Blogathon and Elaan

This post is about two noteworthy causes that have been taken up by two of my blog friends. I was supposed to write about it a long time ago, but failed to do so. I blame it on my laziness.

Amit is a part of Elaan, which is an NGO that deals with child sexual abuse causes. He wanted me to spread the word by blogging about it. So, I’m trying to do my bit here. From the website:

Elaan was founded in 2004 as part of an endeavor to encourage dialogue on the issues of child sexual abuse (CSA) and incest. It functioned as a youth group for 3 years before being registered as an NGO on June 7th 2007 under the West Bengal Societies Registration Act of 1961.

Some of the issues that Elaan is addressing, and hopes to incorporate in future projects are –

1. Parents Against Abuse (parent activism body)
2. Education (rural and urban)
3. Healing, Dealing and Surviving
4. Juvenile Justice *
5. LACSA (Law against Child Sexual Abuse) *
6. Prostitution (adult sex workers, their rights and the protection of their children; also child prostitutes) *
7. Human and Child trafficking *
8. Children with special needs
9. LGBT awareness and activism (sexual minorities)
10. Trauma handling and disaster management
11. Cyber crime and internet laws*
12. Sex education and personal safety training
13. Self esteem and communication for young adults
14. Substance abuse and other addictions
15. HIV/AIDS awareness and treatment (especially for underprivileged families with children)
16. Intervention and support for high risk/vulnerable children

Elaan is based in Calcutta and there are a number of ways by which you can support them (if you want to)- sponsoring their events, become a volunteer, undergo training to become a counselor etc. Hopefully, I’m doing my bit by widening their network and by spreading the word. If any of you reading this post are dealing with a sensitive sexual abuse issue and would like to get some help, then you know where to turn to. You can also read Elaan’s blog here.

The second part of the post is about Blogathon India, which is an “event where these bloggers can get together and raise their concerns, ideas and suggestions on different social issues through the medium we all love: blogs.” Balu, another blog friend, is actively involved in the entire process and you can contact him for further details. The event will go on during the entire week of April 20-26th and the blog topics will be released on April 12th, 2008. You can write posts and do your bit to make others aware of the problems that our country is facing. For your efforts, the Blogathon team is also awarding prizes! To read more about the participation details, please visit this page.

Note: This post is for information and for non-commercial purposes only. I don’t take the responsibility for the services offered etc. and neither am I associated with Elaan or Blogathon in any manner. Thanks.