Bhopal: These trans women take pride in helping community members

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Lara Negi and Abdul Raheem, the two transwomen in Madhya Pradesh who have cut a swath for themselves by giving love and affection to other members of their community. The duo have so far helped around 3,000 transwomen through an NGO, ‘Armaan Foundation’. They helped the community with issues related to health, human rights, and acceptance, however they want to do something in the field of education too, however, paucity of funds have tied their hands.

"We want to become the help that we never received; we want to give them the support that nobody gave us. Hence, we started working for their upliftment because no one tried to help us when we were little," the transgender woman said. The Free Press talked with the duo who have devoted themselves to make life better for their community members.

Lara Negi: ‘ Not having degree my biggest regret’

Lara Negi, age 37, has been working for the rights of transgender people for almost 17 years. She was around 18 when she gathered the courage to speak up for the people of her community. "I wanted to have a normal life, but people made me feel different. Boys in school sexually assaulted me. I was so traumatised that I had to drop out of school. My father was an alcoholic and he discarded me,” said Lara sharing her life story. "One thing that I regret the most when I go for public speaking is not having a degree. I feel inferior. But school was unbearable so I dropped out in 7th grade," she added.

Abdul Raheem :‘Life has much more in store”

Abdul Raheem, age 44, has an M.Com. and MA in Indian classical music. Since childhood, Raheem has faced discrimination due to his feminine behaviour. His fellow classmates used to tease her. She was sexually assaulted by seniors. Raheem was forced to join a eunuch group and had started asking for 'Badhai'. After 12 years of begging, Raheem realised that life has much more in store and so she started working on herself. She completed her education, and vowed to help others. "My motive is to inform trans people about HIV and their rights. I want to become their voice and help them achieve their voices too."