- Community-based interventions: STOP closely works with six adopted local communities within Delhi/New Delhi and Amagachia, Kolkata. The organization creates group of change agents by creating “Mahila Mandals (Women’s group)” and “Yuva Mandals (Youth Groups)”. The main aim of these groups is to provide the communities an open platform through which was to discuss and find solutions to their various day-to-day challenges (eg: addressing the challenges faced by migrant cohorts, including harassment by local authorities, sexual harassment, school drop-outs owing to seasonal mobility, prevalence of local crime-gangs, drug addiction issues, vigilance against human traffickers, lack of a sense of community and neighborliness, lack of access to basic amenities such as clean water owing to run-ins with the local water-mafia, problems faced by older people in getting consistent pension payments, etc.).
Young women (ages 19-24) from these adopted communities were awarded educational scholarships through STOP. In 2017, three women were awarded with the scholarship. These scholarships enabled them to pursue degrees in Nursing, Mass Media and Primary Teacher Training. This helps in facilitating concrete changes within their communities by acting as role-models in inspiring and motivating other young people to appreciate the importance of formal education, and by embracing their potential as local influencers and change agents through spearheading community advocacy programmes on the rights of children. They also took a leadership role in laying down a water pipeline, for example, in one of the communities, to ensure reliable access to drinking water.
- “Thousand Dreams” enterprise: As part of our continuing work on survivors’ empowerment, STOP had, in 2015, facilitated the setup of a social enterprise, “Thousand Dreams”, which specialises in garments and handicrafts. Our young activists that work with Thousand Dreams manufactured approx. 1000 garments in 2017, which were exported to their social business partners in Germany and USA. Thousand Dreams is now a registered exporter and has procured a GST (Goods and Service Tax) number that has gone a long way towards improving the efficacy of the enterprise’s functions.
- “KOSHISH Kitchen”: Koshish is a self-help group under the aegis of STOP Global Movement that is a food catering service. We have found this venture to be uniquely empowering of those involved. While KOSHISH’s culinary-related work has continued for over the past several years (with on-the-job training programmes with the Pusa Institute of Hotel Management, Start UP India, etc.), the newly renovated kitchen was formally inaugurated in August 2017. Koshish also signed a memorandum of partnership with Enactus (Deshbandhu College) in early 2017, and has since catered to various colleges of Delhi University, which has included several new baking items as featured on its menu.
STOP, India 