chennai whole of thursday april 18 pamela and roopa were anxiously awaiting their class 12 tn board results i was more nervous because i had not performed well in accountancy said pamela finally when the results were declared the two girls couldnt contain their joy and excitement they went around telling everyone we did it said roopa she scored a 64 while pamela scored a 71nobody can understand how much clearing this examination means to us it was our ticket to a new life and future she saidroopa and pamela were rescued by the chennai child welfare committee many years ago after both their parents died roopa was around eight years old when she was found begging on the streets with an injured hand while pamela was among the 15 girls who were rescued from being trafficked from an unlicensed home run by an american in chennai to andhra pradesh eight years ago my parents gave me away else i wouldnt have landed there said pamela pamela was the eighth child of her parents who lived in a small village near arakkonam she and her elder sister were given away to the american right after her birth i dont remember them at all and i dont like to talk about them she saidroopa on the other hand had a single mother who was struggling to make ends meet one day as she recalls my brother had injured his foot and there was no money to take him to the hospital my mother turned to me and said that i should go stand in the road and beg for it i was all of 5 years of age she says since then begging had become a job for the two siblings while some were kind most were abusive we hated it but mother forced us and said that was the only way we could eat she saidthree years later roopa and her brother were rescued and sent from one childrens home to another today roopa along with pamela lives at the madras christian council of social service in perambur while her brother lives in another home i hope i would be able to get my own apartment and look after him she saidboth the girls have high aims pamela adamantly wants to pursue ba english from womens christian college while roopa wants to enrol at the madras school of social work but we are both committed to serve the society well work hard so we reach a position where we can help the less privileged said pamelanames in the copy have been changed to protect the identity of the children