Saturday 10 October 2015

Uma's Children

Having stayed  at the orphanage  for the past 7 consecutive years, I have watched the children growing up  that little bit more each year, with the biggest  growth spurt seen in the last 2 years. I lamented at the passing years, but also take pleasure  in seeing the children  growing and developing confidently into  young adults. The 3 older ones are as tall if not taller than me now.

They are all so different in their imdividual ways. Uma has done well with the children.  They are polite,  helpful  and  quietly confident.  They believe in themselves.  The older ones are developing a clear idea of what they want to be when they grow up. I suppose I brain wash them  each time when I am here into thinking 'You can be anything you want to be.  You just have to prepare to work for it'. They listened and applied themselves.  And it is reflected in their school reports . It is such a pleasure  to see how well they are doing.

One of the boys, Suzan is exceptionally  bright.  He sleeps only for @5 hours each night. His bedtime reading is the  Science Encyclopedia. He is very good with building and making things.  He has built a mini generator  that works from bits of wire, blocks of wood etc.. This generator can power the television during the power cut. Any repair  around the house is undertaken by Suzan.  He sorts out the plumbing,  damaged shower heads etc. He wants to be  an aeronautical  engineer when he leaves school. And I believe he will be.Uma has asked if KIKN  can explore the feasibility of  finding potential colleges who may be interested in his academic development.  I will try to find that information  my  return to UK

The 3 older girls are growing up gracefully. One is interested in fashion. She is very bright in her study but unsure of what she wants to do eventually.. The oldest is interested to explore doing medicine which mean long period of study and personal sacrifice. The youngest of the 3 still a little way away from knowing her mind.The 2 boys are clear.  One an aeronautical  Engineer and the other a policeman.

It was really nice to cosy up to them some evenings and talked about school, London, teenage fashion,travel and  life in general. . It is not surprising  therefore, that when asked about their biological families up in the mountains, none of them is interested to go back to look them up when they grow up and working. That seems to be the unanimous view amongst the 8 of them. It reflects the extend of hurt, hidden anger and rejection they must feel by their families.It is understandable  when you think only one or two of the parents bother to visit them may be once a year or every 2 years .And it tends  to be prior to  the festivals. Lets just say the children are not impressed at all.

All things considered,  these children cope very well with Uma giving them the  love and stability they need. And it  comes with the increased opportunities to have a good life too. I guesss they are the lucky ones......

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