India Covid-19 appeal: Children orphaned as parents die within months

The Herald has joined forces with World Vision to support India in its fight against the Covid-19 outbreak. Today we conclude our coverage with a personal story of three children left orphans by the pandemic. Every story in our series has a click-through button so you can donate direct to World Vision and help provide desperately needed supplies of oxygen, beds, medical supplies and food. Thanks to readers' generosity, donations now total more than $600,000.

In a small hut in North India's Uttar Pradesh, 15-year-old Preeti* does her best to hold back tears as she recollects memories of her parents.

She's mixing a bowl of rice with whatever is left at home for her two little sisters, Tanya* (11) and Anya* (8).

The three sisters are each other's support at home, while their youngest brother, six-month-old Yash*, stays with their aunt in another village.

Families devastated by Covid-19 need you. Please click here to donate now at worldvision.org.nz and save lives

Only four months ago, Preeti and her sisters watched their mother, Rani*, gasping for breath as she lay on a bed at home wearing a mask connected to an oxygen cylinder. She died that morning of an unknown illness.

"My sisters and I sat there crying. We didn't know what to do. I felt a huge weight on me as soon as she left us," says Preeti, who wishes her mother said something to her in those last moments.

Rani's health had deteriorated after Yash had a preterm birth. She was treated in a district hospital for a month after her delivery but died only a few days after she returned home from the hospital.

Preeti cooked, washed clothes and took care of her siblings single-handedly after her mother's death. Her father, Ravi*, would go to work and return home late in the evening. And ever since he lost his wife, he was remorseful, blaming himself for not being able to save her life. He stopped talking to people. Preeti says, "It was as if he was only living to look after us, his children."

Just when Preeti was beginning to cope with the sorrow of losing her mother, her world came crashing down again. Ravi developed a cough and fever for four days, which he thought was normal flu. On the fifth day, he began feeling breathless and died without saying a final goodbye to his now orphaned children.

When her father didn't open his eyes, Preeti immediately ran to her uncle's house asking them to come help. Her uncle came running and realised Ravi was dead. Preeti kept persuading him to help her father, not knowing what had happened. When their uncle told them that their father had also passed away, the children wept for hours together.

Rani was 36 and Ravi was 40.

Now fear grips Preeti, as all she can see ahead of her and her siblings is an uncertain future. Although her uncle and aunt are around them whenever they need help, Preeti says they have three daughters of their own.

"At that moment I felt like now if my mother and father are not there, who will look after us? When they were there, they wanted to educate us, now who will educate us?" says Preeti, adding "I don't know what will happen."

Preeti dreams of becoming a doctor. "This was my father's dream, he wanted me to be a doctor. He used to say this to me over and over again."

Anya says, "I want to be a police officer and my mother always supported me and said she will make me one."

According to Indian government data between 1 April and 25 May, as many as 577 children were orphaned in the wake of the second wave of coronavirus. Besides sorrow, grief and anxiety, children orphaned are at greater risk of neglect, abuse and exploitation.

World Vision India is doing everything possible to protect these children, starting with supplying dry ration to Preeti and her siblings. When schools in rural areas reopen, World Vision India will assist and support the children's education. The Community Development Volunteer is also in constant touch with the children and is counselling them during this difficult time.

* Names have been changed to protect the children's privacy.

Families devastated by Covid-19 need you. Please click here to donate now at worldvision.org.nz and save lives

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