no-longer-a-slumdog

No Longer a Slumdog
Heart-Wrenching Decisions
Often the Dalits are driven to extreme measures just to make
ends meet. I don’t know how they can stand making these heartwrenching
decisions, such as giving away an 8-year-old son or
daughter to be a bonded laborer for an upper-caste landlord or
selling their body as a prostitute. Then they must live with the
mental anguish of making such choices.
I recently heard of a young woman who had to make such a
decision. In the year 2000, Geeta was married at the young age of
17. She had her first daughter just a year later in 2001. Shortly after
their marriage, her husband lost his job, got involved in illegal
activities and became an alcoholic. In early 2003, he left Geeta
while she was pregnant with their second child, a son.
Totally alone, Geeta started going from house to house,
washing dishes to make a little money. She would also make floral
garlands to sell, but it was never enough. There was no one to
help her, and she faced her difficult life alone.
Because they lived in the slums, she felt that her children’s
character was being ruined and their future looked dim. They
were often starving or half-fed. Rent was difficult to pay, and
education for her children was all but impossible. Geeta hoped
her situation would improve, but it only got worse. She eventually
became so desperate that she seriously considered selling her
half-starved body into prostitution.
It was at this critical juncture in 2006 that Gospel for Asia
started a GFA Bridge of Hope center in the slum where Geeta
lives. Both her children were enrolled,
and they were finally getting not only
an education and food to eat, but also
See life through Geeta’s eyes.
New Hope for a Slum Widow
www.nolongeraslumdog.org
46