I arrived at the gates of the CINI compound south of Calcutta at 2.30 in the morning: it was dark, misty and silent. In the pause, I realised I had no clear idea of what to expect: I had had many conflicting impressions, and I was here to photograph the reality of the charity's work in a way that put it across clearly and compellingly. As the gates finally swung open, I was a bit apprehensive.
From the first morning, the natural rhythm of the institute quickly took me in. Awoken by the staff singing, welcomes and on to a village festival, organised by CINI, to raise awareness of protection issues. This drew in the crowds and communicated the complex messages of women's rights, sexual health and importance of education – I was swept up by the warmth and vibrancy of it all.
 Girl, age 15, reads captions about domestic violence poster to her siblings
Over the following days, we observed health visits to vulnerable villagers, pregnancy monitoring, nutritional training, the clinic for severely malnourished children with their mothers - and the astonishing Open Thursday clinic where women from far and wide could bring their babies for free treatment.
Later, in the city, we visited women's support networks, night schooling for the poorest children, early pre-schooling and the seminal CINI home for street kids. The system worked, day and night, at full steam. 
Mothers receive advice at CINI's Thursday clinic
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A health worker records the weight of an infant
I came to realise that this was charity with a difference: not crisis-driven, emergency-reactive,
but a local, community-based, compassion-driven organism that slowly and steadily improved the quality of life
for mothers and children. I met women who had benefited as children, now helping the next generation; teenage girls
showing with shining eyes how they taught deprived children and their mothers; street children recounting matter-of-factly
how their lives had been saved by CINI. This for me re-defined the whole notion of ‘charity': care and prevention not crisis
and intervention.
A mother tenderly holds her baby close to her
I hope that a little of the huge love, care and compassion I witnessed has been captured in some of the photos. I left realising there are a lot more stories to tell, and that we in the West have a lot to learn from the world of CINI
Stuart Mackay's photos are being exhibited at the Nehru Centre, 8 South Audley Street, London, W1K 1HF, on 1st to 5th February – accessible 10.00am to 6.00pm. |
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