“Ice cream!”, shouted a small girl with a wide grin on her face on being asked what brings her the most happiness. This is Asha, a shelter home in Khunti, one of the poorest districts in Jharkhand.
Khunti is home to one of the biggest girl trafficking and child labour rackets in the country. Shelters such as Asha have been incessantly working towards rescuing boys and girls from such notorious rackets, returning them to their families, enrolling them in schools, spreading awareness in villages to protect the children and providing them a safe haven to nurture a better life for them.
From teachers to doctors to policemen to footballers, all the boys and girls living here have dreams to achieve and a strong will to pursue them. Following is a series of portraits of the kids of Asha home on being asked to enact what they want to become once they grow up.
