportation. I haven't been able to find further news coverage about it. I wish I knew who to ask for the truth. I wonder how his wife and Sabera are doing?
