Chennai: Manju Sha, a 23-year-old lady, works with children from broken families living in two separate children’s homes in the city. These are the two homes where she lived 10 years ago when Pranitha and her team rescued her from being sold by her own mother. Today, due to her own experience, she is able to understand what the young children in the homes may be going through and she helps them through it.
“When I was 13, my mother tried to sell me to pay off some debts. She told me she was going somewhere for work and that she was going to leave me in someone else’s care. It was then that an IJM (Int’l Justice Mission) team found me and rescued me. I hated Pranitha for separating me from my mother. After the rescue, the IJM team put me in a home and that made me hate her even more. The home was horrible. It was the worst experience of my life,” said the young woman.
“There were 60 to 70 of us in one big hall which had a few windows. The children were constantly screaming and fighting with each other. The stay there affected me psychologically. There was no medical help and the food was terrible. There were worms and cockroaches everywhere. We used to sleep on the floor and sometimes, at night, water used to flow out of the toilets,” described Manju.
Even though she hated Pranitha, the kind soul made an effort to visit Manju often. “I began to trust her. From that home, they sent me to another home, which was much better. I started going to school again. Pranitha would come meet me often,” she said in admiration of the 41-year-old woman.
Following her school education, Manju went back home to Madurai for two years. She returned to Chennai trusting Pranitha to help her choose a path for her future. “With her help, I joined Hindustan College where I studied BSc Information System Management. Once I completed my course, I got placed in four companies, but joined an organisation called Justice and
Hope, which works towards bringing about a change in society. I joined the organisation and somehow, was taken back to where it all began. I now go to the same homes where I lived to help the children there. They ask me how I can advise them without understanding their situation. When I share my story with them, they realise that things can change,” said the young woman.
Information on Justice and Hope can be found on justiceandhope.org
