Nav-Jeevan

Newsletter December 2017

In October we visited the project together with my brother John and his wife Anja. We stayed there for three weeks. During our visit there was an exhibition at our school. Special guests and parents came to visit. The children and their teachers made projects about different subjects.

And of course there was also dancing

 

Gaurav, the little boy from my previous newsletter, that was rejected by his mother and her friend, is a very charming little fellow. We felt in love with him during our visit. He had a tremendous lot of fun in the swimming paradise and played every free minute with the lego our grandson Floris gave.

You cannot understand that a mother rejects her own child because her new friend does not accept him. But luckily he was brought to Nav-Jeevan by one of the neighbors.

During our stay the Diwali holiday started. Most of the children go home then. Those who do not have parents go to their family. Gaurav was left behind because there is no one he can go to. Also six large children: Saloni, Isha, Simran, Sejal, Swati and Yash. They have been with Nav-Jeevan for a long time, but always remain in the hostel during the holidays. Reason for us to take them out. It was a nice day. We bought clothes and had dinner outside. They were so happy and see how beautiful they look.

Saloni, Yash, Simran, Swati, Sejal, Isha

These children have a special place in our hearts. Simran calls me mama and that's how it feels a bit too. At the beginning of the Diwali holiday parents or relatives came to pick up the children. They also had a chat with the class teacher in which their progress report was explained. Tom and I took the places of the parents for these six children.

If you are on the project for three weeks, you get into conversation with the children They tell their story. So did Simran and Sejal. Actually, it was a very happy family. Their father had a small hotel. One day their father was poisoned by a jealous woman. The children do not know why the woman was jealous. Their grandmother, the mother of the father, chased away the mother and the children. She said that they were spirits who had killed her son. They ended up in the slum Raj Nagar where after a few years the mother burned herself seriously during cooking. It was a dramatic accident. After 16 days the doctor gave up and gave their mother a medicine to die. The children say that the doctor has poisoned their mother. Simran and Sejal lived on the street for a while. They were still very small. They slept under a cloth at the edge of the street, but also for a while in drain pipes. It must have been as in the picture on the left. That's how they lived for a few years and a man gave them food. When his family no longer approved this, he brought them to Nav-Jeevan where they have been living for more than 10 years now. Sejal was 5 and Simran 7 years old. The man still visits them every few months.

The father of Swati and Yash was an alcoholic. He did not bring any money at home and in the end the mother has poisoned the father. Swati was still a baby when this happened. Mother then fled and they never saw her again. An older cousin took care of them for a few years and then brought them to Nav-Jeevan. They have not seen any family since . Swati was 8 and Yash was 11 when they joined Nav-Jeevan. They now live here for 6,5 years.

The father of Isha and Saloni was also an alcoholic. He mistreated the mother and the children. Finally the mother committed suicide. Isha and Saloni came to Nav-Jeevan in 2007. They were then 5 and 7 years old. Isha is now 15 years old and Saloni 17 years old. Until two years ago they went to an aunt during the holidays but we found out that the children were not safe with their aunt and her friend. Since then Isha and Saloni stay in the hostel during the school holidays.

During the Diwali holiday we took the girls from the kitchen, the stragglers and the children from class 10, who did not go home because they had to study, a day to Dwarka, a water park. The children had the time of their lives. Swati, for example, danced for hours under the sprinklers. She imagined herself a movie star in a Bollywood film. It was a great day.

Swati was dancing for hours under the sprinklers

 

 

 

 

The Calder Holding has doubled every euro that its staff donates since the start in 2003 and has also pledged to do so for the coming years.

Just like the previous years, in 2017 we received 15.000 euros from the Advocacy Foundation for the (very) young child, for food, uniforms and school supplies. For 2018 the same amount has been awarded.

Through the tribal project and the sponsor Tech Mahindra India, Nav-Jeevan is no longer completely dependent on donations from the Netherlands, which is a healthy development.

The construction of the big dormitory for the boys is now almost finished. Solar energy panels will be placed on the roof to provide lighting for the dormitories. These will be realized with the help of a subsidy from the municipality of Den Bosch.

On behalf of the 350 Nav-Jeevan children and the staff of Nav-Jeevan we wish you all a happy, healthy and safe 2018 and we thank you very much for your support.