VIJAYAWADA: A childhood should never begin with learning how to survive. It should be about scraped knees, unfinished homework, birthdays and the comfort of knowing someone is waiting at home. Yet for many children, abandonment, abuse, addiction, child labour and fractured families cut childhood short.
For more than three decades, Navajeevan Bala Bhavan (NJBB) in Vijayawada has worked with children carrying those burdens. Some are rescued from railway stations, others from the streets, and many from homes where they no longer feel safe. Since its inception in 1989, the organisation has reunited more than 30,000 children with their families. Its impact, however, is best seen in the lives rebuilt.
“They come frightened, angry or emotionally withdrawn. We don’t begin by asking questions. We first make them feel safe,” counsellor Prasanna Kumari said. “Only after they know someone is willing to listen do they begin opening up. Our priority is always the child’s best interest, and wherever possible, restoring them to their family because no institution can replace the love and affection of a home.”
One of those children was “Ananya” (name changed). She lost both parents while in Class X. “It took me a long time to accept what had happened,” she recalled. With counselling, financial support and education from NJBB, she rebuilt her life, first as a duty medical officer and later as an assistant professor. “At that age, what saved me was knowing someone believed I still had a future.”
For Akshaya, whose mother battled mental illness, support meant refusing to let circumstances dictate her path. She scored 913 out of 1,000 in her vocational Intermediate examinations and is now pursuing nursing. Hemalatha, once a flower seller forced out of school, returned to the classroom and went on to excel in academics, chess, drawing and cultural competitions.
“Arjun” (name changed) lost his parents young and later saw his sister married off as a child. “I finally felt safe when I reached here. I found friends and a mentor who treated me like her son,” he said. His dream is to educate people about child marriage and mistreatment. “Rahul” (name changed), abandoned after his parents separated, now hopes to wear the Railway uniform one day.
Programme Manager Shekar noted that while child labour and dropouts remain concerns, addiction is an emerging challenge. “We’re increasingly seeing children addicted to mobile phones from a very young age. Some toddlers are unable to speak confidently or interact with others because screens have replaced conversations. Alongside our de-addiction programme, we now conduct awareness sessions to help parents recognise these signs before they become lifelong problems.”
Executive Director Fr Thambi Joseph Putti said the organisation’s philosophy remains unchanged. “A child care institution should always be the last option. If a family can be strengthened, that is where a child belongs. But if that isn’t possible, our responsibility is to ensure that a child’s dreams don’t end because of circumstances they were born into.”
Today, those dreams are visible in classrooms, hospitals, offices and colleges across the country. An assistant professor who once thought life had ended, a nurse in training, a flower seller turned scholar, a boy determined to fight child marriage, and another who dreams of the Railways.
Different stories. Different futures. All beginning with a place that chose to see children not for what they had lost, but for everything they could still become.