Stories Of Fatherhood: Meet Solomon Raja, Father To 45 Abandoned HIV Positive Children
Solomon Raja and his wife always wanted to adopt children. After 8 years of their marriage they had two children but the guilt of abandoning the idea of adoption haunted Raja. In 2005 a transgender social activist told him about an HIV positive 7-year-old boy. Raja didn&rsquot think twice and took the child under his wing. Over the years Solomon has worked actively to bring home HIV positive children abandoned in hospitals by their own relatives.
For 45 HIV positive kids in Chennai, Solomon Raja whom they call ¡®Appa¡¯, has been a pillar of strength for years. Raja is one of the very few people who has gone that extra mile to change the world for better. He made it his life's mission to dispel the stigma surrounding HIV positive patients.
Solomon Raja and his wife always wanted to adopt children, but things took a turn when after 8 years of their marriage they had two children. But the guilt of abandoning the idea of adoption haunted Raja, and he decided to go for it.
Back in 2005, a transgender social activist told him about an HIV positive 7-year-old boy. Raja didn¡¯t think twice and took the child under his wing.
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Speaking to Indiatimes he said, "Initially I had no other option but to leave him behind and go for work. The boy invariably hated being kept alone at home and called out people. Meanwhile, i¡¯d somehow manage to get out of work during a 45 minute lunch break to feed and make sure he¡¯s alright."
"When I started taking him to my office, they were fine with him initially, but after they came to know about him [that he was HIV positive] they started keeping distance from both me and the child."
Raja said people made distasteful comments and judged him for adopting an HIV positive child. But none of that mattered, he remained head strong to break this thought process and decided to take in more children who were abandoned because of the illness.
Over the years, Solomon Raja has worked actively to bring home HIV positive children abandoned in hospitals by their own relatives.
Raja says that most of these kids come from neighbouring villages. When they come for treatment at the ART (Anti Retro Viral Treatment) department at a hospital, most of their relatives either can¡¯t afford the cost of the treatment or others don¡¯t have parents to care for them.
It¡¯s these kids that Solomon takes in. "The doctors stipulate the kind of treatment required and determine the stage of the disease. The things after that are all taken care by me."
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Raja set up a home for these kids, called Shelter Trust, in Red Hills on the outskirts of Chennai. "The Shelter is run by HIV positive people for the HIV positive kids, all that I do is to make sure money is taken care of".
"In the initial days finding a place for the kids was a challenge, not many were willing to rent out a space for the fear of the disease. That¡¯s when the RightNow Foundation, an NGO based in UK, that I work with, helped with zeroing down a place to run the shelter," Raja told Indiatimes.
The staff running the shelter comprises of commercial sex workers and children who have grown up in the Shelter.
"After a point running the shelter at home with just me and wife wasn¡¯t feasible. We then decided to employ people who are also in need of help, especially sex workers who need rehabilitations. The kids are very attached to these women and almost see them as their mothers," said Raja.
"My biological children who are in their teens, love these kids to death. In fact, my son even questioned me for a need of a children shelter. He asked me, 'Why can't they just stay with us?' to which I said there are legal restrictions," quips Raja.
Raja has legally adopted the kids under the Child Welfare Committee provision and has a license to take care of them. He also juggles between three jobs in the social sector to provide for the kids. "The people I work with know very well about my initiative and so work timings and pressure is luckily more or less flexible." His wife works as a principle at Vels University, Pallavaram Chennai.
In HIV and Aids, there are four stages before one becomes terminally sick and passes away. But there are multiple medical parameters involved in it - air borne and water borne diseases are the worst enemies for HIV patients.
The kids are on a high protein diet and are given the ART (Anti Retroviral Treatment) medications twice daily, under supervision. The most difficult part is that they are very prone to opportunistic infections - most pick up viral infections like flu, diarrhoea, from school every now and then.
"The biggest challenge while dealing with these precious kids, is the constant fear of uncertainity. I cannot predict how many children would fall sick the next month and over the years, we¡¯ve lost six of our kids and it¡¯s extremely emotionally draining."
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"All my kids go to government schools, six children have written their 12th exams and another has just finished her B.Com degree," says Raja.
"My biggest accomplishment was to get them married off. One of my kids named Uma, a former sex worker, got married and has had a baby, I am a proud grandfather too," says an elated Raja.
Change begins at home, and Solomon Raja is the perfect embodiment of this saying.
There only a few who'd sacrifice their lives for the benefit of others, and Raja is one of the few people leading the way.
