Covid aftermath: Orphans, semi-orphaned children face psychological problems

Kakinada: Many of the orphaned and semi-orphan children and their family members are facing psychological problems in the aftermath of the massive Covid-related deaths. These problems are found to be high among semi-orphaned children.

In particular, such mothers, and the students studying in Class IX up to Intermediate level as also others in this age-group are distressed as, apart from the personal loss, they lost the breadwinner of their family. The normal earnings for the family have stopped all of a sudden.

A girl student and her brother lost their parents at Jegurupadu village in East Godavari district. The girl is studying intermediate and she thought of committing suicide three times so far, unable to bear with the grief. But she desisted from it when she thought about the situation her eight-year-old brother would find himself in.

“I am unable to forget my parents,’’ said the girl to her counselor at the child protection unit, Abhi Shalom.

The counselor has, by now, visited 305 orphaned and semi-orphaned kids at their homes. Of these, 10 per cent of children were found to be in a state of distress, mentally. “Two girls of a family lost their parents at Tuni. They are taken care of by their maternal uncle at Hukumpeta. The elder girl is studying BTech and she is slowly recovering from the disaster. But the younger girl, studying intermediate, is not able to reconcile to the situation. She keeps remembering her parents and sobbing. We have counseled her,’’ said Abhi, a post graduate in Psychology.

In semi-orphaned families, where the father is dead and the mother is alive, such women confined to their home without going to work are deeply distressed. They have problem finding the means for a livelihood. All of a sudden, the family earnings have stopped.

A family in Rangampeta mandal is facing problems from money-lenders. Many moneylenders are frequenting such homes, demanding that the families cleared the debts the soonest. In one such family, the wife of the deceased faints frequently and the minor son is in deep anguish.

Abhi proposed that when such people get frustrated, they should cry loudly to reduce the tension within them and then they would feel free.

Prathyusha of Venkatayapalem village of Ramachandrapuram mandal suggested that the government give a compensation amount to such families on the lines it gave to orphaned children. These families too have difficulty bringing up their children.

Prathyusha lost her disabled husband and she is facing difficulty to care for her two teenage children. “It is difficult for her to educate the children and she had no income. The state and central governments should help the semi-orphaned families,” the counselor proposed.

District child protection unit officer Venkata Rao said there are 464 semi-orphaned children in the district. They lost father or mother. Each child will be given `500 per month under the sponsorship programme. But this scheme is yet to start.