Thursday, January 28, 2010

Swanthana - Haven of Little Angels



If you have a heart, it will bleed once you read the first few lines.




The Just born ammu was thrown in the waste bin behind a hotel one night. By next morning, she was almost eaten up by stray dogs and crows. Fortunately for her she was rescued. But due to that ordeal, she is paralyzed waist down.



There is one girl who was dumped in the waste bin in a railway station. She was rescued but acute malnutrition had left her mentally and physically disabled.



Another girl was hit by an iron rod by her dad as he was trying to hit her mom. The kid who was healthy is now mentally and physically disabled and has been abandoned by her parents.



These were the sights we saw at Swanthana, an orphanage for Mentally and physically challenged girl children.



Words cannot describe the agony we, the members of Feed the Nation went through watching these kids, holding them and trying to make them smile.



A lot of new members had joined us for the visit. Our Project Coordinator, Vineeth had done a pilot visit to ascertain the requirements. They needed Clothes, Diapers as all kids attend the natures call as is, and food. Mails were circulated to members to arrange for these needs. Apart from this our new member Rubina had arranged lunch for all the inmates and FTN members.



Being the Republic day, the Nuns had arranged for flag hoisting. We had nothing much to do to entertain the kids than carrying them around, and moving them around in their wheel chairs. The kids’ happiness was over whelming. They wanted to move around, and the moment anyone was taken back to the building, we could hear the screams to go out again.



It was an appealing sight. The privilege each of us enjoy to be able to do what we want, in knowing what we are doing. And here is a bunch of kids, at the mercy of others for no fault of theirs. Their only fault is probably that they survived their birth, and sadly were born to selfish and heartless parents, who left them to the mercy of the world, so that they may live a peaceful life. I'm very sure they wouldn’t have slept a single night peacefully, after the day they decided to dump their bundle of joy into a waste bin, for the stray dogs to feast on her.



The home is run amazingly well. The Nuns led by Sis Regina , takes extremely good care of the kids. They hardly have any external support, and hence are not able to accommodate more kids. The facility now has 29 kids and they are willing to take more needy kids, but are short of space. They are looking forward for a big time sponsor to build some extra rooms for them. On a day to day basis, they need clothes, diapers, food, toys etc for the kids. We want to associate with them long time on these needs.



As we parted, most of us had very heavy hearts. As I shared this with my friends, many came forward to provide more help. Most of us cannot take away our minds of that little ammu who captured our thoughts.



My Daughter, Anandita summed it up later that evening, when she told me “ Lets go there again daddy, ammu was so happy when she was with us” .



We would be going there soon, may be for Ammu's 1st birthday which is in february.


10 comments:

Ananya said...

to read abt ammu just tore my heart away...Y bring an innocent child into the world when u dont want it... prayers goes to her...Manoj its such a nice thing that u got ur ammu involved in it too...she will b more compassionate and loving...take care and may god bless your endeavors...

Unknown said...

lets make those little angles smile again :)

Vinod.pp said...

Every day, thousands of children experience abuse and suffer in silence Ammu is one of them but u people saved her.Great effort may god bless u....

Ashish speaks out said...

It was really a heart touching moment, also painful to see the children of almighty so helpless and in such a bad shape.

May god give sanity and heart to all the parents, so that we do not have more of these cases in future.

Lets learn to respect lord's creation

Thattukada_Owner said...

Ammu...shes still there in my eyes..while reading, while writing shes there..I was very upset after i came back from swandana...lets go there to celebrate her 1st bday....n nice summing up...

Vivek said...

When I saw Ammu first, I couldn’t believe that somebody has left such a cute girl in a dust bin. She looked like a princess in that white dress.
When I think about her fate again and again now... what I feel is… she is lucky enough for not being in the hands of those cruel & selfish parents who threw her at a dust bin. Those wonderful nuns at Swaanthanam takes very good care of her... Their selfless service for all the Mentally & Physically challenged kids over there is truly commendable. And if they can dedicate their life for those innocent souls, then v can surely spend at least half day in a month with all Ammu’s… v should continue visiting there every month...

Vivek said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
run2see said...

Yes well said Manoj! The visit, I am confident was a fruit of eye-opener for everyone present..it reminded us how blessed each of us are in our physical and mental well-being..how we crib for each and very small reason and on the contrast how these little angles live happily and worry-free with absolutely no ccomplaints! lets be grateful for what we are help our nation build a strong and selfless society. Jai Hind!

Manoj Thelakkat said...

We cant cure the world..We can bring happiness to few..Lets do it undettered..Thanks to all our well wishers, and looking forward to your support more

Unknown said...

Thank you for sharing Manoj. I have been looking for such places to lend a helping hand that are in real dire need.
It is indeed heart breaking to see such angels treated that way. But God watches over and takes care of them via angels at Swanthana. Looking forward to my visit there sometime soon.