2010 Freedom Award Winner: JEEVIKA
The annual Freedom Awards are right around the corner (pencil in November 7!) This year’s Harriet Tubman winner goes to the Indian grassroots organization JEEVIKA. Slavery is outlawed in India, but millions are put into debt bondage—unaware of their rights. Operating in the rural villages outside Bangalore, where the Dalits or “untouchable” caste has endured centuries of poverty and humiliation, JEEVIKA goes into the fields and farms where slavery prevails, and informs the at-risk population of their rights. See a slideshow of JEEVIKA’s work above. And read more on this courageous organization here.
The Harriet Tubman Freedom Award is given to community-based organizations that that demonstrate how slavery can be dismantled and destroyed by working to prevent slavery and bringing survivors to lasting freedom.