Freedom for Reena, Manju and Suniti - #putchildrenfirst

Reena, a seventeen-year-old Indian girl, had never gone to school until she came to SOS at twelve, after her mother died and her father re-married. “I lived with my grandmother who sold clothes and we were very poor; we hardly had enough to eat and no proper clothes either. [Since I have come] to SOS, I have a proper mother; I completed my 12th grade exams; and, best of all, I became a state-level sports player in volleyball. I now want to study well and achieve goals in sports and earn a good name for my grandmother and for SOS,” says Reena determinedly.

Before the helpful of SOS, Reena was vulnerable to countless child rights violations. Children’s rights remain an important issue in India, where 12% of children under 15 are involved in labour and 47% of girls are married before they are 18. Seventeen-year-old Manju’s story speaks to just how important these child rights can be.

When she lost both her parents six years ago, she came to SOS Children’s Village Nagapattinam; but she had only been there for five months when her uncle took her away to his village. She was not allowed to go to school and was treated as an unpaid servant, confined to the house.

After enduring two years of misery, Manju decided to escape and go back to the only safe place she knew. She pawned her mother’s jewellery, jumped the fence outside the house and caught the bus, reaching Nagapattinam only at night. “I was just 14 years old when this incident happened. I struggled a lot to reach here. I have no idea what would have happened if I hadn’t come to SOS. I have a future today only because of SOS.  Here I have friends, I can watch TV, I have the freedom to be on my own, I have my SOS mother to take care of me,” says Manju, who wants to become an Indian Police Service officer.

Suniti, who is also seventeen and is supported by the SOS Children’s Villages’ Puducherry Family Strengthening Program (FSP), has the same ambition. “SOS has supported our family since 2008 with books, career counseling, nutritious items, and medical check-ups,” she shares. Due to this help, I got [a mark of] 86 percent in class 10; SOS helped us further, and with proper savings, my mother was able to educate my siblings as well. I have just completed class 12. SOS protects children from child labor and motivates them to go to school.”

For more of our Put Children First campaign, please follow our Twitter and Facebook. Keep others in the loop by using the hashtag #putchildrenfirst!

Canadian's wishing to support SOS Children's Villages are encouraged to sponsor a child, sponsor a village or to make a direct donation. Your support ensures that SOS Children's Villages can continue to provide a safe and loving home to orphan and abandoned children worldwide.