Mosaics in the Slums involves the installation of a mosaic mural on the wall of Suryadaya School in Butwal. This slum community is a human trafficking hotspot with many of the schoolchildren’s relatives trafficked into domestic service in the Gulf States, often ending up on the receiving end of violence.
The mosaic will project a positive and inspiring image of education and local life, and will be the first stage in a mosaic transformation at the school. Subsequent elements will involve depictions of absent loved ones, out of sight but kept well in mind through the artwork. Ultimately EBT wants the mosaics to make a statement about the dangers of the trafficking industry that the Trust’s field workers are working hard to stop.
For the time being though, the workshop staff are cutting the first of 2000 tiles (above) that will eventually cover 50 square metres of the school building – just one facet of EBT's on-going task to eradicate human trafficking in the area, and to rehabilitate its survivors.
Mosaics in the Slums
In Bhairahawa, close to Nepal's border with India on the Southern Terai, one brightly-painted house stands out far from the others.
Covering its exterior is a string of mosaics depicting everything from glowing suns to cheery images of the people of the Terai. This is the Bhairahawa Mosaic Workshop, initiated in 2009 by The Esther Benjamins Trust to provide local disabled people and the survivors of trafficking with work, training and educational support.
The beneficiaries, who are supervised by workshop manager Sunita and volunteer artists such as Duncan Ross, are beginning a major new project in 2012 entitled 'Mosaics in the Slums'.
Makwanpur District Community Work Project
