Manju Devi is the mother of Rohit, a boy in Class VI of the Akshay School. When Manju Devi got married it took her 8 years to conceive. Some times in India, the husband takes another wife when his first cannot conceive, procreation being of such great importance, fortunately not the case here.
“Giving birth to a child in India is a means of telling society that all is well in your marriage”. To give birth to another generation is a social obligation. For any Indian couple their marriage is incomplete until they have children, so Doctor Kaberi Banerjee states.
“In India, the mother is the centre of the family and our highest ideal. She is for us the representation of God, since God is the mother of the universe” states the Bengalese Swami Vivekananda, “The first manifestation of God is the hand that rocks the cradle”.
Manju Devi and her husband had to resort to a clinic for treatment for her to become pregnant and for this they had to take out a loan to cover the expense. Then, in order to repay this loan, they had to work for 5 years away from their village, in a brick factory in subhuman conditions. They left their son with an aunt so he could go to school and she would take care of him.
Once they repaid the loan they returned to their village. Rohit´s father was always a hard working man. He used to go to Ladakh, another State, to sell clothes and earn money for his family. He had returned to the village to celebrate the Holi festival and also because the cold season was over in Ladakh. Rohit´s father died in June. Manju Devi was left alone with Rohit. .
One month later Manju Devi discovered she was pregnant again.
Since then we have been helping them with food, her situation being further aggravated by the Covid-19. Manju Devi lives with her son in a mud hut with no running water and just one room.
Recently, however, we received wonderful news! Alvaro and his family were to be the “Godparents” of the new baby! This aid will cover all Manj Devi´s expenses for the pregnancy.
Our Social Worker makes sure she accompanies Manju Devi for her medical check ups, sees she has the right food and we are also paying for the vitamins or whatever else she may need.
We hope to be able to give her help throughout the entire pregnancy and birth and we send our thanks to Alvaro, the baby´s Godfather, for his generous cooperation
Manju Devi is truly happy to have this support and know she is not alone in her great adventure .
We are infinitely grateful to Alvaro and his family for their help .
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