Hussain K |Times of India
Chennai: Tragedy struck them in the form of giant waves and destroyed everything in moments. Even after six years, these children, sheltered at the Annai Fathima Child Welfare Centre, an orphanage in Karapakkam on Old Mahabalipuram Road, are still living at the mercy of public charity. And with very little help coming from the government, their dream of quality education remains a distant dream.
These 56 children, aged between 5 and 14, were orphaned when tsunami hit the coast of Tamil Nadu on December 26, 2004. Most of them lost their parents, and the parents who escaped death are still struggling to overcome the trauma of the tragedy and are unable to take care of their children. Many of them were found abandoned after the tragedy and brought in here by various NGOs and government agencies hoping to give them a better future.
Since the orphanage has only three classrooms, they get primary education here and depend on nearby government schools for higher education. But they do not have even basic facilities like benches or desks and have to learn lessons sitting on the floor. In hostels they sleep on the hard floor sharing space with other inmates at the orphanage.
“It was a difficult task to get them admission in schools as none of them had documents to prove even their names, age, name of parents, etc.,” says Rani Krishna, founder of the orphanage. A few of them were referred by the government itself, but very little help comes from the government. The government provides a monthly grant of 5,295, that too for a total of 25 children. “Even after several requests, the government has not increased the amount. To meet their basic needs, I have to depend on public charity,” she said.
Savitha of Pattinappakkam, a ninth standard student, is the eldest among the children. She was just five years old when tsunami struck. She and her mother escaped from the killer waves but lost her father and their house. “It was a Sunday and I was at home with my mother. But my father had gone out and never returned.” Tears gathered in her eyes as she recounted the fateful day. She, along with her brother, lives in the orphanage while her mother lives in a shelter in Semmenchery. Savitha is just one among the many children living here with haunting memories of the tragedy. Several of them were too young at the time of tragedy to understand what tragedy meant.
R Vasuki, director of social welfare department said, “The proposal for increasing the grant has to be forwarded from the finance department. So far I haven’t received any proposal regarding this case. If we get anything we will consider it”.
