Stefano Stranges
Le bambine salvate – 2018
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The saved children
(Tamil Nadu, India)
There is a girl in a village in the heart of southern India who takes notes on the walls of her house: transactions, writings, numbers and arrows that chase each other until coming to the solution of the problem. Harini is 19 years old and is studying civil engineering. Every morning, after helping her mother at home, she takes the bus and in an hour arrives at the university. She lives with her parents in two rooms without windows built at the back of her father’s barbershop, but in the small courtyard, there is a patch of land where her dog happily sunbathes and there is some space where you can dream big. Harini is slim with braided hair and a kind smile that does not hide her desire to become governor of the district. “God blessed us when he changed our minds and did not permit us to kill her when she was born.” With this phrase Chokkamali, Harini’s mother, relates how destiny suddenly changed thanks to a stranger who for five days straight sat in front of the head of the household and literally begged him to save his daughter.
Harini is one of the saved children from the Poonthaleer Project. In the Tamil language, poonthaleer means “blossom.” It was established 20 years ago by Terre des Hommes Core in Idappadi in Tamil Nadu’s Salem District to stop the practice of female infanticide. From 1998 to 2009, thanks to the support of Terre des Hommes Italia, Poonthaleer saved 1,558 children from their deaths. The area of Salem was the second district in the whole state of Tamil Nadu in terms of number of infanticides. In 1997, 1,033 female babies were put to death, which was 50.2% of the overall number of female deaths after birth. Today the phenomenon has practically disappeared. What has happened and why in this corner of India do women hope to have daughters? This is a story that goes against the current. It is told through the faces and experiences of five girls and their families.
Text by Federica Tourn
- Old portrait of Harini when she was baby, with her mum.
- Harini, 19 Y.o. with her mum. She is one of the firsts saved children.
- Harini, 18 Y.o. in her home. She is one of the firsts saved children.
- Harini, 19 Y.o. in her home. She is one of the firsts saved children.
- Harini is praying in her little room. She is one of the firsts saved children.
- Harini with her mum. She is one of the firsts saved children.
- Harini with her mum in the barber shop of the father.
- The wall of the hause is used as a notebook.
- The mother of Harini, now works for Terre des Hommes Core office in the village of Idappadi.
- Indhumati, 18 y.o, in her tiny house. She is one of the firsts saved children.
- Indhumati in her house with her sisters and her brother, on the mirror.
- The notebooks in the Indhumati library.
- Indhumati, 18 y.o, in her tiny house. She is one of the firsts saved children.
- Old portrait of Jothika when she was baby, with her mum.
- Jothika, 17 y.o. with her mother in their tiny house
- Jothika in her house
- The hause of Jothika
- Jothika is doing laudry out of her hause
- Close to the house of Dhana, in the countryside of Salem
- Dhana, 9 y.o. and her sister in their tiny house.
- Dhana and her mother
- Dhana and her family inside their house
- Dhana and her family inside their house
- Inside the tiny house of Dhana
- In front of the family house of Karthiga, in the countryside of Salem
- Karthiga and her mother with the old women of the family
- Karthiga with one of the calf of the little family farm.
- Karthiga, 18 y.o. with her son in the family house.
- Chezian Ramu.
Le bambine salvate
(Tamil Nadu, India)
C’è una ragazza in un villaggio, nel cuore dell’India del sud, che prende appunti sui muri di casa: operazioni, scritte, numeri e frecce che si inseguono fino alla soluzione del problema. Harini ha diciannove anni e studia ingegneria civile; ogni mattina, dopo aver aiutato la madre in casa, fa un’ora di strada in bus per raggiungere l’università. Vive con i genitori in due stanze senza finestre costruite sul retro della bottega da barbiere del padre, ma nella piccola corte c’è anche un pezzo di terra dove il cane prende il sole contento e c’è spazio per sognare in grande. Harini ha una figura sottile, i capelli intrecciati e un sorriso gentile che non nasconde il desiderio di diventare governatrice del distretto. «Dio ci ha benedetti quando ci ha fatto cambiare idea e non ha permesso che la uccidessimo appena nata». Chokkamali, la madre di Harini, racconta in una frase il destino che si è capovolto all’improvviso, per volontà di un uomo sconosciuto che per cinque giorni di fila si è seduto davanti al padrone di casa e lo ha letteralmente pregato di risparmiare sua figlia.
Harini infatti è una delle bambine salvate dal progetto “Poonthaleer” – che in lingua tamil signica “sbocciare” – inaugurato vent’anni fa da Terre des Hommes Core a Idappadi, nel distretto di Salem, Tamil Nadu, per fermare la pratica dell’infanticidio femminile. Dal 1998 al 2009, grazie al sostegno di Terre des Hommes Italia, “Poonthaleer” ha riscattato 1.558 bambine dalla morte. La zona di Salem era il secondo distretto per numero di infanticidi dell’intero stato del Tamil Nadu: nel ’97 si registravano 1033 neonate uccise, il 50,2% del numero complessivo di femmine morte dopo il parto, mentre oggi si tratta di un fenomeno praticamente scomparso. Che cosa è cambiato e perché in questo angolo di India ora ci sono donne che sperano di avere figlie femmine. Una storia controcorrente, raccontata attraverso i volti e le esperienze di cinque ragazze e delle loro famiglie.
Testi di Federica Tourn
LEGGI L’ARTICOLO – “LE BAMBINE SALVATE” IL DRAMMA DELL’INFANTICIDIO IN INDIA, TRA SUPERSTIZIONE E POVERTÀ – LA STAMPA.IT 12-03-2017