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Children like Mohan spend their childhoods lost on India’s railways. Help EveryChild reach them today, before someone else does.
At just 14 years old, Mohan had lost both his parents and was living in poverty with his older brother. Dreaming of a better life he left home and headed for Bangalore, his nearest big city. Bangalore was an exciting place, but Mohan would find out the city is also a dangerous place for a child to be alone.
Desperate and frightened, children like Mohan are approached within minutes of their arrival at Bangalore station by adults seeking to exploit them. Some children are sent out to beg, others are pressured into crime and drugs. Tragically the fate for many is worse still and they fall victim to rape, child trafficking and forced prostitution. All of the children living on India’s railways risk permanent separation from their families.
A gift from you today could free a child like Mohan from exploitation, rape and violence and reunite them with their family.
Life on India’s railways is a daily fight for survival, as Mohan found out after just four terrifying nights sleeping rough. Luckily, he was found by an EveryChild-supported social worker and taken to one of our family re-integration centres, where he would be safe and could continue with his education. Mohan even met a specialist child counsellor, who helped him overcome him experiences and would work to reunite him with his family.
In Mohan’s words, the family re-integration centre helped him to ‘focus on the good things’.
Getting children back into families is a crucial part of EveryChild’s work and in the past year we have rescued nearly 300 railway children from Bangalore station and safely reunited them with their families. For these children, the horrors of abuse, exploitation and forced prostitution are no longer a threat but sadly this is not the case for the children who still call India’s railways home.
> A gift today could mean the difference between a childhood lost on India’s railways and a happy childhood.
With sincere thanks,
Mr Gonchikara Sriramappa
EveryChild India Country Director.
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