A runway to recovery

Covid-19 affected thousands of children’s lives, and severely impacted their emotional and physical health. Some children lost their parents and had no one to care for them. Others were left with only a single surviving parent, who could not meet their financial and emotional needs.

The pandemic affected girl children disproportionately, putting them at greater risk of exploitation, abuse and forced marriage. Intending to help such girls become self-sufficient, Sparsha Trust, a Bengaluru-based NGO, teamed up with the Kempegowda International Airport Foundation (KIAF), Bengaluru. The trust has experience in running other homes like this one.

The collaboration with KIAF involves running a facility for girls who lost one or both parents to Covid. The facility now houses approximately 140 girls. It is nestled among the lush greenery of the villages that line the airport’s surroundings.

Hemanth Madegowda, the assistant vice-president, Corporate Social Responsibility, KIAF, said, “For the time being, we’ve opted to focus on serving girls whose families were affected due to Covid.”

Children are identified and referred to the Home by Child Welfare Committees (CWCs). “Zonal and district-level CWCs refer children to facilities like ours. Currently, only children from Karnataka reside in our care,” said Gopinath, a trustee of the NGO.

"If the surviving parent isn’t financially stable and has to take up multiple jobs to make ends meet, they are not able to give sufficient time and attention to their children. While the parent is away, the kids are more likely to get involved in illegal activities or be subject to abuse. In such cases, they are recommended to us by CWCs.”

Need-based support

Additional counselling services are also provided. “In some circumstances, we have not been able to help because of the level of the psychological trauma a child has experienced. Counsellors from National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences and other organisations have tried to help us in the past,” he added.

When further intervention and care are required, the CWC recommends a rehabilitation facility for the child. S Manju, a member of CWC Bengaluru, says, “Children who fail to recover in non-profit organisations are placed in private or state-run rehabilitation centres. We stay in touch with the rehab clinic till the child’s mental and physical health are restored.” In Manju’s five years with the CWC, 99% of the cases have been resolved, she says.

In conversation with DH, one of the girls who lives in the Devanahalli-based home said, “The project covers all our expenses, including education, food, travel, and daily necessities. Most students in classes one to 10 attend a local government school nearby, while the older children go to a college in the city. The hostel provides free transportation. We also have access to smartphones through our wardens for our studies.”

“Besides regular schooling and college education, the kids are being given English and soft skills lessons at the facility,” says Gopinath.

The NGO has seen success stories like that of Radha* and Kamala*. While Kamala came to the trust as a class four school dropout after her parents passed away, Radha was rescued from a child marriage at the age of 16.

Today, they are both in their final year of their UG degrees. Radha is studying for the IAS exams, while Kamala hopes to become a women’s rights activist. Through a government scheme, the former was even given the opportunity to speak in Parliament.

(*Names changed to protect identity)