Prostitutes, pimps, holiness and brothels. Does something seem out of place?
Holiness is the last thing I was expecting to encounter in the red light district of Mumbai.
Does God cry?
Near the centre of Mumbai, the red light district looks a lot like any other run-down area of the city. Children play on the street, skinny dogs sniff through piles of rubbish and paint peels off sprawling apartment blocks that have seen better days. The pavements seethe with people, motorbikes narrowly miss lithe men pulling laden carts and taxi drivers make full use of their car horns.
Love can transform lives, even behind brothel walls. Photo: Peter Caton/Tearfund.
As daylight fades and the roads jam with even more cars, the scene is anything but holy. We are in a taxi on the notorious Falkland Road, surrounded by noise and chaos, our photographer ready to snatch shots from the twilight. Groups of girls stand in doorways – some hold small children, one brushes out her hair.
I try not to think about what is concealed behind the brothel walls. Rows of scruffy beds divided by partitions where women are endlessly robbed of all dignity for as little as thirty pence, night after dark night. In the cramped conditions babies and little children sleep under their mothers' beds, their earliest memories of their mum being abused.
But God sees it all – a man who beats a woman, who puts out cigarettes on her and forces himself upon her. And in the midst of all this, Christians are working.
Light
Earlier that day we had spent time with the staff of Aruna, which means bright morning sun. Aruna is run by Tearfund partner Oasis India. They own one floor of a building in the heart of Mumbia's red light district, surrounded by brothels.
Children of prostitutes sing worship songs in the Aruna building before school.
When we arrived the main room was full of children, laughing and chattering in Hindi. Their mothers work as prostitutes. The Salvation Army runs a night shelter for the children in the Aruna building so that they have a safe place to sleep.
Before leaving for school they sang some songs and listened to a story from the Bible. It was beautiful, listening to these girls singing about God's mercy and grace. I asked Sheetal, who works with Aruna, for the story of the youngest girl.
Chunni is three and a half. Her father used to pimp for her mother and, until she was two, she slept under her mother's bed in a brothel.
When Chunni arrived at Aruna she was scared and quiet. A year and a half later she is beautiful and full of life and cheeky smiles. She will be able to stay in the project until she is 14.
Chunni slept under her mother’s bed until she was two.
Bought and sold
After lunch, when the older children are at school and the younger ones like Chunni are sleeping after nursery, the building is peaceful, the quiet only interrupted when the door bell rings. Throughout the afternoon, women who work in the brothels come to visit.
The Aruna staff, along with Christians from local churches, go round the brothels, getting to know the women, slowly building relationships and trust.
Rescued
Ria came to Mumbai with somebody from her village when she was only 11 and was sold to the owner of a brothel. When she turned 13 she was forced to start working as a prostitute.
After ten years she met a man who helped her leave the brothel. But he turned out to be a pimp and he sold her back into the trade. He taught her to take drugs and she became addicted. After eight years she started to think about her two children, and she thought, 'My life is worthless as it is, I need to change.' A lady called Shoba met Ria and told Aruna about her.
Aruna helped get her into a rehab centre. She became a Christian in 2005 and has been working with the Salvation Army in the Aruna building for two years. She believes there is truth in the Bible and says, 'God has done a marvellous thing.'
Compassion
Manchu, an Aruna counsellor listens as a woman involved in Mumbai’s sex trade confides her problems. ‘When God’s power comes, it really influences lives,’ says Manchu.
When Lajita arrives at the Aruna building, she explains to Manchu that a client bit her on the cheek the previous night. As Manchu listens to her story, her face is full of compassion.
Lajita has been a prostitute for eight years. She is originally from Madhya Pradesh, central India. One of her friends told her she could get married and get a good job if she came to Mumbai. But when she arrived in the city, Lajita was sold to a brothel. For the first five years everything she earnt went straight to the madame of the brothel. After six years she started to get half of the money.
She smiles as she remembers meeting Manchu for the first time, four years ago, when Manchu was visiting the brothel where she works. Lajita goes regularly to the church service that is held in the brothel each Sunday. She says, 'I enjoy the fellowship and I like to pray to Jesus.' Today she is at Aruna because she wants someone to accompany her to the doctor's.
Inspiration
Oasis is doing amazing work in the red light area, but for every girl they befriend and help rescue, there are thousands more still in prostitution. What motivates the staff? Moses has been working with Aruna for two years.
He says, 'There are many in the community who do not accept such people. But the project is there to accept the people, so I am happy to work in this project, to reach out to people, to understand people and to change their lives from darkness to light.'
Sachim has worked with Aruna for seven years. I ask if he ever thinks of giving up. He says, 'Sometimes I have felt so, because many girls say first they will leave the trade but then they say, "I have big problems, I don't want to leave the trade, don't visit me anymore."
'So that discourages me, and I think, when God is already sent to the world, why can't more girls leave the trade? But I got encouragement from my team. They explained that if one person leaves the trade, that person can achieve a lot of changes in other people's lives.'
Holy moment
Oasis staff can listen to the ladies’ stories as they paint their hands with henna.
I had finished my interviews and was sitting, arms crossed over the back of the chair, chin on arms, watching. Afternoon sun was filtering through the windows, and the Aruna staff were sitting on the floor with the ladies, painting beautiful henna patterns onto their hands.
And as they did so they listened to the women's stories, finding out what they needed and how they could help. Aruna staff are gently restoring all that life in the brothel robs and distorts – relationships, dignity, hope. Holiness, in the middle of a red light district.
In our towns and cities, when the night seems to be at its darkest, look a bit closer and you might just discover goodness and beauty and miracles. Or maybe you'll be the one to light the first match.
Words: Joy Andrew
Photos: Peter Caton