Haven for abandoned, lost children
Homeless, abandoned or lost children can find a safe haven at Chhotomoni Nibas, a shelter for children.
Located in Roufabad area of Chittagong city, the state-run shelter began its journey in 1984 and since then it has been a home for 323 children.
Six-year-old Ayesha, who has been living there for about a year, does not know where her parents are.
“My father's name is Mahmudul Hasan and my mother's name is Nargis. My home is in Baroyarhat.” This is all that little Ayesha knows.
Jorarganj Police in Mirsarai of Chittagong found her wandering about and gave her to the shelter.
“I want my mother and father,” she told this correspondent during a visit to Chhotomoni Nibas last week.
Like Ayesha, there are 51 children aged between three and seven at the shelter right now. The shelter takes in children between the ages of zero and seven. At the age of seven, the children are taken to other government facilities like Shishu Paribar.
“Most of these children have either been abandoned or are lost,” said Ruma Parvin, a caretaker at the shelter.
The shelter also takes care of children whose mothers have been jailed, she added.
“We try to take care of them as a mother would,” said Parvin, who is called "Khalamma", or mother's sister, by the children at Chhotomoni Nibas.
Siblings -- Shahida Akter Pinky, 5, and Minhaj, 4 -- do not know their address. Like Ayesha, they were found by police in Patiya upazila seven months back. Since then the shelter has been their new home.
However, the shelter cannot replace their real home as despite getting everything there, little Minhaj cries for his mother regularly.
Most of the children only know their names and their parents' names and nothing more, said Bandana Rani Sarker, an assistant teacher at the shelter. The shelter has books and teachers to provide the children with education.
Abandoned babies are given new names at the shelter.
One such child is three-year-old Sanjida Akter Mitu. Just a month old, she was abandoned in front of Sudharam Model Police Station in Noakhali in June 2011.
Hasan Masud, deputy superintendent of Chhotomoni Nibas, said they try to find out the addresses of children who somehow became lost.
“But it is difficult to find out about their parents as most of the children do not know their addresses,” he said.
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