When the Responsibility of becoming Father gets a Man to start working - Our School Children

I would like to introduce you to a five-year-old boy today named Krishna. He has started going to our school in this school year and is a very jolly boy!

When we came to Krishna’s home in summer, we actually disturbed him in a game: he was jumping from one roof to the other together with his friends who live on the first floor of the house his family is also renting in. In the end he listened to his mum though and agreed to come down to talk to us.

So we sat together with Krishna and his mother and heard their story. Krishna’s parents married about nine years ago in a village about half a day’s journey from Vrindavan. Krishna’s father had no profession in that time and had no earnings. His parents, who had a tailor’s shop, supported them as well. When they had their first child however, Krishna’s elder sister who is now eight years old, they asked how long they would have to keep on paying their bills and feeding them. Krishna’s family had to move out.

They came to Vrindavan and Krishna’s father tried his luck with a small general store. Unfortunately, it didn’t run as well as expected and when they were for weeks only in loss, they closed the shop. Krishna’s father then became a painter. And that’s what he is doing still now. As he is not employed with any company, he has to search for work every day, like construction workers and other labourers. Obviously, he does not daily find work in this way and that’s how their income is very unstable.

With the money he earns, they sometimes even struggle paying the rent for the two rooms – and they don’t even have electricity! The cables are all there but they have no meter and thus there is no electricity. They spend the evenings in candle light, have no fan in summer and no heater in winter.

Krishna’s sister goes to school and they had started sending Krishna there as well. It was difficult however to regularly pay school fees, exam fees, books and all that comes with it for both children. That’s how they were happy that they were on time for the admissions and still got a place for Krishna at our school where he now goes to, completely free of cost. The teachers tell he is a clever boy and always ready to help his classmates!

You can support children like Krishna with a child sponsorship or by sponsoring a food for a day!