There are stains of a painful past written on their innocent faces even as they try to find back their childhood in the quiet of a peaceful village.
Mount Carmel Home in Sukhalu Village, which is some 154 kilometers away from the state capital in Zunheboto district has become home for these children since the past few years.
They hail mostly from conflict areas, who lost their parents to insurgency, and some of those who also got separated from their families as a result of broken homes and poverty.
To give back something worthwhile to the society was the vision of Dr. Inakhe Sumi, through whose large heartedness, this home was born in the year 2009.
“Our duty is to take initiative…most of my life I had been in the government service. I am retired now and I feel that it’s time to give a little part of my service to the people”, this ex government employee says.
He knew the pangs of growing up without parents, having lost his mother in his early childhood. And likewise, his wife understood his dreams of running this home because she lost her father when she was also at a young age.
However, even with such a noble venture in place, it was never an easy job to start parenting children of different races coming from different backgrounds. But they held on to their dreams and it was mostly joy when they found 5 new children to share life with.
Right from the beginning, there were more children who wanted to join but due to insufficient space for accommodation, some of them were left out. But as their family grew, today, they are parents to 12 children including 4 Zeliangs, 1 Chakhesang, 3 Nepalis, 3 Adhivasis and 1 Sema, to add to their own 5 biological children.
What is really worth mentioning is the fact that these children have seen pain before the prime of their lives began. One of the kid’s father for instance, was murdered in a farm in Dimapur, while he only had a step mother, who also left him behind, alone in the world.
And for strange reason, most of these children want to join the Army when they grow up even as it was learnt that their love for toy guns is extraordinary.
Who knows what their future holds but rest assured, they have a home to call their own now. Aged between 4-16 years, these children attend the LP School in Sukhalu Village and when they are finished there, they go to Zunheboto for higher education.
Growing up the indigenous way, the home has its own paddy cultivation nearby among other farming like poultry, piggery, goatery and a kitchen garden.
With two full time teachers including a Theologian Hovitoli and John Zeliang from Jalukie, who also grew up in the Orphanage, and 2 other cooks, they are definitely in safe hands as they animatedly chat in Nagamese or English.
Dr.Inakhe Sumi, who is also the present VCC of Sukhalu Village finds joy in being with the children and expresses that “these kids are much better controlled, they are more initiative and easier to groom”.
All the children know they are orphans, but are, without doubt, happy to be in a comforting place, and building up a new family. He says that sometimes, they do get phone calls from their relatives, as some of them have other foster parents.
And while his aspirations for the children are plenty, his greatest hope is to see them in comfortable shoes, abled and independent.
“One day I would like to see these children taking care of themselves, self-sufficient and happy”, he expresses before closing the conversation.
No comments:
Post a Comment