- Monday, January 27, 2014 01:14 AM
- Monday, January 27, 2014 01:14 AM
A Home Away from Home For Abandoned Girls
By Anupama Mili - KOCHI
Published: 26th January 2014
Girl children are not a burden here, they have an abode and a mother at their call, their lives are safer than their own homes. They prefer to be called the children of Sukritham.
Sukritham is a home for abandoned girls in Kozhikode, the brainchild of V K Mahadev Prasad and friends, formed to take care of abandoned and less-fortunate girls.
“There are many homes for boys and taking care of a home solely for girls is a risk. Usually, people are reluctant to take up that mission. During those days, though there were girls’ homes in other places outside the district, there were not many here in Kozhikode. So, we wanted to start one,” says Mahadev, who gave up his job as a chef in Thiruvananthapuram to be a full-time guardian of Sukritham.
In the initial years, it was difficult for them to find funds to meet food, education and medical expenses, as only a few sponsors were available. Getting the first child made all the difference. She was from a poor family in Malappuram, where the parents could not take care of the baby. She was just nine years old when she stepped into the warmth of Sukrutham, which was then located in Kavunthara, Naduvannur.
Assistant managing trustee Udaya Rani lives permanently at Sukritham as the mother of ‘Sukritham Home.’ She organises the daily tasks and takes care of the girls. Udaya is assisted by two other staff members. The other board members of the home are Muralidharan A P, Manoj Kumar V, K Kripal, P Sunil Kumar and Harish P. The Sukritham family has grown into a number of 24 now, including girls aged between five and 16. The first girl is the eldest child of the family and she has reached class 11. Mahadev has dedicated his life fully to the guardianship of these children. “Raising a girl child needs maximum care, so how about raising 24 and more? My days will not be enough to take care of them,” he says.
Apart from the caretakers, funds for the project come mainly from NRIs and well-wishers in India and Switzerland. Before moving to the current building in Kakkur, they had raised funds through small amounts as donations. The Swiss partner, Sukritham Schweiz, was founded in April, 2011 to support Sukritham Girls Home. The association raises funds and provides information about Sukritham to Swiss people. In addition, it serves as an intermediary between schools in Switzerland and the children from Sukritham Girls Home for enabling e-mail exchanges to enhance intercultural exchange.
“We select pen friends from among the inhabitants of Sukritham and those in Sukritham Schweiz. Our children type their letters in the computers and we send them through e-mails. They develop a bond and wait for the replies,” says Mahadev. In the long term, the association also plans to connect young Swiss students and teachers with Sukritham Girls Home for volunteer placements.
Sukritham Schweiz was founded by Swiss citizens Klaus von Muralt and Corinne Leuenberger, who had volunteered as teachers at Sukritham Girls Home for two weeks in January, 2011.
Once the construction of the new buildings is complete, each room of the home will have just two children, unlike in crowded hostels.
They will have cupboards and tables as in normal houses. The students go to two schools in the town. A van drops and picks them up on school days.
“We are trying to get sponsors for each of the 365 days in a year. All of us celebrate at least one day in a year. So, we plan to approach people, asking them to sponsor a day in the life of the children here. The average expense of a day comes to around `2,000 at present,” says Mahadev.
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