Magic & Mime at Prerana: Part I

During our April 2013 trip to India Tom and Chris spent four 10 hour days at Prerana, teaching our twelve young magicians. These twelve girls are all daughters of sex workers from the brutal brothels of Mumbai’s Red Light District. We have been working with some of these young women for the past 3 years, and this time we were joined by some new girls. The older girls are becoming very good performers, who have begun doing their magic in hospitals and orphanages.

As with the children we’re training in El Salvador and Bogota, our main goal is to help these young girls develop self confidence, discipline and focus and to support Prerana’s mission of putting an end to second generation sexual trafficking. Without support and guidance, 70% of these girls will end up in the sex trade. The self esteem, dignity and personal power these girls are developing will make them much less likely to end up in the sex trade.

The four days we spent with our Prerana magicians were totally delightful. They are enthusiastic, dedicated students who love learning and performing magic. It’s a joy working with them and knowing that the work is helping to awaken dreams in these girls  they never thought possible. One of the social workers from Prerana, said “We are very grateful for  the work Magicians Without Borders is doing with our girls. The girls are clearly becoming more self confident young women, it’s obvious when you see them performing that the magic is changing their lives.”

Two of the older girls, Kavita and Priyanka have decided to create a Magic Club and meet with the other girls every two weeks between our visits. During these meetings they will practice magic they’ve learned, and teach the younger girls new magic routines. Kavita volunteered to send a report after each meeting on who attended and how they’re doing with their magic. We are already looking forward to our September 2013 visit to Prerana.

An exciting new development is that Ryan Bart will be coming with us on the September 2013 visit. Ryan is a Fullbright Scholar-Magican, who has been working for Magicians Without Borders in Bogota for the past year. Ryan will stay on in India for four months and meet weekly for magic classes with the young Prerana magicians. Ryan’s weekly work with the girls will make a great difference , and we are very excited that he wants to spend this time before medical school working for Magicians Without Borders.

This recent visit with the Prerana magicians, moved our work to some deeper level. We feel more hopeful than ever that our work is making a difference in the lives of these wonderful young women.