Oasis India
Project Category: Humanitarian Aid
Taken by Rebecca Maskikar who is a staff member of Oasis India, this photo shows us a group of girls partaking in their hairdressing course. The three girls are all wearing white colored shirts with a black under shirt that covers their forearm. The course is 6 months in length and teaches the girls how to become a hairdresser. Some of the girls in the course are from the half-way home and the others are from a different background, whether an abused or disadvantaged one. Since some of these women are from the half-way home, they are provided education to equip them with skills to make it in the real world, since they were denied their education when they were apart of human trafficking. After going through the 6 month hairdressing course, the Oasis India project will help assist the young girls to find a salon in the city to where they can use their newly developed skills to get a stable job. With this new job the girls will be able to create a flow of income to allow them to rejoin society better than when they left it. In the room the girls are practicing their hairdressing skills are many different objects to help them. In front of every girl is a tripod stand that has a mannequin head. The girls in the photo are using the knowledge they have gained from the hairdressing program on the mannequin head. Each mannequin head has light brown straight hair, but some of them have their hair tied into a bun. In addition the room the girls are in has a flat screen TV that is mounted on the wall in the top right corner of the picture.

Photo Caption: Taken by Rebecca Maskikar who is a staff member of Oasis India, this photo shows us a group of girls partaking in their hairdressing course. The three girls are all wearing white colored shirts with a black under shirt that covers their forearm. The course is 6 months in length and teaches the girls how to become a hairdresser. Some of the girls in the course are from the half-way home and the others are from a different background, whether an abused or disadvantaged one. Since some of these women are from the half-way home, they are provided education to equip them with skills to make it in the real world, since they were denied their education when they were apart of human trafficking. After going through the 6 month hairdressing course, the Oasis India project will help assist the young girls to find a salon in the city to where they can use their newly developed skills to get a stable job. With this new job the girls will be able to create a flow of income to allow them to rejoin society better than when they left it. In the room the girls are practicing their hairdressing skills are many different objects to help them. In front of every girl is a tripod stand that has a mannequin head. The girls in the photo are using the knowledge they have gained from the hairdressing program on the mannequin head. Each mannequin head has light brown straight hair, but some of them have their hair tied into a bun. In addition the room the girls are in has a flat screen TV that is mounted on the wall in the top right corner of the picture.

Imagine being taken from all the people you know and love, and were forcibly put in a situation that you didn't want to be a part of. Many people in the world have gone or are going through this very situation in life. Those people have gone through a tragic business called Human Trafficking. Human trafficking is the process of recruiting people by threatening or by force for the purpose of extortion. These victims are either bought or sold, abused, or exploited sexually. This can happen to anyone and they are usually lured in by someone who speaks the same language as them.

Although this can happen to anyone, human trafficking mostly happens to women across the world. One of the main reasons that women and other people get put into human trafficking, is due to the fact that it is a billion dollar industry. To combat this in their area, the Oasis India project is rehabilitating the women who have been affected.

The people over at the Oasis India project know that women who come from the human trafficking world are left worse off than when they were first taken. Some of the women are left with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a lack of self-esteem, trust, focus, confidence, and the ability to make decisions for themselves. In addition, most if not all of these women have no education and can't find employment. The Oasis India project will help 50 women who are victims get back onto their feet and restore them to be able to function back into society.

To be able to do this, the 50 women will complete the training program. The activities in the program will relate to diagnostics and treatments to their health, counseling, life skills, vocational training and spiritual retreats. Of this training about 80% of the women will be placed into jobs or be going through full time education.

To find out more about Oasis India, please visit their website.