A Baby Shop In Rawatawatte
The Prem Niwasa orphanage in Moratuwa
By Ranee Mohamed - Pictures by Asoka Fernando
The couple from America who were waiting for their turn at the Children’s Home in Rawatawatte were not at fault.
They wanted a baby with all their heart and they had gone through the correct process to get a child by contacting a ‘licenced adoption agency.’
They also had a receipt with them from an adoption agency called the New Horizon Adoption Agency which stated that they had paid U.S. dollars ten thousand. The adoption agency had a local representative here in Sri Lanka. However, disturbing is the fact the Sri Lankan representative received U.S. dollars 6,000; and the child was given from a home called Prem Niwasa which also includes the words Missionaries of Charity…
There were several people lined up when officials of the National Child Protection Authority, led by the Chairperson herself swooped in on Children’s Home Prem Niwasa in Rawathawatte on Wednesday, November 23 around 11 a.m. . The allegations were that this children’s home was playing ‘stork’ to many couples – at a price.
“At the time of our visit there were several couples with money in hand. We received two telephone calls on our hotline 1929 about this Home. But we decided to take action when a questionable incident occurred last week…” said an official of the National Child Protection Authority.
On Monday, an underprivileged mother and grandmother had visited the Colombo South Teaching Hospital seeking treatment for their infant. As the duo had no means and was not able to either care nor support the ailing child, a member of the staff of the hospital had suggested that the child be kept in an orphanage.
Within hours the mother and grandmother had returned – this time without the child. When an inquiry was made, they had told a member of the hospital staff that they were able to hand over the child – without giving or getting any documentation.
Spurred by telephone calls to their hotline, rumours and now this episode, officials of the NCPA who walked into the Home were in for more discoveries.
The Home had mothers as young as fourteen and sixteen who had ‘just delivered.’ The trend had been that the mothers deliver babies in the privacy of this Children’s Home and then leave their babies behind to lead lives as single women. On that Wednesday the Home had twelve crying new born babies.
While sheltering them from a hostile and ridiculing society and being a great service to women in distress, the question being asked is what happens to the babies thereafter? Who takes them? How…or more precisely for how much?
It is also reported that approximately 75 babies had been ‘given away’ – at a cost.
Officials of the NCPA studying the books found that all the children were not included in their books of registration; that there were other children in addition to those handed over to the Home by probation authorities. They also discovered that infants were not accounted for at all and no one knew what happened to the children thereafter, who took them and how much was paid – all these facts were not written down on paper or books.
“Upon this discovery, our Chairperson asked us to take an immediate headcount of all the children in the home. There were more children in the Home than in the books..” said the official.
Also perplexing was the fact that there was a considerable number of disabled or special children. Even more bewildering was the trend that there was a greater demand to adopt these ‘disabled or special’ children.
Women from the north and east appearing at the Home to deliver babies only to leave them behind was also of concern to the NCPA.
Meanwhile, the New Horizons Adoption Agency lists four countries in their international adoptions section. They are Ukraine, Uganda, Liberia and Sri Lanka. The details are that Children of all ages are available that their ethnic background is Singhalese or Tamil and that sibling groups and children with special needs are available.
“Cannot accept the way this Home was being run,” Anoma Dissanayake, Chairperson NCPA.
When The Sunday Leader contacted Anoma Dissanayake, the Chairperson of the NCPA, she said that the NCPA cannot accept the way this Home was being run. “When I visited this Home with our team we found several discrepancies. As a registered Children’s Home there should have been some procedure. Also, if disabled or special children are being kept, there should have been a proper registration system,” said Dissanayake.
“If under-aged ‘mothers’ were delivering babies, then action ought to have been taken against the perpetrators. We also cannot accept this kind of sale of children,” Dissanayake said.
Not available for comment.
When The Sunday Leader visited Prem Niwasa there were police officers in the premises. When we tried to speak to the administration, a member of the staff said that they were not able to comment as they were in Courts.
raneemoham@hotmail.com
The demand for disable infants for adoption by overseas persons is for the reason that Australia, USA, and other western countries have special financial support for the carers of disable children. This is a lucrative business looking after or adopting disable children.
This is a well run charity by a world renowned charitable institution. I know of a case where a baby was taken for adoption and the process took several months. The parents were chosen after careful and dilligent research by these nuns and they ensured that the parents of the baby never met the adoptees. I also know that there was never any monetary gifts given to this institution by the adoptees.
The media is quick to rush into any “news-worthy” situation, totally ignoring the harm it does to others. God’s judgement will be on all who give false information and act deceptively.
Adoption is the only was for young kids to leave this poverty stricken country. It is better to die than grow up in third world SL. The life overseas in wealthy countries like Australia, England and the US is so much better than living in a a country where you starve, no education and lawless country.
Dubbia,
you must be commenting about your country.Here in Sri Lanka,there is no starvetion,every one from kindergaten to uni gets it free,because there are laws these type of baby farm are nabbed and at least you and me are able to comment
Mr Kumar,
Please remember Sri Lanka has remained a 3 rd world ( respectful alternative to not developed ) country since independence. Development is only in the speeches of politicians .
I hold the Sisters of the Missionaries of Charity with the highest esteem. I am therefore very disturbed by the above report. While there can be many facets to this story, as a Catholic as well as a Sri Lankan citizen, I would appreciate if all parties work to find the real truth of this allegations.
I hope all parties record video evidance both of the people present at the Prem Nivasa as well as those who conducted the raid and then when the total truth is known deal with that totsl truth in an unbiased way.
For example, who received the USD 6,000 and how much of that was given to Prem Nivasa and on what basis… If this person gave some amount of money as a donation, was the Sisters at Prem Nivasa aware that it was duped into accepting the donation of ill gotten money. If this was the case I will support any due legal action. but at the sametime, if the whole thing was done to tarnish the good name of the Missionaries of Charity, then all such people should be dealt with equally.
Of the said 12 ‘crying’ babies, how many were registered? What were the ages of those non-registered babies? How did these unregistered babies arrive at Prem Nivasa and on which dates?
What is the role of NCPA with regard to homes run by religious orgsnisations as well as others? How often do they vist these places and inspect the records? What have they discovered in the past? What action have they taken of such past discoveries?
By whom and on what basis did the statement “Even more bewildering was the trend that there was a greater demand to adopt these ‘disabled or special’ children.” arrived at? In the event there is no such statement by NCPA or such real evidence, who and why was such a statement published.? Is there a conflict of interest of such writers and media personnel?
In view of many similar allegations that have been happening in Sri Lanka and finally the frenzy dying down without a whimper, I will not be surprised that in a week or two if everybody start chasing behind another ‘sensational’ story forgetting Prem Nivasa in total. However, I hope and pray, that this case will be fully investigated and justice be served.
WELL THIS IS TO TARNISH THE IMAGE OF THE MISSIONARIES OF CHARITY, WHICH WAS FOUNDED BY NONE OTHER THAN MOTHER THERESA . IT IS LEARNT THAT A BUDDHIST MONK IS THE CULPRIT…….. ANY WAY NOT SURPRISING AS THE BIBLE CLEARLY STATES WE ARE IN THE LAST DAYS AND THE CHRISTIAN CHUCH WILL BE PERSECUTED.
IT IS BETTER THAT THESE CHILDREN ARE IN A HOME THAN GROW UP ON THE STREETS AND BECOME VAGABOUNDS AND DRUG ADDICTS INVOLVED IN VARIOUS OTHER VICES.
NO MATTER WHAT IS SAID THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND ALL CHRISTIAN IRRESPECTIVE OF DEMONOMINATIONS AND OTHER RELIGIIONS WHO RESPECT AND HONOUR GREAT MOTHER THERESSA SHOULD TAKE TO THE STREETS AND THE BUDDISHT MONK WHO CREATED THIS UPROAR THROUGH JEALOUSY WILL BE CURSED BY THE ALMIGHTY GOD.
whoever you are you are right these parasites( not supposed to work) are ther racist and troyble makers
Oh! My God Ocracy is MAD!
Hey joker, this is not abuddhist temple, its run by Catholic nuns. As you suggest Monk might have given the “tip off” to authorities about this “Catholic Flesh seliing market” that’s not conspiracy, a work of a duty bound citizen. Can’t you see US$ 10,000/ paid receipt, to buy a Baby. Dont talk nonsense.
If done as a National Duty, yes it is good…. but if it is done due to jelousy, and there is no real truth then you must bring that informant also to justice for slander. The receipt is for a payment done in US…. First we have to establish whether the religeous organisation took the money. And talking about Duty bound citizens, let us see how many Duty Bound citizens come forward to look after these children.
I visited once this place and I was surprised how these babies were looked after by these noble staff?? just because it is a christian charity organization do not run down it like this, they have given an out standing service to so many babies and kids.
As D.E.M.Ocracy has said this appears to have been the work of a mischievous individual. I agree it is better these children are in a home than grow up on the streets and become vagabonds – and worse still, end up as MPs.
I am so sorry to say that having visited this place, we must appreciate the work done by the group on nuns here. These kids were fed, nurtured and cared for in a human way. Nuns and their good work was always thorn in the eye to others.
We all know that this is cooked up case to sling mud, tarnish image of these great gods workers.
It is very sad the way things are being done in SL now. It seems that so called Dharmadveepaya is now full of thugs, bullies and crooks.
God bless our land and bless these nuns with more courage to stand against the ungreatfull, evil sociey that we have in SL.
It is not a matter of Religion. Mother Theresa was highly respected all over the world. If anyone wants to tarnish her Missionaries of Charity by creating unwanted problems, then God almighty will take care of it.
I don’t agree with above Mr. Cooray’s comments. This is not a matter we should bring our religions to discredit. Whether it is,chiritian, Buddhist, Muslim or Hindu if anybody does the good job we should apprecite those things. If anybody does bad things in the disguise of religions, that should be criticized, and action shoould be taken against them. I remember NCPA has taken several legal action against such baby shops managed by buddhist Institutions. We never said anything against such action. Because Buddhist people don’t have religious manic .Buddhism is the more democratic religion in this world. We have the liberty to criticize even our buddisht leaders who are not leading good lives as per the Buddha’s teachings. Anybody who are running child care centers, which are not confirmed to the required regulations, should be investigated and action should be taken.Mother Theresa’s respectable name should not be sold for Dollars.
Mother Therersa may be the founder BUT she did not authorise the providence of such a service as described here in this article.
This is the difference.
It is recorded in history how the catholic church dispatched orphans to Australia & how they were treated there.
people wityhin the catholic Church engage in anti-Christ activities. This is nothing new. otherwise, you would not have priest in cassoack engage fulltime to divide sri lanka and to create an eelam state based in germany.
Ocracy,
please get a torch light to help you to come out of religious darkness and denial of facts.
Starting with the acknowledgement that I haven’t carefully studied this story may I make the following points:
Firstly, it is sad that unwanted babies are born in this world, and over-population is one of the great threats to all life forms on this planet. Stephen Hawking has recently “said” that space exploration is very necessary since mankind must look for another planet to inhabit. A bit extreme, that view!
Secondly: there can be no doubt Mother Theresa was a most well-intentioned and committed woman. But she lacked common sense and a knowledge of elementary logic. Calcutta is one of the most crowded and poverty-stricken cities in the world, but she opposed the use of contraceptives.
Lastly, the “automatic respect for religions” that had got Sri Lanka classified as the third most religious country in the world is dangerous. Browsing the web just now I was “glad” to note that we’ve slipped to fifth place. But shouldn’t we feel sorry for the four countries above us? This is not an area in which we ought to relish competition!
http://www.gallup.com/poll/142727/religiosity-highest-world-poorest-nations.aspx
May tolerance prevail over bigotry!
Sri Lankan people, whether they have seriously thought about their religions or not, being religious is not a bad thing. It is the one solace they have…. look around and see what is happening in the rest of the world … Our one need is for Honesty among the Religious.
Destroying a life is not accepted both in Buddhism and Christianity. It is also a fact there are unwanted babies. So someone need to take care of them. And taking care is not shelter and food and clothing and medicine alone. Love is more important than all of them..
If the Sri Lankan authorities are capable of looking after all these needs, then the Missionaries of Charity can move into another country or even to another location in Calcutta where the Love they give is really appreciated.
I hope for Sri Lankans to top the Religious Nations list, but not blindly… understanding each other respecting each other and doing their utmost to love all the down trodden.
I was in this home a couple of years ago… it was so heartbreaking to see the innocent children with only their basic needs. The Charity organization totally depended on those donations.. The children were taken care of so very well, with the resources available. The children were kept happy and they found lots of love in that home… where charitable individuals helped support this home.
It may be a good idea, that proper registrations and corrective documentation is maintained to ensure continuity of this home without problems. This Nivasa should continue with their good work… the nuns were a dedicated set of humanbeings who loved the children more than their own mothers. Some sort of order should be maintained in giving children for adoption… Do not involve money… to exchange for a child. A donation to the home is a different story
At the same time, the mothers of these children should be held responsible for putting thiese innocent babies into this mess. I saw lots of special needs children, and they were loved and cared for… My heart goes out to these innocent kids… This may be a good opportunity to learn to respect the law… and at the same time continuity of the good work.
May God Bless this home and the caretakers !!!
.
Will the National Child Protecton Authority (NCPA) or for that matter, any other individual, group or association, undertake to look after these children and give them the love and care that the Missionaries of Charity have been doing over the years???
It is very easy for the press and all others to find fault and caste detrimental judgement.
When judgement is finally passed by the ALMIGHTY may you end up in the burning fires of hell where there is tearing of hair and gnashing of teeth whilst the Rev.Sisters of the Missionaries of Charity will have eternal life in the Heavenly Kingdom. Amen
I agree what Ocracy has stated.If the monk is responsible for this inhuman jealousy that tarnished the image of this home which gave shelter to so many unwanted and rejected people without any discrimination will have to pay a pricethis life and next life.The authorities who are investigating this case including the media should be impartial and must tell the truth to the people and must make a public apology.
Hi everybody… lets not start a fight… lets not talk about racisism, politics, discriminations etc etc… let us be open to this subject and focus on these little kids with no “father or mother” and instead who get so much love and care… from a set of volunteers.
I went personally to this home, in order to pay a little attention to the kids… and I was highly impressed when the nuns did not request for any money, but for the needs of those children.. They asked me to donate pedialite which was the greatest necessity at that time… nuns discouraged me to give money… and I was highly impressed. They knew that I was living in a western country.
Coming to the law – no matter what, we have to respect the law of the country. So, this institution has to improve their way dealing with cases, by not ignoring strict regulations… which is a very important factor.
May I kindly request the law makers, who have done their job, not to be too hard on this issue, but to pay attention to the kids who are being loved and cared for and warn the institution to maintain high stands in their legal dealings when it comes to children.
I visited this institution, the inside out of it, and I was so impressed by the way the kids are taken care of… I joined in a gorup of little boys and girls with ages ranging 7 – 9.. who were “happy” and dressed clean, waiting to enjoy some food that I brought for them.
I still commend those nuns and the volunteers who have dedicated their lives to save our “special needs” children and those orphaned… without the love of a parent.
Also respect the law makers who try to put things straight…
May God Bless everyone involved in this.
agree with ‘Daffodil’
This is not a simple black-and-white situation. Certainly, the law may seem to have been broken but any investigation into this must first put the needs of the children at the forefront.
A home like this cannot run on fresh-air and requires funds to operate. There’s food to be bought, bills and staff to be paid. Medicines, special needs to be catered for (maybe wheel chairs, infant needs) etc
The government does not have much (if any) input into this so where are the funds supposed to come from ? Locally, people cannot afford to donate large amounts of money regularly either – it makes sense for adopting parents to make a standard donation to the continuing operation of this (and other homes) – provided they are overseen properly (and maybe this is where the NCPA has been found wanting)
The nuns guided by mother Theresa & her teachings will always do good things.
We should believe in them & their dedication, which cannot be easily found in any other similar organization, the selfless, pure , honest involvement.
I was involved in in providing voluntary medical care for the children at Prem Nivasa before I left country 8 years ago.Since then I have been visiting the home every year. I have seen with my own eyes how these nuns work and they are real unsung hearoes. They are mothers to the children and sisters to the pregnent mothers not wanted and left by the cruel society.They are angels of God respected by all religious communities.My prayers are with them please continue your good work.God bless you all.
Nuns/mother Theresa herself/Buddhist monks or lay people should operate any institution accoring to rules and laws of the country….. Thats it. If the law is broken then inquiries and convictions folllow.
I totally agree with lanka007. Law and order has to be maintained in any institution. ["That's it" - No.] [Inquiries - Yes... ] [Convictions – guide them in the right path and give them a supporting hand taking into consideration the difference made by the nuns – to bring about a solution to value the human life of a helpless child.
As Ma-Ru-Ti has mentioned, this is a very sensitive situation – not a black and white situation. This situation involves – Kindness, Love, Humanity, dedication, empathy, compassion, a huge involvement of emotions… the list could go on beyond imagination. If one visited this home, I am sure most of you who have not visited this home, will see the picture very differently.
Let all of us have an “open mind” and prioritize our focus on the innocent kids and their voluntary caretakers.
God Bless all of you…
I have visited this home during my holiday to SL. I think the sisters are doing a great job. In SL I noticed that people so eager to blame and put fault on others when they are doing something good. So many of these mothers want to give up their children due to family situation and unwanted preg. And at the same time you have many many couple who want a child to love…… God is looking after these children and whoever adopts them will love them with all their hearts as they know the pain of having no kids. I have met a couple who have gone thru the all the legal procedures from oversea and SL to adopt their baby from this home and the sisters didn’t even take any donation at all. When you see this home you want to help, anyone with a kind heart will help. This people and agency who are blaming have nothing better to do……Can they do a better service I ask????? Can they care for all these children and mothers?????? Do it if you can …. don’t go finding fault……….
Ms Ranee Mohamed
The minster Keheliye Rambukwella says on TV that the Minsiter in charge had apologised…. is it not newsworthy? Or is it difficult to make it ‘sensational’?
As a whole, the journalists need to learn the subjects known as General Knowledge, Common Sense and Decency. If you all continue to twist facts just to make stories ‘sensational’, one day the general public, who now devour your stories, will hound you. So take my advice now and start reporting facts as they are reather than twisting them, omiting some etc etc. I know you published an interview with the sisters of Missionaries of Charity… that appeared to be a better piece of work,,, but that does not absolve you from the stinking way you wrote this above story,
GOD Bless.