A.E. and H. I. said...

This week in class we watched “Born into Brothels.” It was about Zana Briski and her quest to empower children of prostitutes in the red light district of Calcutta, India. She teaches them photography.

Before we watched the movie we thought the kids would be very shy and timid because of their backgrounds. But after watching the movie we were proven wrong. They were just normal kids with normal personalities. Some were shy and quiet and others were loud and feisty. They fought and teased each other like all kids do. They were surprisingly candid about their lives and situations.

We expected the mothers to be more veiled. We thought they wouldn’t be so open about their lives, being prostitutes. However in the video we saw that they were open about it. They didn’t seem to care that they were prostitutes; they seemed to just accept the way things were. Usually we don’t see women as the punishers, but they were the heads of the families. The one women was beating that child. They yelled and screamed at the kids. They had very foul mouths.

We feel that Zana “empowered” the children. She pointed out that they had potential to do what they wanted to do. She showed them that they would need to get out of the “red Light” district to do it. She showed them that and education would change their lives.

By giving them the cameras and the skills to use them and make art she helps them to express their voices. They can show their outlook on the world and eventually become something more than a prostitute. We also feel that Zana also found her voice. She went there to learn about the prostitution but became attached to the children.

In the discussion about the word servant we came up with the idea that the children were servants. They had to do dishes, mop, cook, watch siblings, and draw water.
One of our groups felt that Zana was an obvious leader. She took them places and got things done (i.e. Avijit’s passport). Also among the children we felt that Puja, Avijit, and Gour were the leaders. They were outspoken and seemed to care about the others kids and wanted things to change.
We felt that there wasn’t very much dignity overall. However some of the families acted with dignity even if their careers weren’t very dignified. We also feel that even if the kids weren’t treated with dignity at home Zana certainly did. She treated them like adults and asked their opinions and let them make their own choices.
To break out of this cycle is going to be hard. It won’t happen all at once. Education is the one thing that can help them move on. We also feel that someone needs to come in and take charge and help them make this change, like Zana. You also need to make the parents understand and cooperate, because then they will allow their children to move on. The kids also need to understand that to move on they need to stay in school and make the change.