SEAM Children Share Their Stories

Readers have asked for more information about the studentes of SEAM (South East Asia Mission) in Chennai.  Here, in their own words, are the eager replies of four youth in our host community:

My name is Ajith Kumar. I am studying in 7th grade. I was brought up in my grandmothers house. My father used to sell vegetables for his living. Only if he makes little money we get food. As the days passed my father started drinking and also started smoking a lot. First he was diagnosed with TB. Then my father had some problems in his heart, and he committed suicide as he could not bear the pain in his heart. Even to do his final rites my mother did not have money and had to borrow money. Now it is just myself, my mother and my brother Manikandan. It was very difficult for my mother to take care of us. So she brought us to Seam Children's Home.

Here I liked this place. I said to my mother that I will stay over here and study. Now I get up at 5 AM. Brush my teeth, take a bath, change clothes, sit for prayer, study for sometime. Then I have breakfast and go to school. In school I concentrate on my studies. Take down all the notes. I like geography and maps. And after school I come back to the children's home and do some chores. The volunteers come at 5.30 PM and teach me English, play with me and it is always fun to be with volunteers. I would be pleased to meet you at SEAM!My father used to sell vegetables for his living. Only if he makes little money we get food. As the days passed my father started drinking and also started smoking a lot. First he was diagnosed with TB. Then my father had some problems in his heart. One day I had gone to write my quarterly examinations and it was my English exam. When I came home, my father had committed suicide as he could not bear the pain in his heart. Even to do his final rites my mother did not have money and had to borrow money. Now it is just myself, my mother and my brother. It was very difficult for my mother to take care of us. So she brought us to Seam Children's Home.

Here I liked this place. I said to my mother that I will stay over here and study. Now my day could be summed up like this. I get up at 5 AM. Brush my teeth, take a bath, change clothes, sit for prayer, study for sometime. Then I have breakfast. After breakfast I go to school.

In school I concentrate on my studies. Take down all the notes. I like geography and maps. And after school. I come back to the children's home. Do some chores. The volunteers come at 5.30 PM. The volunteers teach me English, play with me and it is always fun to be with volunteers. After the volunteers leave. I sit down for studies and then have dinner and go to bed.

My name is Sivaprakash. When I was young, I was grazing goats. I used to go to school in the morning and when I come back home in the evening I used to go and graze goats. That was my job. When we had some difficulty in my family we sold all our goats.When I was in 3rd grade, my brother broke his leg and my mother was at the hospital taking care of my brother. I went to my Aunts house, and when my father came and took me home, he beat me up and scolded me that I go and die. I did fail in one of my grades and for another year I did not go to school. I was put in a children's home, where they treated me very badly and they used to beat us a lot. Then I came to Seam children's home. And I like it here. Thank you!

My name is Rajesh. I am studying in 10th Grade. I come from a very poor family. My father drinks a lot. And whenever he drinks he used to beat me and here are the scars from the burns he inflicted on me. When I was young, we had lot of land and shops my father lost everything because he drank. When I was studying in 7th grade, I ran away with no food, shelter, clothing. Gave up my studies and I was grazing cows for 2 years. My Mother somehow found me and brought me to Chennai and put me in Seam Children's home. Here I liked the home very much, especially the Pastor who takes care of us, all the other children and the volunteers ho come to spend time with us.

My daily routine at the home is somewhat like this. I get up in the morning and study for some time, do some chores, get ready for school and I also assist the smaller children in getting ready for school. Go to school at 8.30 AM. In school I study hard and since I am in 10th grade. The final examination is very important for me and this is going to shape my career. I come back from school at 5 PM. And I would do some chores and help the smaller children. The volunteers arrive at 5.30 PM. I love to spend time with the volunteers and they teach me conversational English and mathematics.

Being the oldest at the Children's home, I have more responsibility and got to take care of the smaller children. My dream is to become a engineer. And I will work hard to achieve it.

My name is Kabilan. My life as a student is like this: I get up in the morning and wash my face, brush my teeth, take a bath, do my prayers then study, after breakfast go to school. I try to concentrate well in school on my studies, what my teacher teaches me. I have lunch in the afternoon at school. Come home in the evening, wash my face, do all my homework. My close friends are Sivaprakash, Prakash and Hari, and I love to play cricket.

I was studying in Arakonam till my 6th grade. I used to do well in my studies, but over the years I used to play a lot and not concentrate much on my studies. My father used to advise me a lot to study, and tried to put me in another children's home for an education, but they did not take me in. then I came to Seam children's home for a better life. And I like it very much over here. I would like to meet you!