Looking at the photos of our children, it is hard to think about the suffering they have encountered in the early years of their lives. Looking at the living conditions and facilities in our orphanages, one cannot imagine the horrendous conditions they escaped from. In the following text we outline the past of two of our children. Their stories are different. What they have in common is the impoverishment, the neglect/abandonment that marked their infancy, a fact that characterizes the early life of all our orphans.
Maria
Maria (Pocha) grew up on the streets of Calcutta. When she arrived at the Orphanage 4 years ago, we saw a child whose body was ravaged by skin problems. He immediately extended his hand towards us saying “taka, taka daw”, i.e. “money, money, give me money”, since as a toddler she had experienced the cruel face of life: to survive, she begged and slept alone on the streets at night. As soon as she was admitted to the orphanage, she was relieved of her dirty, tattered clothes and a warm bath greeted her poor little body. She was so sore that she ached on contact with water and soap. A portion of hot food followed and immediately more and more. Little Mary could not believe her eyes: so much food without having to beg! And it wasn’t just the food: medical care and medicines closed the wounds on her body and she was relieved of the skin problems that her total lack of care and hygiene had created. But above all, love comes to heal the wounds of orphanhood and abandonment. In the 4 years Maria has been with us, she has experienced what it means to be cared for, loving, joyful, companionship and play. She is already writing, reading and despite her young age (she will go to kindergarten in a month), she knows very well how to communicate in English.
Ronnie
Among the little boys in our orphanage is little Ronnie. Ronnie was born in the shacks that grow in every corner of Kolkata. He was a wild child when he came to the St. Ignatius Orphanage 2 years ago. He was a nervous and lively child, who did not know how to communicate except with curses that made even the grown-ups blush. An angry little boy, whose cruelty, which he saw with his childhood eyes in the slums, made him have violence and reaction in him. He kicked, cursed, spat to create a safe distance around him. Who knows what abuse he had been subjected to, to react in this way? He was shocked from day one that no one reacted violently to his attitude. He only knew hugs and love from our behavior. His transformation was very quick and spectacular: he is one of our most willing and obedient little boys, happy and very sweet-talking. He loves school and is happy to put on his uniform in the morning to go to kindergarten. He has completed 2 years in the orphanage.
These children, when they play in the yard after reading, sometimes look longingly at the gate of the Orphanage, in case one of their relatives comes to visit them. To date, no one has appeared.
They are five-horned, like many of our orphans. They have none at all. But despite their young age, they know that in some distant country called Greece, there are some people who care about them, some people who, without knowing them personally, are attentive to their needs. They are the relatives of this large family of the Orphanage, thanks to whom their needs and their dreams can become reality. For this they rejoice and are grateful. They have no way to repay your great gift, but from their pure childlike hearts a wish for you is lifted up in their daily prayer:
“Thank you.”
Sister Nectaria
