Sayanti's Story

While we can never truly understand what the kids in Kolkata experience growing up in the slums or villages, as supporters of Seed India, we can begin by learning about the complexities of poverty and the trauma that comes with that. We want to share with you the stories of the children in the Dream Homes. Knowing where these children have been may help us understand the importance of our support and how what we all do together, can bring put them on a path of new opportunities. We begin with Sayanti. Sayanti’s life is a perfect example of why the work SEED does matters to each individual child and family.

Sayanti is from the Nalpur slum. She is an eight-year-old girl who lost her father when she was four, then her mother right before her seventh birthday. Both parents suffered from severe jaundice, which lead to kidney failure. Because of the lack of medical care and financial resources, there was nothing that could be done to treat it.

After Sayanti lost both of her parents, she went to live with her grandmother and uncle. In their care, at the tender age of seven, she began to endure daily sexual abuse from her uncle. While it seems unbelievable, sexual and physical abuse is so common in the slum that no one sees it as a problem. Kids grow up not realizing that it’s not normal. In fact, Sayanti had no understanding that what her uncle was doing to her for over a year was abuse at all.

Once SEED learned of Sayanti’s regular sexual abuse, our staff stepped in to help. And thankfully, in February of 2021, Sayanti moved into the Girls Dream Home. We do not want to begin to imagine what Sayanti’s life would become if our staff had not learned of what was happening. While it’s only the beginning of her full-time care, we believe that therapy, compassion and love in a safe environment is going to completely change the trajectory of Sayanti’s life.