COMM: Known as the “Mother of Orphans”,
Sindhutai Sapkal has devoted over 40 years to raising over 1,400 children. Now, aged
almost 70, she runs five orphanages - two for boys, two for girls and even one for cows.
COMM: Despite only having a basic level of
schooling herself, Sindhutai has always maintained the importance of education for the children
she raises and many have gone on to be doctors, lawyers and engineers. Unlike conventional
orphanages, the children don’t have to leave when they reach 18. Instead they stay until
they gets jobs or are married.
COMM: 26-year-old Vinay was taken in at one
and a half months old by Sindhutai, when she found him abandoned at a railway station.
COMM: Sindhutai has four children of her own
and her daughter Mamata has spent the last 10 years running one of her centres for boys.
Inspired by her mother, she graduated in Psychology and did her Masters in Social Work.
COMM: Like the children she is taking in, Sindhutai herself has had to overcome many challenges. She was
married age 10 , had three sons by the age of 20 and was cast out by her husband when
9 months pregnant with her daughter. Having delivered her daughter herself in a barn,
she survived by singing for food on trains.
COMM: Sindhutai has won many awards and has
even been granted honorary degrees . She receives no government funding, relying on private
donations. So she still maintains a gruelling public speaking schedule.
COMM: Sindhutai hopes her legacy will live
on, not just through the centres that she and her family run, but through her example.
And many of her children have been inspired to go into social work, including 18-year-old
Pratibha who was taken in 16 years ago.