Bonding through struggle: NGO helps orphans find unique homes

The Times of India, CHENNAI, Nov 11, 2013

R Latha is the mother of 21 - the eldest recently got married at a pandal near her house, and the youngest is in Montessori school.

The house of 43-year-old Latha, who left her husband, is at SOS Children's Villages, an NGO in Tambaram. Each of the 17 mothers at SOS have had lives filled with struggle and so have the 195 children there, but they survive through mutual support.The mothers are women left destitute and the children are orphans, but their pasts don't affect the strong families they're building at Chennai SOS, which was established 35 years ago.

Latha walked out of her husband's house a week after marriage. "The marriage was a lie and the house wasn't safe for me as a woman. The children are my family. I take them home during summer vacations and I take them on travels whenever possible. Two of my daughters are married and they visit us regularly with their spouses," says Latha, who has been the head of Kamakoti house at SOS for the past 14 years.

It is a struggle to find the right mothers, says Chennai village director Ramesh Kumar. "We have to find the right person who can take care of the children like their own. The mothers have to deal with their own stress and emotional problems along with their children's, which is why we help them with yoga and meditation," he said.

Getting funds has been another challenge says SOS global president Siddhartha Kaul. "We don't have much government support for the programmes. And we provide financial support to children who want to continue their studies," he said during his visit to the village on Sunday.

For unmarried 59-year-old Sujatha from Vishakapatnam, raising the 11 children at Kumara Vijayam is her life's mission. "It's the mature children who don't listen to us sometimes when we tell them to study or not to go out late. Otherwise our family is like every other normal family," says Sujatha.

The mothers are usually not informed about the child's background. "We try to raise them as children with families and siblings. Unless the children ask us about their past at some point, we don't tell them about anything," says Brindha Prince, a member of SOS.

Now, the group is focusing on a family strengthening programme where below poverty line families with single mothers and their children are aided in supporting their family. Prince said there were 170 families outside SOS getting the support since four years.

Sponsor a child today in SOS Children's Village Chennai:
Online: www.soschildrensvillages.in
Telephone: +91-11- 4323 9200
Toll-free No.: 1800 102 6905
Email : soscvi@soscvindia.org