Sanjoy Sengupta

Sanjoy Sengupta

Founder, TRAVEL-O-AGENCIES

India

I was born in a middle class Indian progressive joint family, and started looking for a job to earn a livelihood.I started my career as a tour operator and tourism promotions, Since last 25 years – been promoting tourism in North East of India specially in Arunachal Pradesh -the time when people knew very little about that place and any travel agencies would work there.
My work has impacted the community in several ways – like promoting the tourism , marketing support to the local tourism associates, hotel business owners, promoting local craft sale, Specially motivating the young locals to join in exploring the tourism opportunities . Training local Boys and Girls as tourist guides.Providing consultancy for the new entrepreneurs.
My approach towards life started changing, as I witnessed during travelling every corner of the country. Poverty, lack of education and job opportunity, young girls and boys are being exploited as child labour and slavery , some were been trafficked to metro cities also. Young and minor girls catering to brothels in different red light districts of india, even some without any trace (being killed/died). It was so frustrating to see the horrible living conditions.
I struggled at times, debated with myself, but ultimately listened to my heart when I decided to curve my lucrative business options in favor of making a difference in people’s lives. I was deeply moved and wanted to combat this social evil in the future. I did intense outreach/field work and gained a better understanding about the crime of human trafficking. I began to desperately look for a solution to help these women in need.Oneday I shared my views with my friends and joined DESTINY as TRUSTEE. Gradually I came in contact with some victim girls and tried to understand their pain from the core of my heart. Most of them expressed their desire to have a dignified alternative livelihood option and wanted a way out of this miserable situation. I was also concerned for the infant and adolescent children of the prostituted mothers.
In 2007, I joined both Destiny Foundation, a charitable organization devoted to the cause of combating human trafficking,as trustee member and Reflection, the foundation’s supporting business arm which is a not-for-profit social enterprise. My motive was to build a self sustainable business model with a mission to empower the survivors of human trafficking. In 2009, a devastating cyclone hit the coastal part of eastern india, myself with destiny members and well wisher visited those area to provide some relief and help.I visited a village “Chandipur” in sunderban area and witnessed their miserable condition, no school, no food, no medical support , no electricity and even no minimum civic services.Destiny with there broader fellings started a basic school in that villages to bring those kids to main stream and arranged to send back to school. Mother’s of those kids were engaged them for making items like KANTHA BLANKETS and other fancy items exploring their natural skills. Main objective was to empower the local women and educated the children to eradicate the poverty and make them economically independent. which will build up an awareness to stop sending their kids to city for household work or child labour in factories, and protect them from being trafficked.