By Sr Lini Sheeja MSC –
A father blatantly asked the mother to leave. Her fault? She had given birth to twin girls again! For the unkind father, four girls in a row was too much to take. The newly born twin girls were disposed of to two couples who gratefully adopted the babies as they had long been awaiting the blessing of a child. Her adopted parents lovingly cared for baby Anusha (name changed). Totally unaware that the parents were not her own, she was living a happy life, until fate struck again. Sadly, she lost her adopted mother to Covid19! After the death of her mother, her adopted father became rude and indifferent towards her. That added to her misery. The mental agony she went through at the rejections she faced one after the other is undoubtedly heart-rending. Can we possibly step into her shoes, to feel her pain?
God soon came to her rescue in the form of Samagra Education Initiative project in collaboration with Dream India Network (a unique program that promotes quality education for children who are orphans, single parent child, children living in difficult situation while making sure they are not separated from homes, parents or relatives. It gives special focus on the children who are orphaned by COVID-19 by placing them in best English-medium schools. ‘My God provides and so no child should go uneducated’ is the motto of Samagra Education Initiative) who took her in, and are presently educating her in a good English Medium School, to enable her to pursue her dreams. They hope that one day Anusha will become an instrument to save similar unfortunate girl children, who fall prey to the bias of society.
Why, O why is a girl child considered a burden? It is sad that even the supposedly literate are not aware that it is the chromosome of the father, which biologically determines the sex of the baby. Society urgently needs to be educated in this regard, and also be made aware of the preciousness of a girl-child. I have penned down in this article on various issues girl children face in our society; their cry and our response. My whole-hearted thanks to all the benefactors of Samagra Education Initiative whose generous hearts assure hope to the children who have lost hope in their lives with the death of their parents.
Status of Girl Children
It is said, ‘If father is the head of the family, then mother is the heart of the family’. Then how is that so many girl children killed and denied their rights? According to some statistics, one in three girls die in the first year of life and one in four do not live to celebrate their 15th birthday. Two out of five girls are malnourished and every second adolescent girl is anaemic. Six out of ten girls are child brides and four out of ten have their first child before they are 18 years old.
Children the Vulnerable Group
Every child is gifted and God rejoices at every new birth, for we are created in His own image and likeness. Every child born on this earth is innocent, because she/he is created by Holy God. Children are not things to be moulded but human beings to be unfolded. They have lot of potential within. They are gifted and they must be helped and guided to un-wrap their packages at different and opportune times. Hard punishments and strict disciplining are no more beneficial to children as are too much pampering and providing all that they ask for. Homes, institutions and society should find a balance for children’s future, for we are dealing with a vulnerable group.
Children in Brothel Houses
As she stood awaiting her bus, little did an unsuspecting nine-year-old realise that the food offered to her had been drugged. When she came to her senses, she found herself in a strange place where strange activities were going on. It was a brothel house in Mumbai. She had been deceived and was now trapped! Much against her will, she suffered the life of a prostitute. It took three years before she could be rescued. Her struggles and torments had however empowered her, so that, as she grew older she took it upon herself to rescue similar girls from the cruel clutches of this well-organised evil set-up. Moreover, she is doing a commendable, selfless service, no doubt. Thanks to her courage and empathy, she has managed to rescue many a girl.
Come to think of it. Isn’t it a sad state of affairs that despite so much of all-round development in society, the world still has its dark sides? It is the wicked world of rape, child abuse, sexual exploitation, child labour, human trafficking, and so on. Hapless girls are literally pushed into this immoral dungeon and made to suffer, often for no apparent fault of theirs. It is high time that the so-called “developed” society awakens to a morality of seeing their own mothers, sisters and daughters in these forsaken females. Jawaharlal Nehru was so right in saying, “To awaken the people, it is the woman who has to be awakened. When the woman is on the move, the family moves, the village moves, the nation moves.”
Pope Francis’ Comfort For the Little Girl
Pope Francis was moved to embrace a tearful abandoned girl at a university in Manila after she asked why God allows children to become prostitutes. Glyzelle Palomar wept as she asked the Pope: “Many children get involved in drugs and prostitution. Why does God allow these things to happen to us? The children are not guilty of anything.” The pontiff, cementing his reputation as a champion of the poor and oppressed, took the 12-year-old in his arms to comfort her. He was so touched by the girl’s appeal that he abandoned his pre-prepared speech in English and instead responded to the child in Spanish, his native language.
Visibly moved, the Pope said: “She is the only one who has put forward a question for which there is no answer and she was not even able to express it in words but rather in tears.” Calling on people to show compassion for the marginalised, he continued: “I invite each one of you to ask yourselves, ‘Have I learned how to weep, how to cry when I see a hungry child, a child on the street who uses drugs, a homeless child, an abandoned child, an abused child, a child that society uses as a slave’?” The girl had been abandoned and was once homeless before being sheltered by a church-run community. She was welcoming the Pope to the university, but broke down as she asked her emotional question.
Female Foeticide and Infanticide
Women are murdered all over the world. However, in India a most brutal form of killing females takes place regularly, even before they have the opportunity to be born. Female feticide–the selective abortion of female foetuses–is killing of more than one million females in India annually with far-ranging and tragic consequences. Females not only face inequality in this culture, they are even denied the right to be born. Girl children have become a burden to the families, as they have to pay a dowry to the future bridegroom of a daughter. While sons offer security to their families in old age and can perform the rites for the souls of deceased parents and ancestors, daughters are perceived as a social and economic burden. The God who called Moses to save Israelites saying, “The cry of the Israelites has now come to me” (Exo 3:9) says to each one of us that the cry of these little foetuses and infants has now come to me. These little ones would ask God, ‘What crime have we committed? Why did they kill us?’
Rampant Child Abuse
A naive little girl of just four years was blissfully unaware that her dear father’s friend, whom she lovingly called “Uncle”, had ulterior motives when he showed his affection for her. The rape left Baby Joyce shattered! When we at the Bosco Child Line rushed to her rescue on receiving a call on 1098, we found her in a petrified state, to say the least. We got her admitted to the hospital immediately. The terrified girl was so traumatised that she would not let even her own mother touch her or even come close. It took the child months together to reach even a semblance of sanity. It is indeed sad that the horror of the incident haunts her even today. God intends us humans to be protective and supportive of the frail and the weak. Yet what is happening in reality? It is unfortunate that the evil spirit gets his way very often and these poor victims are made to suffer for no fault of their own, and often for the entire remaining period of their lives in fact. Dear reader let us join hands, not only to pray, but also to come out actively to shield, to save and to help our little girls.
Mother Teresa’s Love for the Child
Mother Theresa moved with compassion by seeing the plights of girl children said, “Please don’t kill the child. I want the child. Please give me the child. I am willing to accept any child who would be aborted, and to give that child to a married couple who will love the child, and be loved by the child. From our children’s home in Calcutta alone, we have saved over 3,000 children from abortions. These children have brought such love and joy to their adopted parents, and have grown up so full of love and joy!”
Our Response
We all can give two things to our girl children. One is roots and the other is wings. Protect our girl children from the grass root level from all these dangers and make them to fly high. Let us give our girl children first roots and then wings. We have many institutions to make our children as brilliant citizens and achievers. How many schools have time to listen to these girl children? Make their roots strong as you listen to them and make them fly as you teach them. Educate every girl child in your neighbourhood and create awareness programs for them! Every child is a different kind of flower and all together, they make this world a beautiful garden.
Let us sacrifice our today so that every girl child can have a better tomorrow. Even a little girl is capable of encouraging and empowering society. Every girl child has dreams. Can you and I help her to achieve her dreams? A little girl with dreams becomes a woman with vision! God intends us humans to be protective and supportive of the frail and the weak. Dear reader let us join hands, not only to pray, but also to come out actively to shield, to save and to help our little girls.
Sr Lini Sheeja MSC had worked in the slums of Bangalore and Chennai for the uplift of women and children by forming Self-Help Groups and educating these vulnerable children in good English Medium Schools. Sr Lini strongly believes in “My God provides and so no child should go uneducated”.