The Children's Project

I was born in Hyderabad. When I was three months old my parents moved to a town called Kota Kota. My father wanted to have a second marriage to my aunt at this time. Everyone scolded him because he was already married. Because he could not marry my aunt, he put poison in his drink and killed himself. After this my mother had to sell all her earrings and everything she had as we had no money. My mother also has a mental problem. She does all sorts of strange things like walking up to people and scolding them and swearing at them. She may not even know these people at all.

After my father died we lived with my grandmother in one very small room. We moved to Kadugodi near Bangalore so that my mother and grandmother could work. They went around collecting hair from women in houses. These women would save their hair that came out in their brushes. My mother would give them hair clips and safety pins for their hair. Then my mother would sell this hair to my grandmother, who then would sell it to my uncle, who then would sell it to one man who collects all the hair. This hair was used for making wigs. If my mother tried to sell it directly to the man who collects all the hair, my uncle would scold and threaten her and force her to sell the hair to him at a lower rate first. While my mother was working I would cook food for my grandfather. In Kadugodi we lived in a tent made from old dresses. I was 7 years old then.

One day my relatives knew a foreign woman and they asked her if she would sponsor me in a residential school. She agreed to. I then went to live and learn at that School. I was enrolled there. I did not like it and always cried for my mother. I ran away two times but someone always brought me back. After some time the principle told me that his fees did not come and I was sent out and was not allowed to continue my education there.

My mother took me around to many schools in Kadugodi and Bangalore, but all the teachers said I was too big for school now and they would not accept me. My mother and my grandmother then brought me back to the village of Kota Kota and I went to school there. After one year my mother and grandmother left for another village to work collecting hair. I was left all alone at this time for one year. My mother would come about every three months and give me money to buy food and gas for cooking. I cooked all my own food and I ate by myself. I would go and sleep at night with an old grandmother who lived nearby because I was afraid to be by myself. I used to carry the water bucket from the well and take care of all things for myself. I lived like this for one year.

My mother and grandfather then returned to live with me at Kota Kota. My grandfather bought a cow for my mother. My mother used to take the cow out for grazing everyday. My mother fell down one day while going out for grazing. She became very ill and could not take the cow out anymore. I left school to care for the cow during this time.

There was a man who lived in our town who used to make a doll that looked like a devil. He was poor and so he would make a doll that when people saw it they would become very sick. Once they were sick there was no cure for them other than to go to him and then he would remove the sickness he had put there through the doll. He would charge money to make them better. One day when I was taking the cow for grazing I saw this doll under a tamarind tree. I felt very strange and later that day I got a high fever. I was sick for one month. My grandmother brought me to the man who made the doll and he tied a string around my arm and then I got better. When I got better my grandfather sold the cow and then my grandmother, grandfather and mother moved away and I was living on my own again.

After a while the string fell off my arm and I became very sick. I tried to call my mother in the village where she was but she wouldn’t come. I took a bus to her village. I went to the hospital in that village and I got better.

Just after this my grandfather became very sick. We put him in the hospital and then I started to work collecting hair with my mother. I was eleven years old. After my grandfather got better I wanted to go back to school but they removed my name from the school and wouldn’t let me come back.

Again my grandfather became sick. This time he died. My uncle told me to stay with him. They made me collect hair and give the hair to them. I would leave at seven in the morning and return at four o’clock in the afternoon. I would come home at four because there were many bad boys and men around and I didn’t want to stay out late. My uncle would scold me and tell me that I should work longer and collect more hair.

When I came home I had to cook food for their family, collect sticks for the fire for cooking, wash all the dishes and clean everything. They lived in a tent. They would scold me all the time and tell me many bad things. They would say that I was eating all the food and that I wasn’t doing any work. They would accuse me of giving hair to my grandmother instead of them, which I never did. They told me many things like this. I lived with them for one and a half years.

My uncle’s family moved to Kadugodi and I came with them. While they were here I went to see a woman who had approached me in my village. She had told me that she would put me in a school. I didn’t know this woman and I don’t know why she came to me. I saw her in Kadugodi and I asked her about school. She brought me to Children’s Project School and Home.

When I first came I felt very happy and I believed that I found a nice school. After I stayed here for a few days I knew it was a nice school. I liked the way Uncle (Michael) talked. I knew he was nice and truly cared about all of us. I knew that he really wanted us to do well for our own self and that he wanted us to be bright and strong and have a good life. He always made sure the teachers were teaching correctly and checked with me at least two times a day to see if I understood everything. He also asked me everyday if there was anything I wanted or needed. He also asked if there were any special things I wanted to learn about.

I never had the chance to learn my school work nicely before. Here our teachers teach us very well. They also coach us after school is over in the night and help us with our homework. I never had the chance to learn any fun things either like knitting or art. Here I get to do them everyday. I have knitted many sweaters and made many art projects. We also get to play games everyday like cricket.

Our teachers teach us so nicely. They make sure we understand everything and they make the classes fun. If I ever have a question they are always here to help me. I feel that I have everything I need here. I have always wanted to study so much. It has always been important to me. I have always liked it. When I was working collecting hair, I used to pray daily that I could go to another good school and learn. I used to pray that I didn’t have to live a life of just collecting hair. I feel that my prayers have been answered and that I am in the correct place for me.

I don’t know exactly what I want to do when I grow up, but I do very much want to study a lot and learn. I don’t know how but I want to stay with Uncle and Aunty and Children’s Project for the rest of my life and help somehow. I also want to become a cricket player and I want to learn guitar! I also want to help my mother when I get older. She has a mental disease and also a disease in her body. She cannot eat food properly and cannot work. I want to study so that I can earn enough money to take care of her needs. She is still wandering here and there collecting hair. (My teacher wrote: Anji is a very bright girl and we foresee that with all the dedication, intelligence and single pointed ness she shows she will have no problem becoming anything she likes. We would love to train her as a teacher for our school or any other position she would like. We will also support any other ambitions that she has.).