Gauri Sawant

transgender

shelter

daughters

During one of her several visits to Mumbai's red-light district Kam athipura two months ago,, a 37-year-old transgender, and an activist, asked a friend, asex worker, to fetch her a paan. After waiting for over half an hour, she wondered aloud to herself: “It does not take more than ten minutes to fetch a paan.“She then happened to slide a window of the room she was in and was greeted by the sight of her friend servicing a client in a booth, even as her two-month-old baby tugged at her finger.“I was simply stunned and had to endure sleepless nights after that,“ said Sawant, who has been at the forefront of highlighting the hardships of the hijra community for nearly 17 years. It was then that she decided to take it upon herself to provide a safe environment to girl children of sex workers.She now plans to build a two-storeyfor youngof sex workers at her 1,000 square-foot plot in Karjat.“It is my way of giving back to the society and to ensure that these girls have a safe upbringing and are not abandoned,“ said Sawant. “We must face these harsh realities of life head on.“Gauri shot to prominence after an ad went viral a few months ago which chronicled the story of how she adopted her daughter Gayatri. Now she wants to expand her horizons and protect many other girl children.Sawant will collect funds for the shelter with the help of milaap.org,­ a crowdsourcing platform. She recounts how her friend, Harish Iyer, an LGBT activist, was the one who suggested taking help of the platform and introduced it to her. The project has garnered nearly Rs 8.2 lakh on the platform out of the targeted Rs 20 lakh.Sawant envisages a two-storey building, which she would name “Nani ka Ghar“ ­ a name that she says evokes fond memories of everybody's childhood. The caretakers in the shelter will be geriatric members of the hijra community who have retired from seeking alms and flesh trade.“We call the elders in our community as nani and they will be the heart and soul of the shelter,“ said Sawant.However, the real challenge, says Sawant, will be to sustain the shelter once it is up and running. Unfazed with the enormity of the task ahead, she asserts: “If we have the courage then it will sort itself out.“ She also plans to raise funds by tapping into the Corporate Social Responsibility network of companies. “I hope people realise the importance of standing up for social issues, and donate to such causes,“ she said.Sawant's activism is not only restricted to promoting fundamental rights of the transgender community, but also of animals. She has worked for the welfare of street dogs and is now embarking upon a project to dissuade people from keeping tortoises as pets.Want to help?VISIT: https:milaap.org fundraisersgauri-sawant