ELECTIONS '98
COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ARCHIVES

From London to Vijayawada, to save street kids

A drug addict, Mathew Norton, who played bit roles in films, has taken the lead in giving street urchins in Vijayawada a chance in life.

Norton landed in Bombay after running away from his London home only to find himself struggling for bit roles. But he discovered a new meaning to life when he started working with street children in the metropolis.

Shifting base to Vijayawada, he founded the Sri Krishna Chaitanya Vidyathara to provide shelter to young children who run away from problems at home or are born on the streets.

Norton was moved by their plight.

These children -- mostly in the age group of four to 13 years -- have nowhere to go and nothing to do. They eke out a living by begging, ragpicking and sometimes even petty thefts. Hunger often drives them to scavenging from dustbins.

Unofficial estimates put the number of street children in Vijayawada at over 25,000.

In 1987, Norton assumed the name of Manihara -- a necklace of pearls -- and started the Prema Vihar children's village on the outskirts of the city.

''Children can just walk in and register with the supervisor at the shelter. The next morning they can walk out and return if they feel like,'' Norton said.

''We do not burden children with rules and regulations, '' he added.

He said the freedom given to children makes them feel at home and in most cases they return. The home offers them night shelter, medical care, elementary education and vocational training.

''We do not force children to do anything they are not interested in and this is what sets us apart from other institutions working with street children,'' he said.

He said about 100 children, who return at night, are provided facilities for bathing, a colour television set for recreation, and dormitories besides a sumptuous vegetarian meal. They have to pay nothing.

While the Vidyathara provides food and shelter, the Prema Vihar village is a residential complex at Gollapudi on the banks of river Krishna where children are given vocational training in tailoring, commercial art, screen printing, carpentry, computers, cooking, dairy farming and agriculture.

The village is managed by a committee of former inmates. Six students from the village are now pursuing degree programmes, Norton said.

He cites the example of Vidyathara deputy director M Sudhama, a former inmate, who assumed the post after a two-year training programme.

A victim of a broken family, Sudhama, 22, has been with the Vidyathara since the age of 11. He was picked up from the streets and provided life-saving treatment for hepatitis.

After graduation, he wished to pay back to the home by assisting the management of the trust. He now represents Vidyathara at national and international fora.

Like Sudhama, a final-year undergraduate student Krishna Prasad is chairman of the village management committee. Married to a nurse working at a cardiology hospital, he is now anxious to complete a postgraduate programme in social work.

More than 2,500 children have passed through Prema Vihar's gates and around 30 of them have started their own tiny workshops, while a few have found good jobs.

Regarding funds, Norton said, he received donations from the local people. He was also approaching foreign non-governmental organisations for developing infrastructure.

The overhead expenditure is minimal as the children themselves take care of maintaining the village. The Canadian government had provided funds to start a girls home in Vijayawada for which the city mayor had agreed to allot land.

Five eminent doctors are voluntarily looking after the children's health and about six teachers teach in the non-formal schools started by the trust.

UNI

Tell us what you think of this report