The Tale of Two Courageous Girls


Earlier this year, Alumni CINI Australia Staff Member, Hollie Cavanagh, travelled to West Bengal for the 50th Anniversary of CINI. Her story was shared at our Annual Mother’s Day Celebration High Tea Fundraiser to an audience of 100. Her story is one of empowerment, strength, resilience and change, as she followed the lives of two little girls from 2019 to 2024.


I’d like to start by adding my acknowledgement of the traditional custodians of the beautiful country we meet on today, the Wadjuk people of the Noongar Nation who have nurtured these lands since the beginning of time.  I pay my respect and gratitude to elders past, present and emerging, extending this to all First Nations people across the place now known as Australia and particularly to any Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people who join us here today.  May their deep and enduring connection to country and culture, always remain.

I live with my imperfect yet loving and loyal husband and our 2 often flawed yet warm and sometimes adoring adolescent kids and, our middle aged yet utterly adorable maltese shitzu dog.  We live in a peaceful, safe community thick with the love and support of family and friends, on a backdrop of mostly solid acceptance and opportunity.  Don’t get me wrong, my life and that of my family hasn’t been, nor is it now, without genuine challenge and trauma…but on the whole and outside looking in, mine is the life of a pretty ordinary whitefella living a mostly charmed life on the coast of beautiful Wadjuk country.

But between 2017 and 2023, I had the very EXTRA-ordinary privilege of working closely with Jennie (who you’ll hear from later) and CINI Australia – and while those years are over, I know for sure that I can never depart myself from it, because of the utterly captivating, faultlessly enduring efforts it continues to make, delivering life-changing programs of empowerment to the most vulnerable communities I will ever know.

This knowing deepened even further after my 2nd visit to CINI India, earlier this year, together with some of the Board members.  We were inspired by the 50th Anniversary celebrations and humbled by the warm welcomes that met us upon arrival at every community we visited.

Seeing CINI in action in India, is a deeply profound experience – visiting the communities, meeting the families and children, and hearing about the impact that CINI is having on their lives.  CINI operates at an unbelievable scale – seeing first hand the enduring commitment and passion of the CINI staff and frontline workers who stop at nothing meet the needs of every vulnerable individual they encounter, is nothing short of astounding.  CINI is absolutely making a real difference in the lives of many.

As you’ll hear or may already know, the most direct impact CINI has is on the pre-natal mother, the newborn baby, child and adolescent stages of life.  Just from 5 years of working with CINI and 2 visits to India, I’ve been witness to countless stories of change from every one of these life stages.  So, it’s near impossible to choose what story to share, from which program impacting which family in what community…But as a parent of 2 teenagers, it’s the stories of transformation and empowerment of young people that resonate deeply with me right now.

So, I’m going to share the story of 2 girls we met during our February 2019 visit to India, at a support group meeting for HIV effected families and young people.  In this picture these girls are the same age that my daughter is now.  But by the age of 14, Arufa and Jasmina (names have been changed) had been dealt a very different hand to the tiktok-ing teens of Perth.

Arufa was sick for a long time before she learned that she was HIV positive.  When she first found out, she blamed herself, she felt alone and scared and didn’t believe anyone would care that she was sick.  When CINI outreach workers first came to her village, she wasn’t convinced that they could be of any help.  But with further counselling and education, she eventually accepted the support of CINI and over the coming years, her strength and confidence grew.

Arufa’s Story

Jasmina’s mum died of HIV when she was a baby and her father took her brother and, being the burdensome girl child, Jasmina was left behind with her mother’s family.  When we met her in 2019 she’d been attending CINI’s HIV support program for 2 years – at the time, she told us how CINI had taught her how to stay healthy and strong.

Five years on, in February this year, we met these girls again.

Arufa, now works as a mentor for groups of adolescent girls, just like she is here…she’s effectively paying forward the skills and confidence that she gained with CINI’s support, to the next generation of girls attending their HIV support programs.  When we met this group, Arufa was sitting front and centre, telling us (a large group of tall white strangers) her story, with the help of Suchi, our CINI chaperone and translator.  She spoke with unmistakable clarity, confidence and excitement for her future, as the girls behind her hung on her every word (as did we).  Arufa blushed as she shared the news of her (choice) marriage and proudly spoke of her work as a tailor – a skill she also gained through the CINI lifeskills program.

When Jasmina recently turned 18, she made the difficult choice to run away from her family as they were planning her arranged marriage (so she would no longer be their responsibility).  Also escaping the physical and emotional abuse of relatives, she bravely left with nothing but a small bag of personal belongings and went straight to CINI to seek immediate support. 

If she hadn’t been engaged with CINI’s support program for as long as she had, Jasmina would have remained disempowered and convinced she was without choice.  Instead, she took her rightful path and with CINI’s support has secured affordable accommodation and a traineeship to build her skills for future employment and a life of independence.  In this photo, she too was telling us her story (again with our impeccable translator, Suchi) with authentic confidence and the knowledge that she has made the right choice and has the steady backing of CINI to follow through.  Before we left India, we visited Jasmina at the café where she’s completing her traineeship and she proudly took our orders, and served us our meals.

And this gorgeous woman behind her is CINI outreach and support worker Deepa – she is a firm and bold feature in all these support groups and programs – so fierce and steadfast ensuring that vulnerable young women, like Arufa and Jasmina demand nothing less than genuine and empowered self-determination.

These are just 2 of the countless stories of change that I’ve seen since I first became involved with CINI 7 years ago.  That’s just 7 years -out of FIFTY – they’ve been doing this for 50 years and they’re bloody good at it.  CINI responds to whole spectrums of disadvantage and vulnerability – from the children rescued from being trafficked across the border to the flood effected regions high up in the mountains – countless programs across the most vulnerable communities with a reach that goes from the most remote and isolated villages of West Bengal to the densest inner city urban areas of Kolkata. 

It’s a response that creates palpable excitement in a newly empowered adolescent and maintains the dignity of a new mum rejected by a community that doesn’t yet know that HIV is not a touchable disease.  It’s these stories that are confronting and inspiring all in the same view, and the passion and care of the CINI’s enduring response that will keep this spectacular organisation firmly in the deepest part of my heart and soul, for the rest of my days.

Hollie x


CINI India Celebrates 50 Years of Change

On Thursday 1st February 2024 the Child in Need Institute (CINI) India turns 50.

For five decades, CINI has empowered women and children on an individual and community level, to help break the cycle of intergenerational poverty and disadvantage in India.

We have been associated with CINI in India since they began in 1974, and have built a respectful, honest and authentic partnership with them. This year, CINI Australia Board Members and other CINI Australia friends, will self-fund their travel to Kolkata to share this remarkable milestone together.

History of CINI

Founded in 1974 by Dr Samir Chaudhuri, a Bengali paediatrician with a special interest in child malnutrition, CINI started its journey from villages around Kolkata as a clinic for malnourished under-5 children.

  • 1974 – Registered under the Societies Registration Act.
  • 1985 – CINI Urban Unit set-up for street and working Children in Kolkata.
  • 1995 – Adolecent Program initiated within the life-cycle approach.
  • 2007 – Recognised as State nodal agency for initiating the ASHA selection and training in West Bengal.
  • 2010 – Awarded World Bank- supported Development Marketplace project for income generation of women’s groups by marketing low-cost nutritious supplement “Nutrimix”.
  • 2011 – Established shelter home for homeless women and girls in Kolkata with support from Government of West Bengal.
  • 2011 – Child In Need India (CINI) Australia founded by Dr Jennifer Connaughton in Perth, Western Australia.
  • 2018 – Initiated its community-based intervention in Assam with support from USAID.
  • 2020 – Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (Havard University) selected CINI’s work on harm prevention for the research project “Understanding Prevention: An Analysis of three Community-Based Harm Prevention”.
  • 2022 – Joined core group of India Alternative Care Network (IACN) facilitated by UNICEF country office.
  • 2023 – NAT-Health Healthcare CSR Award ‘Community Based Health Solutions’

Lives Impacted

Over the last 50 years, CINI India has impacted the lives of over 50 million babies, children, adolescents, women and mothers.

  • 1.4 million pregnant and lactating women by ensuring access to services.
  • 76,000 children addressing their nutritional need.
  • 92,000 children in accessing educational services.
  • 0.1 million children being protected from any forms of harm.
  • 5.1 million Adolescents being engaged in empowerment process.
  • 49,637 Poor vulnerable families received dry-ration during COVID pandemic.

Awards & Recognition

CINI stands out amongst other NGOs for its tireless dedication and commitment to change. We would like to take this opportunity to recognise the ground-breaking work accomplished by CINI India.

2023Joyee Award from CII and IWN, Recognition of excellence to caregivers for CINI’s exceptional contribution towards society during and post-pandemic situation.
2023NATHEALTH Healthcare CSR award for best community health solutions in India.
2019Dr. Samir Chaudhuri, e Parivartan Inspire Award, Britt World Wide (BWW) in the category of Women and Child Welfare.
1994Achiever of the Year 2019 (vertical Hub: Child Care), Tata Institute of Social Science: School of Vocational Education.
2017Best NGO, Health category, HCL Foundation.
2015Mobile for Good Awards, Vodafone Foundation for our initiative GPower.
2015Nari Suraksha Sanman Award, B Sirkar Johuree Nari Sanman.
2013ABP Ananda Sera Bangali Award, category Public Life, to Dr. Samir Chaudhuri, SPJIMR Harvard US – India Initiative (HUII) NGOs Excellence Award.
2013-2018Certificate of accreditation for adherence to the desirable norms prescribed for the good governance of voluntary organizations by Credibility Alliance.
2011ICICI Lombard and CNBC TV18 ‘India Health Care’ Award.
2011WHO Award for Excellence in Primary Health Care in India.
2008Annual Rotary India Award, most significant contribution in reducing child mortality, Rotary Club.
2008Ellis Island Medal of Honour, USA to CINI’s Director and founder, Dr. Samir Chaudhuri.
2007Dr. Samir Chaudhuri, World of Children Award.
2005Dr. Samir Chaudhuri, Premio Parlamentare per l’Infanzia (Children’s Award by the Italian Parliament / Parliamentary Commission for Children).
1985 & 2004National Award in the field of Child Welfare.

Story of Change

The story of Abhijit Baski: In the Green Zone of Health

Abhijit Baski, aged 4.9 years old, is a healthy and happy ‘CINI Nutrimix baby’ having been fed CINI Nutrimix regularly along with other food. Abhijit was detected as severely underweight, and in the “Red Zone” of malnutrition, at a screening camp for children 0-5 years at the ICDS centre, in Kurulia village when he was 2.5 years old.

“We learned about making dry Nutrimix, khichdi,and laddoos; proper cooking practices, health and hygiene, and care of new-borns and young children. All the mothers listened because there are many children who are in the Yellow Zone. My son is now in Green but I try share what I learned and show them how to make Nutrimix.”

Read Abhijit’s full story here.

The Future of CINI

The future is bright for women and children in India. Over the last 5 decades, CINI’s approach and award winning ‘CINI Method’ has stood the test of time, creating fundamental changes to the foundations of society in some of the most disadvantages and marginalised groups in West Bengal. There is still a lot of work to be done and we look forward to the next 5 decades and beyond, helping to give women and children a voice in India.

Thank You

CINI’s success wouldn’t be possible without global supporters like you. We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you for your continued support of CINI. Your support creates lasting change in the lives of hundreds, if not thousands of individuals.

Recurring donations are the most valuable gift you can give. They secure funding for our programs, so that we can continue to provide support throughout the year. Even $2 goes a long way in India, where even the smallest donation can create the biggest change.

Thank you for your support.


Read more: CINI @ 50 Years – CINI (cini-india.org)
Source: www.cini-india.org

Connect With Us

We invite you to follow us on social media and sign up for our newsletter to receive live updates and news from India during this momentous occasion. Thank you for following and sharing the work being achieved by CINI.

The more people we reach, the more stories from India we can share, and the greater impact we can make.

Make a Difference This Christmas

This Christmas, we invite you to make a donation to CINI Australia to support women and children in some of the most disadvantaged regions of India, specifically West Bengal. Your support creates lasting change in the lives of individuals, where even a small donation can make a significant difference.

Donations to CINI have a tremendous impact, and we are proud to share the following success story as an example of the positive change achieved this year.


Income Generation Training – IICCHAA 
(Indian Initiative Child Centered HIV Aids Approach)

Income Generation Training focuses on equipping individuals with skills that enable them to create income, with the primary objective of bolstering their financial independence. The trainees are individuals living with HIV, who wish to secure their livelihoods.In the South 24 Parganas, tailoring sessions were initiated for 8 young adults and mothers. Additionally, a 3-day Vocational Training Programme was organised in the Murshidabad unit, targeting 3 adolescents and 3 mothers from HIV-affected families.

This training program takes place at CINI Head Office, in collaboration with a local tailor who was previously supported by the program. In anticipation of the Bengali Durga Puja festival, which sees increased demand for various items like sarees, kurtis, churidars, bangles, earrings, and jewellery, the training focused specifically on fabric painting.

This hands-on approach helped to empower individuals with the means to generate income through their newfound skills. Programs like these form the cornerstone of the CINI Method—an internationally recognised and award-winning human rights-based approach.

Your contribution this Christmas can make a significant impact. CINI Australia is a registered charity, so any donation over $2 is tax deductible.

Thank you for your support.



Your Donations in Action

To read more about the work accomplished by CINI, we invite you to read our Annual Report. This report covers the period from July 2022 to June 2023.