He was just a day old and his mother was about to throw him into the river.
Imagine that, he would have died nameless and unsung. This is not a script for
a Bollywood potboiler but a page from real life. But life is full of
unexplainable ifs and buts. Sister Valentine happened to be in the area and she
stepped in and took the infant from the mother. The infant had a problem in his
heart which would have made life difficult for everyone in his vicinity. Now
who is this Sister Valentine you might ask. She is literally the Santa Claus in
that infant’s life and in several others lives too.
Speaking specifically about that incident,
she said “It was God’s wish that I reach there in the nick of time and
requested the mother to hand over the child to me. I remember running down to
the hospital every other day with my baby. He suffered from a cardiac disease,
he was born without a valve in his heart.” She remembers taking him to the
doctor at Bombay for treatment, but it was a failure. She was informed the baby
would die in three days. She decided to bring him back to Goa, where she
prepared for his death. During this time she met another lady at the bus stop
who predicted the baby would survive. The baby survived and was taken for
treatment in Vienna, with the help of a few donors. Dr. Wilfred d’souza, then
Chief Minister of Goa helped her to avail the emergency passport and visa.
“Going to Vienna for the treatment of the baby was not more than a miracle for
me”, said she.
Sister Valentine is a sprightly 85 years
old but feels 50. For her the happiness and satisfaction experienced while
working for these kids is more than any other joyful experience. Her route to
setting up the orphanage called Sister Valentine’s Little Heaven is quite
interesting. She said “I remember questioning myself during my religious
service and specifically how to reduce the sufferings of people and make them
happy? The answer is here.” She said, there were situations where she had to
feed nine newly born abandoned babies at a time. She remembers working in
people’s houses to earn some money to take care of the kids at the orphanage.
But still with all those struggles, seeing them grow made her feel good and
motivated. She said, “Now those nine kids are all well settled, seeing them
achieve something in their lives makes me feel content.”
It is her maternal house which has been converted into an
orphanage. The house is now giving wings to the dreams of hundreds of kids. For
the There are ten to fifteen staff, who do all kinds of work there, ranging
from cooking to teaching the children. Joel, one of the orphans said, “ One
thing which I love about Christmas is that I get to visit all my friends, who
were there in the orphanage before and now are working out. It is a reunion of
all of us and also it acts like a motivation to all other kids in the home.”
Agnet Masceranes, another orphan said, “ I have been learning to sing and dance
from my childhood itself. This place is more than a home to me, it has taught
me lessons of life and has given me the experience to face any situation, strongly.
I have got an opportunity to perform in front of the Governor twice, once at my
college and second was here itself. I have also performed in Mumbai. Now I am
training these kids to perform on the day of Christmas.” She further added that
life is very easy during childhood and she enjoyed it to the fullest. With age
comes a lot of confusion and we slowly start understanding life. Those with her
are already out now, they are working and enjoying life.
Valerian D’sa is one of the youngsters, who grew up at the
orphanage. He was just ten days old, when sister took him in. He completed his
studies and trained to become a professional chef. As a twenty one year old, he
was an achiever who was given a chance to represent India on an international
platform. He worked for Park Hyatt for three months and was awarded the star of
the month award as well. He however turned his back on that life. When asked
why, he said “I feel connected to this place. It was that time, when I sat and
thought about what exactly I want to do in the future, the only answer I got
was that I wanted to see more happy faces like me. I have completed my
education in boarding school. Our lockers used to be full of snacks all the
time, whereas there were kids who had nothing. They used to rob the snacks from
our lockers, due to which we decided to have a day to just share whatever we
had with all. The amount of happiness I got then was something I can’t express.
Similarly, mamma has already treated all of us equally; she loves each and
every one of us. I just want to be with her and continue this journey along
with her.”
Speaking about the orphanage, he said, “This is a miraculous
place. It has taught me to give whatever you have to the needy and in turn you
will get more than what you gave. We literally gave a sack of rice to a person
in need at the village yesterday and now you can see there are two bags of rice
already donated by someone to us. There are many more similar incidents which
have happened.”
The orphanage is home to seventy kids between the ages of two to
twenty years old. They have been preparing for Christmas for a long time.
Sunita, a kid from an orphanage said, “I want to enjoy this Christmas partying
with a DJ in the house.” Nayomi, another kid said, “For me Christmas is about
the birth of Jesus, if one of my wishes would come true, then I would want him
back on earth. Samesh said, “Christmas is about wishes. I wait for the cards
and love to even make a few for my friends here.” Many kids were highly
enthusiastic about clicking pictures of theirs and with their friends too.
There are quite a few who love their junk food and expressed their wish to have
Chupa chups, chocolates, cakes, kinder joy and ice creams during Christmas.
The orphanage is functioning with the support of locals and
donors from all over the world. Nelson Rodrigues, a donor from the village
said, “I work on a ship and earn more than required. God has given me whatever
I require and whatever is extra I donate it here. Sister is eighty five years
old and still working for the betterment of those kids. I doubt if their real
mothers would have given them the care that she gives. So the satisfaction of
helping someone and being the reason for someone’s smile draws me to this
place.”
She
has certainly created a place where the children feel loved and are able to
develop their skills and make the most in the world. And that is something to
be appreciated.
