Help ex-Air Force officer AC Barua rescue abandoned mothers in Assam

SERVING as an officer in the Indian Air Force taught retired Group Captain AC Barua much about service to humankind. His dedication to his role in the Indian Air Force saw him fighting on the frontlines of the Indo-Pak war of 1971. The decades of experience that former Group Captain AC Barua contributed to his nation still continued after his retirement in 1999. He could have taken a break from all service and spent his retirement at home. But the floods in Assam in 2014 reawakened his dedication to service that he learned as an officer in the Indian Air Force. 

 

The devastating floods that swept across Assam affected lakhs of people and led to the loss of homes, possessions and precious lives. AC Barua had retired by then and was watching the natural disaster unfurl on television in Assam. He decided to step out of his house to assess the flood damage. What he saw shocked him. He saw people’s homes in shambles and pieces of their lives strewn out across the ground. While most people sought shelter elsewhere, the people who were homeless and destitute before the floods had nowhere to go. 

 

The devastating aftermath of the floods

He saw destitute women sleeping under sheets on the ground who looked as if they had not eaten in weeks and appeared on the verge of death. His time in the Indian Air Force taught him a lot about compassion for people and doing his part to protect others. This made him approach the women to find out what made them homeless and destitute. He heard their response and it was even worse than he imagined. The old women had been abandoned by their families, had no place to live, no food to eat, no medicines to help them and no comfort in life. 

 

The beginnings of SENEH

In the Indian Air Force, retired Group Captain AC Barua has often shared that he learned a lot about the real meaning of service to humankind. He might have retired in the late 1990s, but his vow to serve people continued. He decided to build a home for these destitute grandmothers suffering on the streets. He used his own land and pension fund and built a beautiful home called SENEH, which means selfless love in Assamese. Once the home was built and the doors opened to the most desperate people living on the streets, the halls of SENEH began to echo with hope.

 

SENEH provides its residents with a safe and secure roof over their heads, nutritious food three times each day, medical care, regular visits to the hospital, clothing and recreational activities and the companionship of the other women at the home. AC Barua has often said that SENEH is a sisterhood and the mothers and grandmothers who live at the home are grateful for the bonds of their sisterhood. This is because the residents have been abandoned by their families and have no one else in the world. SENEH gives them the chance to form bonds with people once again. 

 

Exploited on the streets

The mental anguish that the residents of SENEH endured on the streets is nothing short of terror. Homeless people suffer much, but it is women and children who are the most vulnerable. Many of the women faced mental, physical and even sexual abuse from strangers who take advantage of their desperate situation and exploit them. This leaves deep psychological scars and the team from SENEH holds their hands throughout their recovery process. In the safe and secure environment of the home, the women can heal and look forward to the future.

 

The residents of SENEH are all aging and need constant medical attention. The NGO makes sure that each of the women have access to doctors and get the medicines and treatment required to be in good health. These women were once on the streets and either suffered from diseases or succumbed to them. But SENEH ensures that each resident is looked after and receives the care they deserve in their old age. When residents do pass away, the NGO conducts all of their last rites according to their personal beliefs and gives them a dignified funeral. 

 

 

The rescued mothers and grandmothers at SENEH have formed a family of their own at the home. The women refer to retired Group Captain AC Barua as deuta which is Assamese for father. For him, serving abandoned women is his way of continuing his service to the nation. He knows that SENEH is making an impact in the lives of these women whose lives have been transformed from darkness and despair to hope for the future. The women are grateful to have been rescued by their deuta and cherish their home – for it is all they have.

 

Support retired Group Captain AC Barua

Ex-Indian Air Force officer AC Barua is more than 80 years old but is still going strong and has no plans of giving up his mission of rescuing destitute mothers and grandmothers from the streets and giving them a warm and loving home. But he is funding the home with his own pension and needs our support to keep the home running. When you support the retired Group Captain AC Barua in his mission, you help elders who have been abused and abandoned and send them the message that despite the darkness in their lives, there is still hope. 

 

Support ex-Air Force Officer

 

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