The Hair Project | 2022 Review
During the Covid pandemic The Hair Project continued its work but, as a result or the travel restrictions, this was at a lower level of activity. In contrast, 2022 has been a very exciting year for the Project as activity levels have recovered. A total of 40 students have graduated during the year in Mumbai and Chennai and a further 23 girls have enrolled in courses which started during the year. We are so proud of the trainers and staff of Oasis, who have put so much hard work and effort on the ground in India to ensure into ensure the success of the Project.
A significant amount of effort has also been put into fundraising in the UK during the year. Zac Fennell and the team at BA1 Hair in Bath hosted a very successful fundraising evening at Bandook Restaurant in Bath. Tony Jacob, who has recently joined The Hair Project as Trustee, together with his wife Beni, hosted a fundraising lunch at their beautiful home in Kent. The two events raised an amazing £15,000 in total. This money was used to open a new training centre in Bangalore. Twenty girls enrolled on the first 6-month course in Bangalore, which started in September. They are all making good progress and we hope to see as many as possible graduate in March next year.
Looking forward to 2023, Zac Fennell and Giles and Rachel Robbins are planning to visit India in March, to review the project, to carry out training and to be there to celebrate the girls’ graduations. This will be their first visit since the pandemic, and it will be lovely to be back to see in person all that is happening.
The trustees of The Hair Project would like to thank each and every one of you for all you help and support during this year. Every donation makes such a huge difference to the lives of the girls enrolled on The Hair Project.
To finish, here is Ritee’s life story, so you can see what a difference your donations make:
Ritee Maurya is 22 years old and lives in Santosh Bhavan in Nallasopara (one of Mumbai’s red-light districts). She has one young brother and a sister. They are all of school-going age. Ritee’s father is a daily wage labourer at a construction site. He is an alcoholic and spends all his earnings on alcohol. Her mother works in a bottle factory and the family is dependent on her own very low earnings. Struggling to make ends meet, she sent the children away to their uncle’s house in a nearby village. The uncle had agreed to support the girls for the period of their basic education. Unfortunately, he passed away in 2020 and so the girls returned to their mother in Mumbai. The living conditions and the poverty make Retee and her siblings vulnerable.
Ritee completed 12th standard at school against all odds and then left to start work to support her family. She started to earn Rs 600 to 700/- monthly (£6-£7) by doing the odd job like fixing stones in imitation jewellery. She was very stressed about the financial position of her family and felt guilty that she could not properly support them. At this time, one of The Hair Project graduates at Naigaon centre, informed her about the training programme. Ritee decided to join the Project and enrolled in January 2022.
The life skill, health and group counselling sessions, provided by Oasis, brought a new perspective to her life. The sessions helped her to build her self-esteem and to improve her decision-making skills. Ritee successfully completed her training and as a result was able to join an existing salon, “Just Beauty Parlour” at Bhayandar with the monthly package of Rs 6000/- (£60 per month).
