Visitors to the office of 'Kolkata Sanved', an NGO working primarily with children of sex workers and trafficked girls and women, will find a huge photograph of a girl with these lines imprinted at the bottom: "They sold me/ My own blood/ For gold and for silver/ I rinse and rinse my mouth/But the taste of treachery remains". This 'taste of treachery' is what keeps these girls from leading a 'normal' life; it breeds negative thoughts, a deep-seated suspicion of fellow humans and a fear psychosis of sorts. And this is where 'Kolkata Sanved' comes in with its unique 'dance movement therapy' - an innovative therapy to use the creativity and the rhythm of dance to drain out negative thinking. And this has helped these marginalized girls to come into the mainstream of life. Sohini Chakraborty, the founder of 'Kolkata Sanved', is a changemaker who has developed this unique, multifaceted rehabilitation process that involves therapy, empowerment, education, capacity building, vocational training and community development all through dance! She teaches the victims of violence to express themselves through their dance that becomes a new medium of communication where they can liberate themselves from their inhibitions. "Most of us think that violence is physical, but it can be emotional, physical, social and cognitive as well and if we want the survivors, who are mostly girls, in the mainstream of life we need to address all the four facets of trauma," Sohini said. The results have been stunning. Rose (name changed) was traced to a brothel by an NGO. Rose's mother was a sex worker who abandoned her and Rose was brought up by her father and grandmother, also a former sex worker. After Rose's father passed away, her grandmother sold her to a brothel. In the rehabilitation centre of the NGO, she came in contact with 'Kolkata Sanved' and underwent dance movement therapy. Rose is yet to get over her physical and mental trauma, but she has become a dance therapy trainer herself. "Now I make my own decisions. I have realized that I was not the reason for my problems. It not only gives me confidence but also provides me with the courage to face the world. I can earn and it is all because of 'Kolkata Sanved'. When I go abroad to perform, and it is something like a dream coming true," Rose said. Rose is just one of the 1500-odd girls who have benefited by dance movement therapy that uses creativity and the rhythm of dance to drain out negative thinking by a person. Kolkata Sanved also works with 30 social organization and provides advocacy to more than 5000 women and children all round the year. Chakraborty, a student of sociology, learned dancing and was keen to use this form of art to address the social problems. In 2004, she devised the curriculum for dance movement therapy (DMT) while working on a project - 'Sampurnata' - meant for the survivors of trafficking. "The project was a huge success and for the last nine years, I have used this method to enable the trafficking survivors to be self-reliant. My nine years of intensive work using DMT with trafficking survivors enabled these young women to emerge as self-sufficient leaders and dance movement therapists. We always work with other social organizations and provide them the support. We don't have a shelter home or a rehabilitation centre," Sohini said. 'Kamo Project' of Japan has been funding 'Kolkata Sanved' for the last six months. Co-founder of Kamo Project Keisuke Motoki said, "It has been a wonderful experience working with 'Kolkata Sanved'. They are not only vibrant and committed but their unique way of addressing the problems of marginalized women has worked wonders." source : TOI
