Mother’s Day: 5 compassionate NGO founders who are mothers to suffering children

THIS Mother’s Day, we’re learning about brave and compassionate founders of NGOs who care for suffering children who are vulnerable to the dangers of this world. In villages and cities across India, children face many issues, from the lack of hospital care to being the innocent victims of sexual abuse. These 5 women are each a founder of an NGO for children and are mother figures who, unable to tolerate the suffering that children go through, started organizations that rescue, rehabilitate and support children who have been abused and exploited. In caring for these children, these trailblazing women ensure the children’s futures are brighter than their past and are filled with opportunities.

How an NGO for children can save lives

There are millions of children across India that face multiple issues and need a helping hand. After having been abused and abandoned, trusting adults is a long and difficult journey that requires time and patience. But these NGO founders have dedicated their lives to transforming the lives of exploited children with time, empathy, compassion and committed care. For each of these founders, this is what it means to be a mother to children. Here are 5 compassionate mothers to suffering children:

Dr. Chethana of Neonates Foundation of India

When a woman gives birth, it is common for the baby to be monitored for a while before it’s time to go home. But complications often arise that require intensive care in the neonatal ICU. This would alarm any mother, but for those families that cannot afford neonatal ICU treatment, it is often a death sentence for the child. The cost of neonatal ICU care can range between ₹50,000 to ₹1,50,000 and for poor families, Neonates Foundation of India covers the financial cost and connects the families with a network of children’s hospitals to begin receiving neonatal ICU care. 

Dr. Chethana of Neonates Foundation of India asks “should money decide which baby in the hospital lives or dies”? Her compassion for newborn babies has helped countless families receive the critical care their babies need to survive. In addition to providing the finances and connecting them to hospitals, the Bengaluru-based NGO for children also counsels mothers to get through this painful time in the neonatal ICU. But Dr. Chethana needs support to care for 80 babies currently in the neonatal ICU. To support Neonates Foundation of India, you can donate here:

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Lalitha S.A. of SPID

“It is unbearable, unbearable to listen to the stories of violent sexual abuse that children are forced into in brothels,” says Lalitha, the founder of SPID (NGO full form: Society For Participatory Integrated Development). But Lalitha does listen. Through her NGO for children, Lalitha has rescued thousands of trafficked children in more than 3 decades. The children are given a roof over their heads, regular meals, counseling and are enrolled in school where they are placed on a path to grow into adults that have safe and promising futures. 

In red light areas, children are forced to witness and endure things that no child should ever be exposed to. Lalitha shares that traffickers insert objects into children’s private parts and they are bitten, burned and abused to the point where they simply give up. Lalitha’s aim is to rescue these children from the horrors of child sexual abuse and give them the chance to enjoy their childhoods. By supporting Lalitha, you can help the NGO for children rescue and care for more children and give them the lives they deserve. To support SPID, you can donate here:

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Deepali Vandada of Urja Trust

When a child is sexually abused, sheer terror and survival instinct often make them run away to unknown places in search of safety. But this also makes the children vulnerable to criminals and traffickers who lurk in the shadows, just waiting to snatch and exploit them for child labor or sexual violence in brothels. Deepali Vandana knows this all too well; she was born and raised in Kamathipura, one of Asia’s largest red light districts. When she saw children being sexually exploited, she resolved to rescue and rehabilitate them, which he does, through her NGO Urja Trust. 

Urja Trust has been a constant presence in vulnerable areas in Mumbai such as train stations and red light areas, since 2012. Deepali Vandana shares that “even though the physical scars of victims are visible, their unseen emotional scars are even deeper”. Urja Trust provides medical support and counseling care alongside education and skills-based training to help the girls dream their dreams and accomplish them. More than 1,500 girls have been rescued and Deepali Vandana needs support to care for more girls. To support Urja Trust, you can donate here: 

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Sarasa Vasudevan of Vishranthi Trust

For reasons such as being unable to afford a child to a child being disabled, families abandon their children while other children are orphaned and left without parental care. These children often end up on the streets and are vulnerable to abuse, exploitation or trafficking. Sarasa Vasudevan decided that these children are the most vulnerable members of society and must be cared for before it is too late. Bengaluru-based Vishranthi Trust was born out of this vision and rescues, shelters, cares for and educates children who would otherwise have nowhere to go. 

Sarasa Vasudevan believes in investing in the futures of children who have been dealt a bad hand in life. Because Vishranthi Trust gives them opportunities, the children can reach for the stars. This is evident in the personal stories of children who have graduated from college and on their way to becoming doctors and professionals. Sarasa shares that “if we closed our doors, the children would have bleak and dark futures”. But your support can help the NGO for children give children a solid foundation in life. To support Vishranthi Trust, you can donate here:

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Manju Singh of Guria 

In red light districts, girls as young as 8 years old are forced into prostitution and “tortured with electric wires, burned with cigarettes and endure horrific rape each day of their lives,” shares Manju Singh. Since the 1980s, she has been rescuing vulnerable children who are exploited by brothel keepers that lure or abduct them and then force them into a miserable existence. Guria is a Varanasi-based NGO for children that rescues these children and rehabilitates them with safe shelter, nutritious food, medical care, education and skill training to rebuild their lives.

Manju Singh places her own life at great risk since she and her NGO team not only rescue children from brothels, but also work with the police and local authorities to shut down illegal brothels and prosecute the people who run them. But when she witnesses the transformation of the children that Guria has rescued, she knows it’s all worth it. Their futures will be better, because of the NGO’s care and protection. Manju Singh now needs help to reach more children still in the brothels and waiting to be rescued. To support Guria, you can donate here:

Donate Here

Support an NGO for children this Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day is a time when we celebrate the occasion with mothers, grandmothers and all women who have been a guiding light in our lives; for children across India, each of these 5 women are that guiding light who has brought them out of darkness and into a world of warmth, comfort, protection and possibilities. Support an NGO for children this Mother’s Day and help suffering children by enabling these mothers to reach out to and transform the lives of more children across India. 

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