Happiness at Happiness Home

Sunbird Trust Programme Manager Ankita Phalle visited our partner institution Happiness Home at Churachandpur in August 2017. The Home hosts underprivileged children affected or infected by HIV/AIDS. She writes about her short stay and her experience with these truly “Happy” children.

As I write this post, I can hear some kids playing the guitar in the background and some singing to the tune. I can hear laughter and I can hear the ducks quack. Today afternoon, over a cup of chai, I had a long chat with Brother Rama about Happiness Home. Not to mention that for the first time in my 3 months in Manipur, I let the chai go cold because I got lost in this conversation. Brother Rama is a Pastor from Churachandpur District of Manipur.

In 2007, during a visit to a hospital, a lady narrated her story to him. She told him she came from a very remote area from Myanmar and that she had lost her husband due to AIDS the previous year; she was infected too and was getting her treatment here. But her landlord, upon finding out about her situation, had asked her to vacate the house. She had no place to go to but had to spend six more months in the town for her medication. On hearing this, brother Rama gave her a small mud hut to live in. Soon, the word spread that he was giving shelter to the poor from Burma and Mizoram who were getting treated in Ccpur. And this is how Happiness Home was formed. It now houses 73 kids and 9 adults. All adults and more than half of the children are infected by HIV. The remaining kids are either siblings of the ones infected or have lost their parents to this disease or have parents suffering from AIDS.

I asked Brother Rama how is he supporting all of this. He says the support is based on faith. He believes it’s a miracle that he’s able to keep this going. He says they haven’t missed a meal since 2007 and everyone has clothes to wear. All families here are sustaining themselves. They weave, make articles and sell them in the market. The house has its own small farm for vegetables. And no one is lazy. I asked him about the kind of donations they accept. He said they have a principle when it comes to donations- We will not be lazy; not feel sorry for ourselves; accept our status and not beg. We will not look for financial help but create opportunities for ourselves. If anybody is willingly wanting to donate, we will accept material donations. But we will not borrow any money.

Back in 2009, when the kids went to the the hospital for treatment they saw other kids going to school in uniforms. They wished to go too and asked Brother Rama for a school. When he realized that they would not be accepted in a regular school, he began an informal way of schooling in Happiness Home itself. After a few weeks, the kids realized that the other kids wore uniforms too. So they demanded for uniforms too. Not having the financial capacity to purchase new uniforms, he asked other citizens to donate used uniforms. He came back with different colored uniforms and asked the kids if they were okay with wearing different uniforms. Some green, some blue, some white and some black. The kids gladly accepted it! Soon his son, John, took over the responsibility of the school and has a more formalized system in place since 2014. The kids are not classified in classrooms as per their age but as per their learning level. So don’t be surprised to find a 15 year old studying happily in Class 5. They love reading. They love textbooks. They love learning. THEY LOVE SCHOOL.

The kids don’t own much. They have one set of clothes each for school, for playing and for church. Their toys, if any, are donated. Their books, their stationery, donated and shared by all. Some of them have lost their parents to the deadly disease and some are living miles away from them for their treatment. However, one thing that they have in abundance is happiness and joy. They don’t want anyone to pity their situation or feel bad for them. They love their life and feel blessed to be a part of Happiness Home. They don’t know where they will be in the future, what they will do. They know only one thing that right now, at this moment, they are happy.