https://www.facebook.com/kolkata.anandam.1/

 Kolkata Anandam for Equality and Justice is a community based organization. We are working for last one decade with grass root level friends and economically backward people. Our members include children of sex workers, transgender sex workers, and non conforming to binary and other marginalized groups who are working in unorganized sector. We work with community friends who are school drop outs and mostly have been deprived of educationdue to the stigma and the discrimation they face in their adolescent years. As a result most of them engage in sex work, challa, HIjra profession, Launda Dancing, Jagran and other odd jobs to earn their living.We also focus on advocacy with the diffrent stakeholders at different tires of the society staring with Minister, District Magistrate, Block offices, District Legal Services Authorities, Panchayat as well as different CSR and NGOs.We feel that sensitizing the mass on the diffrent myths and misconceptions around the Transgender community will help reduce the inflicted behavior of stigma and discrimination. Correct dissemination of the knowledge about the life and living conditions with their emotional and psychosocial support that can be rendered is only possible through awareness. 

Our work:

1. We run internship program with University of Pensylvania, South Asia Center, wgere in undergrad students come and do a lot of collective work and help in strenthening the community through cross cultural learning

2. We have made a documentary film on the life of our community members and use it as a tool to generate awareness in different universities and colleges and government offices and NGOS.

3. We host Cafe Mela for the Trans Community friends (LGBTKHAIQ ~). This is a free space for our friends who are neglected by the larger society due to their economic background, their lack of education, their identity and their livlihood choices. In the Cafe Mela we make our own food and sell it to our invitees who are the welwishers of the community and also the community friends. It generates a sense of ownership and also creates some income. In the Cafe Mela we also have cultural programs and other creative activities like Mehendi art, handicrafts and makeup. The participants are given an honorium from the money that is collected as registration fee in this Cafe Mala.

4. After the COVID 19 outbreak we have started the food supply / ration to our community members and the other unorganized labors like rickshaw pullers, domestic workers, transgender sex workers, old sex workers in diffrent areas of Kolkata and Hoogly in West Bengal. We have been generously helped by our welwishers and friends to carry forward this work.

5. We have also done a crowd funding on Milaap platform and have great responses and with that contribution we have been able to help 200 community friends with ration.

6. Due to the Amphan a lot of our friend lost their home and shelter. We have been able to support them with Tripols and asbestosh and talis for their house repairing.