Serious Stuff!

As some of you will have seen on the charity’s website: www.vfrtrust.org , the charity was started in 1992 when Sandhya took in an abandoned little girl.  This was the start of what has since grown into an orphanage & school.  Sandhya is a former University Lecturer of English & she’s now President & Director of the charity.  She has gathered around her other retired professional women here, who also give their time to work voluntarily for the charity.  In everything they do, they bring the problem of the ‘Girl Child’ in India to the fore.  They are desperately trying to educate, not just children, but also society, so that one day girls will not be aborted, killed or abandoned any more.  

Sandhya is a wonderful, gentle lady, who works tirelessly for the children & she also travels to advertise & to try to gain sponsorship & support.  I’ve also discovered (from other sources!) that these caring ladies give a lot of their own money to this cause.  Sandhya also welcomes the children into her own home regularly.  She treats them all as family.  Her husband seems a lovely man too & is a doctor - an eye specialist, so the children get good glasses too!  Sandhya is a relentless campaigner.  She says that girls are not only abandoned physically here, but emotionally & intellectually as well.  Women are really not valued in India & she takes every opportunity to campaign for women’s rights.  I’ve learned that the charity not only supports children, but also underprivileged women, often in local rural communities where there’s great poverty & also prejudice.  “Women in Kadapa district have a very low social status – often victims of abuse, lacking basic human rights, dignity and independence. In an effort to change this, VFT helps women become independent by training them” eg. in tailoring etc., so that they can become self-supporting & keep their children.  It’s such a worthwhile cause!

                                                                                                 

Training in the TailoringClass

I’ve been very moved, as most of the children have a tragic story to their past & some women turn up here, desperate for help, as they are victims of abuse etc. & can’t feed their children.  From what I can gather, Sandhya & the others never turn anyone away.  They always try to help or at least start them off on a path to recovery.  This is also how Aarti Home began to take boys too – how can you turn away people, who are desperate for help?  That’s also how the school began to take external children, in addition to the orphanage children – the charity supports & subsidises where the need is great, & lots of underprivileged people here desperately want education for their children. 

Sandhya is not only a truly lovely person, but she’s quite inspiring too.  The plight of the ‘girl child’ in India is her focus & she is fascinating to listen to.  She also runs conferences & workshops & I’m very glad that I’ve come here, as it’s a cause that really does need help.  They are providing a loving, caring home for the children but obviously funds are never enough, hence the place does look quite run-down & in need of refurbishment.  However, the children are learning wonderful values.  Despite their sad backgrounds, thanks to what they are being offered here, they are delightful, happy & confident youngsters with high aspirations for the future.  They study hard, as they are all aware that this is their way to a better future.

I mentioned prejudice above, so I need to explain a little.  They are working here to try to help, educate & train underprivileged people in rural areas but I’ve learned that it’s far harder than it would seem.  The mindset has been established for generations & that’s the problem: girls are undervalued to such an extent that eg. they are given less food than boys, aren’t educated as the boys are etc.  When health workers go out into these areas to try to educate re. nutrition & pregnancy etc., they distribute vitamins, medicines etc.  Young girls & mothers are receptive to the training but the vitamins are often taken away by the families & rather than giving them to the pregnant woman, they sell them for money, whether they need it or not.  A woman is expected to cope without support in any way.  Ultrasound scans are only valued as a way of determining the sex of the baby, so that a female foetus may be aborted.  Please see the extract below:

“Being orphaned is unfortunate, being abandoned is devastating” – Soubhagya, 19, Aarti Home

“Devastating it is, there is a girl abandoned, killed – either before or after birth, or abused every minute in India. According to a recent UNICEF report, it is estimated that there are 40 million girls missing from Indian population. In most countries in the world, there are approximately 105 female births for every 100 males. In India, there are less than 93 women for every 100 men in the population.”

The extracts above are from a report, which the charity submitted, in an effort to obtain funding.

This has all really brought home to me how important this work is!