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CHOTOMONI NIBASH

A home made of love
ASHIK ABDULLAH APU
Lovely Parvez was in a bit hurry to get little Khadiza ready for her medical check-up at Chotomoni Nibash, a government-run children’s home in the capital’s Azimpur.
Lovely, an assistant teacher of the shelter home, dressed the two-year-old quickly in a white top with red and yellow flowers embroidered on it, complimented by a pair of red and black sandals.
“Khadiza has been battling eye cancer since the age of one year and four months. Today is the date for her chemotherapy,” Lovely told this correspondent on Saturday before leaving for the hospital with Khadiza.
Chotomoni Nibash, the home for lost and abandoned children, has been Khadiza’s home since she was six months old. Her mother has been going through mental health issues for a long time and is currently staying in a shelter home in Gazipur’s Kashimpur.
The nannies in the home have been taking care of Khadiza’s needs ever since she was brought here.
“We are putting all our efforts and spending as much as we can to get Khadiza fully cured. We are using the funds allocated for her treatment apart from the donations given by people,” said Lovely.
Khadiza is among 28 children currently living in the facility which can accommodate up to 100 children. All the kids -- aged between one month up to seven years -- have been either lost or abandoned.
Established in 1962, Chotomoni Nibash has so far provided shelter to more than 2,000 children, where all of them have been given new names.
The facility has three rooms -- one for the children, one for storing food and one for office work. Inside the large room allocated for the children, there are facilities like slides and swings for them to play. There are also arrangements for outdoor games like football and cricket on the building’s rooftop.
The children are provided with meals five times a day with proper nutritional foods. Feasts are also arranged at different festivals or occasions.
The shelter currently has 26 staffers, including one matron/nurse, three teachers, three nannies and eight “Khalas” as they are called by the children, two cleaners and one chef. Besides, eight nannies work here on a freelance basis.
The staffers have made the facility their second home and spend a major time of the day raising the children. They work in four shifts. The nurse or nannies are actual families to the children, who call them either “ammu” (mother) or “apu” (sister).
There are five branches of Chotomoni Nibash in five divisions -- Chattogram, Rajshahi, Sylhet, Khulna and Barishal.
The shelter takes in children between the age of zero and seven. Many are adopted before turning seven. The ones who remain are shifted to other government facilities like Shishu Paribar upon turning seven.
To adopt a child from the home, adoption seekers are required to apply to the family court that has jurisdiction over the child’s place of residence for legal guardianship of children.
The court then summons Chotomoni Nibash. The home reviews the adoption application and replies to the court, which in turn takes the final decision.
During the visit to the Azimpur facility, this correspondent saw how the nannies spent time with the children. Some were seen feeding infants, some playing with the children while others were busy keeping an eye on the children playing.
But they all had one thing in common. The look of profound care and love they carried for all the children.
Zublee Begum Ranu, deputy superintendent of Chotomoni Nibash, said, “All of us working here love the kids as much as they love us. They are also very sincere as you can see.”
She said staffers who have young children of their own are not appointed at night shifts so that they can take care of their children as well.