New Delhi: Focussing on victims of human trafficking, students of Deshbandhu College have taken up a project, “Treya”, through which they aim to set up a bakery enterprise and train the victims in the art of preparing bakery products.
With this project, Deshanbandhu wants to train the survivors in all aspects of the bakery trade over a period of time while providing them with the means of sustainable and dignified livelihood.
“Treya is a Sanskrit word which means walking on three paths — empowerment, employment, and enrichment. We wish to provide an equal social status to the victims of human trafficking. They will not be the victims, rather they will be an indestructible answer to the atrocities they faced surely. The tables will be turned. It’s time to empower,” the college said in a statement.
“We also wish to further help the survivors in successfully marketing the products and manage the proceeds to expand and scale the enterprise in future,” it added.
Working towards such an initiative, the team also aims to contribute towards the “United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of Reduced Income Inequalities.”
Project Treya has been working in collaboration with STOP Trafficking and Oppression of Children and Women, where bakery related training sessions are held for individuals from under-resourced communities who are at risk of being exploited.
Well-known pastry chef in Delhi Manju Monga has taught the beneficiaries of the project in many sessions. The students seemed to enjoy these bakery sessions and see themselves becoming baking masters in future.
The college has been raising funds through online campaign for the project as it would help them buy utensils and equipment, initial raw material, oven, cover initial packaging cost, and transportation.
So far, 53 donors have donated a total of Rs 23, 807 for the project and the team has a target of collecting Rs 30,000.
The team will also be applying for a Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) certification.
“It’s a demerit that we could only get in touch with the victims who have already been rescued and trained, but we cannot reach out to the victims who’re being pressed un-der such events presently. We hope to expand our reach in future and help more such victims become entrepreneurs,” the statement added.
