By V. Vijayalakshmi, IANS
Pune : For Anita Rajput, 30, who lost her husband three years ago on a Diwali night, the money given by an international trust that works for the empowerment of widows is a god-sent. Her husband was an electrician and sole breadwinner of the family. His sudden death in a railway accident left Anita and her two children Sanjana and Rajana in the lurch.
With no education or skill, Anita started selling chickpeas and rice crackers but that was barely enough to feed the kids. Schooling became a big question mark till she approached the Loomba Trust through a local NGO called Sahayak Hath.
“I am very grateful to them. Now I will make my late husband’s dream to make one daughter a policewoman and another a doctor true,” Anita told IANS.
The Loomba Trust is sponsoring the education of her eldest daughter Sanjana, a Class 4 student of the Kamla Nehru School in Pimpri. Sanjana, a shy but serious girl, sheepishly admits that it is her dream to become a police officer one day.
Thanks to the London-based Loomba Trust, created by Raj and Veena Loomba, widows across India are getting financial support to educate their children.
The trust gets its inspiration from Raj Loomba’s late mother Pushpa Wati Loomba who became a widow at the age of 37 and succeeded in educating her seven children single-handed. The Loomba Trust gives Rs.500 every month to a child whose mother is a widow from a poor family.
Living in the same slum as Anita is another young girl Komal Pillai. Fourteen-year-old Komal’s father died of a sudden illness four years ago. Educating Komal and her brother Rocky became an uphill task for their mother Sangeeta. After her husband’s death, Sangeeta tried to survive by working in her brother’s restaurant cum bar. “Men used to drink there and treated me very badly because I am a widow,” said Sangeeta.
But the Loomba Trust came to her aid and today Sangeeta is confident about the future of her two children. “Every month Rs.500 is credited to my children’s accounts by the trust. I want to thank the trust because it is helping us so much. I don’t have to worry too much,” she added.
Sangeeta no longer works in the restaurant, and with Sahayak Hath’s help she has started teaching tailoring in the community.
Komal, a chirpy teenager, is determined to become an airhostess and fly around the world. Rocky is now going to the English medium Indira Gandhi High School and wants to become a police officer one day.
The despair and agony of losing one’s husband apart, widows have to deal with social stigma and discrimination. “Poverty strikes at you especially when you see these widows,” said E.J. John of Sahayak Hath. “The Loomba Trust people are very good. The money is always sent on time. They do not give cash, the money is credited to a bank account in the mother and child’s joint name.”
AIDS has been identified as the major cause of increase in mortality rate among young men in India. The Loomba Trust believes that educating children is the only way the epidemic can be controlled.
The trust sponsors 100 children in Pune and over 3,600 across India. The trust plans to increase the number to 1,000 children per state. The trust was established in Britain on June 26, 1997. Former British prime minister Tony Blair’s wife Cherie Blair is the president of the trust.
In 2004, the trust started a programme called The Loomba Trust Partnership Initiative that enables corporations and individuals to educate 100 children of poor widows in India through the charity. Donors can choose any state or city of their choice. The initiative has been well received by many corporations including HSBC, KPMG, Clegg Gifford & Co., Mellon Group, Precis and Ultra Motors.