Our 94th Family Reunion!

The C3 Manimangalam Police rescued a 17 year old boy whom they found wandering around in Padappai. The boy was handed over to the Chengalpattu Child Welfare Committee (CWC) on the 7th of this month, and the CWC sent him over to Sri Arunodayam on the 8th. Trying to converse with him, our social worker realised that he was speaking in Odia. One of our volunteers chatted with the boy in Odia and found out that he was from Banigochha village in Odisha.

Searching the internet we managed to locate the boy’s village, district, and even the Police Station at his village. We talked to the Police Inspector and shared the boy’s picture. The Inspector was very helpful and managed to locate the boy’s family in just two days! We learned that the boy’s name is Lochan Nayak and that his father was no more. But Lochan has a mother and a brother who were overjoyed to hear that he was safe. Due to poor health, his mother could not accompany Ranjan (Lochan's brother) to take him back home.

Yesterday, we handed Lochan over to Ranjan in the presence of the Child Welfare Committee of Chengalpattu, and it was a happy reunion indeed!

Knowing that to a lost child nothing is better than going home to family, Sri Arunodayam makes every effort to trace the families of the many children admitted to the home. We are happy to say that this is the 94th family reunion that we were able to successfully orchestrate.

We are very grateful to the Inspector at Surada Police Station in Ganjam District, Odisha, to the Chengalpattu CWC officials, and to our team who pursued this case which resulted in a happy ending for all!