KINDERITE

I n India, November 14th is observed as the 'Children's Day' and as far as I remember as a little boy we used to participate in some fun competitions like debate and elocution etc. I personally think that 'Children's Day' is not just meant for the children but for everyone to remember our children and their issues.

Here is a story of a little boy - Jonathan, who went missing years ago and was adopted by a Swedish family. Jonathan's desire to be reunited with his biological parents brought him back to India. Last month when I went to the media to help us restore a child, first phone call I received was from a retired assistant commissioner of police (Mr. Lavakumar) in Bangalore and he gave me some clues that ended up being the accurate ones and we restored the child. This story of Jonathan is shared by the same police commissioner who was working then as a police officer and restored Jonathan back to his family. Please click on the 'Full Screen' icon on the top of the view box or zoom buttons at the bottom of the view box to adjust your reading for clear view. Jonathan's Story

Here is an article featuring our recent work. If you would like to join in this movement, we welcome you with open arms and we are determined to make a difference. Click on 'Full Screen' button on the top of the box and 'Zoom' buttons at the bottom of the box to adjust the reading in clear view. It is my hope that some day India should have it's own proprietary software to track missing/ lost/ trafficked children and to network those individuals that are interested in the effort of restoration. In this context, I want to reiterate my recent call for any individual /group of software professional(s) (even the college students) that is/ are interested to develop such software to join. But till such a time, we'll work around with this social networking site. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to write to me (in the comments section below) and I would be happy to answer them for you. Please share (through your blog, web site, facebook, and twitter ...

According to the JJ Act, once the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) declares the child free for adoption, agency can place the child in pre-adoption foster care and then initiates the adoption legalization process in the court. I heard from a source recently that this rule has been changed in the state of Tamilnadu beginning October 1st. Pre-Adoption foster care refers to placing a child in the home of a prospective adoptive parents home while the finalization process is underway. This is done in the best interest of the child to reduce the stay of the child in the adoption agency as the finalization of adoption in the court could take several months. But unfortunately there are some agencies delaying the filing of papers and putting the child’s adoption status in limbo. As per my understanding, changed rule says that the agency can only place a child in pre-adoption foster care after the papers are filed (not finalized) for legalization in the court. Like any rule, I have no doubt in my m...

There's a lot of talk about JJ Act, 2000 (amended in 2006) being the provision for secular adoptions in India compared to the personal laws (Hindu Adoption & Maintainance Act or HAMA and Guardianship and Maintainance Act or GAWA) that governed Indian adoptions before. Unfortunately many people do not know the actual provisions of JJ Act on adoption. This post will help you understand that. JJ Act deals with adoption in Section 41 and here it is: Section 41. Adoption:- (1) The primary responsibility for providing care and protection to children shall be that of his family. (2) Adoption shall be resorted to for the rehabilitation of the children who are orphan, abandoned, or surrendered, through such mechanism as may be prescribed. (3) In keeping with the provisions of the various guidelines for adoption issued from time to time, by the state government, or the central adoption resource agency, notified by the central government, children may be given in adoption by a cour...

Dear Aspiring Adoptive Parent We are pleased to inform that during this year’s Adoption Awareness Week, we shall be conducting a one-day workshop for Aspiring parents wanting to adopt a child. During this hands-on workshop you would fill-in your Adoption Preparation Manual and take it with you. The adoption aspects that are covered shall include: Adoption Stages (Indecisive, Decisive, Waiting) Adopter’s Choice-Resource Matrix Adopter’s Psychological Pregnancy Adopter’s Coping Patterns+ Measuring Spousal relationship Understanding Child Temperaments Involving Extended Family Members The 7 core issues in Adoption Positive Adoption Language Transition to Adoptive Parenthood Dr.Hoksbergen from Holland, who is an adoption expert and the author of many books such as 'Adopting a Child' shall discuss on Adoptiive Parenthood Date: Sunday 14NOVTime: 0900hrs Registration, Workshop: from 09:30 to 16:30hrs Venue: Relief Foundation Resource Centre, 7/9, Sriram Nagar Main Road, Thiruvanmiy...

After our recent work to restore three missing boys to their homes, it got me thinking about how to do this work faster and to include more people. I explored of doing it in various ways but they all require lot of money and human resources. So I thought of an easy way to do this work and that is by using social microblogging site www.twitter.com. I set up an account at http://www.twitter.com/indiachildalert and this is how it is going to work. If you’re in India, send an SMS (Short Messaging Service) from your mobile phone as FOLLOW INDIACHILDALERT to 53000 and that’s it (Yes!! Can you believe it? You don’t even have to have a personal twitter account). Then on, anytime we have a missing/ lost/ trafficked child with us, we’ll post it on the above mentioned twitter account and you’ll receive the same information as SMS in your mobile. Don’t worry about receiving long SMS’s from us because twitter only allows the sender to send a message in 140 characters. If at any time, you c...

Exactly a month ago – 24th of August, I was in Guwahati on an assignment for the Government of India. Here in Vellore, we have been hosting a 14 year old boy (Sanidas) who was rescued by railway protection force who belongs to the state of "Assam" for the past seven months. He is from a place called "Lumding Junction" which is three hours east of Guwahati. We requested for police escort but it never came. Since I was going so far to Guwahati I thought that I might as well take the child with me and drop him off with the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) there for them to restore him back to his family. Unfortunately I couldn’t get train reservation so I abandoned that idea and planned an alternative. I took the information (child’s photo, a letter from him and all the details to pin point his house etc) with me and thought to seek the help of the office that I am going to be at. When I presented the details, child’s family was tracked in two hours time. I was told ...

On April 30th, a little boy of 9 years old was brought to us by a local NGO who in turn received the child who was rescued by the Railway Protection Force. Child – Mohammad Fazulu, looked healthy & proportionately built for age but nervous. When asked about the location, he says ‘Bombay’. We put an esc ort to send the boy to Mumbai so that the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) there can restore the child back to his family. Child had been staying with two other boys (one boys is from Assam and the other boy is from Rajasthan) at a government reception home in Vellore. Last month, when I went to Assam as a resource person for National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD), I took the information of Assam boy with me. When I made enquiries, and sought the help of CWC members there, family was tracked in two hours time. Then I thought to work on the other two children as well when I return to Vellore. Rajasthani boy is from a small town and when I googled the poli...