Foundation sending funds to care for babies saved from trafficking ring

The Okanagan Saturday

A Kelowna organization is donating $5,500 to an orphanage in India to fund the care of eight babies who were rescued from a baby trafficking ring earlier this year.

Mohini Singh, chair of the East Meets West Children’s Foundation returned to Kelowna in January from a trip to India, where she visited the orphanage her group has supported since 2007.

While in India, Singh heard of a baby trafficking ring that had been busted in the Kolkata area.

After women gave birth, medical staff were telling them their baby had died in childbirth; meanwhile, the babies were being sold, shipped and housed in nursing homes, said Singh.

“What a nasty, horrific crime that is,” she said.

Police found 20 children at one nursing home, and of those 20, eight were taken to the orphanage supported by the East Meets West Children’s Foundation in Kolkata.

The foundation recently received an official funding request of $5,500 from the orphanage, which will pay to care for the eight babies for the next six months.

“This money is for taking care of them for six months, it is for repairing an old cot, extra baby food, lactose milk, caregivers, a fan for a room,” said Singh.

The East Meets West Children’s Foundation has committed to continuing support for the orphanage and the rescue babies for as long as is needed.

“We will continue to support them, however long,” said Singh. “If there are any medical complications that may arise, some of them had respiratory problems and needed medical attention, we will continue to make sure they get the best possible care.”

The orphanage is going to attempt to reunite the babies with their families, but in six months, they will be cleared for adoption, said Singh.

“The greatest thing would be if they could be reunited with their parents; if not, they have a chance of being found by a forever family,” she said. “I am so happy to know we’ve been able to give these little babies a chance at life. I wish there were more babies we could have saved.”

For more information or to donate, go online to emwcf.org.