AMRITA

Age: 18
Crafter at M121 Partner (Cross Stitch)
New Delhi, India

Amrita has had an extraordinarily difficult life: she felt as an object to be used all her life. Never could she attain an identity that she could call her own.

When she was born at a makeshift roadside dwelling, her mother carried her all day with an empty milk bottle to invoke sympathy of those passing a stop-light to make some money – to get “better return on their begging.” When she could walk, she was sent to people to ask for money in tattered clothes and a dirtied-up face. When she grew a little older, she could be seen on garbage heaps trying to segregate things she could sell.

At the age of 13, her parents sold her into a marriage. All along, the money she gathered were used to buy food, but also unfortunately, she was forced to give a significant amount to her alcoholic parents. When her marriage fell apart, her so-called husband tried to sell her to a brothel to recover the money he paid to her parents and spent on the wedding.

She found her way to Catalyst this past year.  Though she suffers from chronic asthma, she is a happy girl and has been trained to stitch leather products.  Things are starting to look up for Amrita.  Yet, she is torn.  She may give in to the extreme pressure from her father (still struggling with alcoholism) and relatives to go back to take care of them – her mother passed away 2 years ago.  Or she may continue on as one of our crafters and begin making a sustainable income.   She has 2 younger siblings and her heart’s desire is to provide a better future for them.