Pastor Reji Thomas looks after HIV positive orphans through Bless Foundation in Mumbai

 

When people are still in a stigma that HIV( Immunodeficiency Virus) is a communicable disease  and  could be transmitted even  through ordinary day-to-day contact such as kissing, hugging, shaking hands, or sharing personal objects, food or water. Pastor Reji Thomas  also known as Pappa Reji from Panvel near  Navi Mumbai lives with almost three dozen HIV positive kids in a home called 'Bless Foundation'  with his wife Minni Reji Thomas and their biological children-Justin and Jeny.

Reji Thomas, settled in Mumbai for the last 36 years, they had just four children staying with them at the time — three boys and a girl. The kids had lost their parents and were handed over to the pastor by an organization that cares for elderly HIV patients. Now, he is a guide and guardian to 32 HIV-positive orphaned boys.

Incident  that changed Reji's life,

He came to Mumbai in 1989 in search of a job and went on to study theology, he became a pastor in 1998. At that time, he had no plan to start a home for HIV positive children. But a tragic incident  in 2008 started his journey with HIV-positive kids at DY Patil Hospital in Navi Mumbai. “I was into social service at the time under an organization. One day, the medical college asked me to visit the hospital and pray for a 12-year-old girl from Nepal.  She looked like a bag of bones. I was under the impression that she was struggling with tuberculosis. But I found out later that she had AIDS and was on her death bed,” said Reji.

The 12-year-old had one request for the pastor — she wanted to taste noodles. Though he searched shops nearby, Reji couldn’t find any. He promised her he would bring some the next day. “But I woke up the next morning to the news of her demise. I felt shattered. That is the day I decided to do all I can for HIV-infected kids, There are many care homes for older patients, but none for the kids,” - he says. Reji has covered enough ground to understand the lives of such kids in the country.

“I had a wife and two small children to take care of and I didn't want them involved in my work. My plan was to have a separate house for the HIV positive children with a caretaker and a cook to look after them. With the initial help we got, I rented a house.

But all my efforts to find a cook and a caretaker failed. Many people wanted the job, but backed out when I told them the children they had to take care of were HIV positive.

I had no other option but to keep the four HIV positive children with me till I got a caretaker. But first, I asked my wife what she thought. She supported the idea and that's how Mini and I, our children and the four HIV positive children (Shubham, Shrawani, Yash and Vijay) decided to move into the rented house on July 22, 2009.  

 At first, it was difficult to make ends meet -- we could afford one mattress on which my four children slept, and my wife and I would make do without. Eventually, people started donating -- beds, grains and money. My family of four slowly expanded to 31 as more and more children with HIV were sent to me.”- he added.

Pappa Reji become a hero for these little HIV sufferers,

Little Joy started living at Bless Foundation when he was just one-and-half years old. His mother, a sex worker, abandoned him on the streets. If you ask him his name, he will answer Joy Reji Thomas. “I love staying here. They take care of me well,” says the 11-year-old foodie. The eldest of the house, Shubham, a Class 12 student, admires his ‘parents’. “If we ask Paapa for something, he would make it happen. He even helps us with our studies,” says Shubham.

Kids came to Reji when their illness was peaking. He managed to nurse them back to  health. Now, children from different backgrounds live happily in the Bless Foundation. Most of them were abandoned by parents and relatives because they were sick. “In some cases, HIV-infected parents on their deathbed leave their kids with us,” he says.

These small warriors  who were formerly homeless, abandoned by their parents as they were HIV-positive are now looked after  by Pappa Reji. His extraordinary things proved him a hero for these HIV children.

Reji's  children never went to bed hungry,

“Though we were not in a financial position to buy food for so many children, I was confident that we would never face a day when our children would be hungry.

When our containers turned empty, somebody would appear from somewhere to donate rice or wheat or other provisions, that's how we have fed our children until today.

We have struggled to pay the rent, we have struggled to pay the electricity bill, we have struggled to send them to school, to buy books and uniforms but there was food on the table every day.

I believe in God and the Bible says, 'He would see to it that there would be food on the table for those who helped the poor and the orphans. Believe me, till today, my children did not have to go to bed hungry.”

Blessed kids of ‘Bless Foundation’,

The 32 children, aged between four and 18, attend school now. After they turn 18, the kids at Bless Foundation are sent elsewhere, or the foundation helps them get a job. “Majority of them have lost their parents to HIV. The mothers of a few kids are alive. Around eight of our kids are employed now,” says Reji.

I can proudly say that my family of 31 is overflowing with love. Being HIV-positive doesn't mean that they have to cut their life short...they can live as long as any normal person, and that's what I'm here for...to save them and give them a long life. And with love and care, everything is possible. These children all call me 'Papa Reji', and it's the duty of a father to protect, so I'm not someone special - I'm just a father looking after my children.

We face hurdles and miracles equally …..

Until 2012, Bless Foundation struggled to meet daily operational expenses. Due to financial constraints, Reji could only send three students to school. But life has gifted him many miracles since then. “Back then, if I had Rs 15,000, I could have sent all of them to school. Though I knocked on many doors, I hardly got any response,” says Reji.

In 2012, a day before the school reopening, Manu Punnoose visited the organization offering food and essentials. He also handed over a cheque for Rs 21,000.

“I broke down in front of him. It was indeed a miracle. He is still an important ally of the Bless Foundation,”

“One more day, a businessman from Kerala visited us and donated Rs 50,000 to buy food for the children. We immediately  rushed to a shop and bought 100 kilos of rice and other stuff.

You may not believe it but, after that day, I haven't gone out to buy rice! From that month onwards, someone or the other has been supplying us with rice.”- says the proud father of 32 children.

Bless Foundation handling with a strong Mission,

Firstly, providing Basic Necessities & Educating the unattended kids for their Social Well being. Secondly, Conducting HIV/AIDS Social Awareness Programmes in order to eradicate the growing number of HIV+ kids.

Image credit: Bless Foundation