Annual Report:  2006-2007

Case Studies:

Mangala

Her family couldn’t figure out how to cope with her. She had mild mental retardation along with mental illness which had become very problematic. In moments of stress or demanding situations, her immediate reaction was to become aggressive and violent. The situation became so bad that when Mangala left the house one day as a young teenager, the family let her go.

She went to the Mumbai Central train station and became friends with various people around the station, finding a niche for herself. But she also was exposed to every kind of abuse. It was at the station that a Saathi team member met her and a long relationship spanning several years began.

Mangala came to the Saathi centre often, but because of her violent outbursts, it became impossible to allow her to stay at the shelter. She was referred on many different occasions to residential facilities, but left each time. Eventually a point of equilibrium was established – she remained at Mumbai Central station but would come to the Saathi centre regularly. A pattern emerged and the team members closest to her realized she was using the centre as a sanctuary when something triggered too much stress for her to be able to cope. She also came when she had a medical problem. At these times, she was welcomed to the shelter until her aggression again became unmanageable. 

It was clear that Mangala understood the efforts Saathi was making in protecting girls arriving at the station and in fact was a primary source of referrals. Staying at the station, she knew when the trains arrived and met many of them to help locate any girls coming in. She often would meet them and wait for an outreach worker or bring her directly to the Saathi centre.

 Throughout these years the team sought out Mangala’s family who lived in Mumbai and began working with them to understand Mangala’s mental state – how to communicate with her in simple ways as well as educating them about mental illness. Over time, she began visiting her family again, though never opting to stay with them long term.

 This year, Mangala’s health began to decline significantly. She was taken for medical tests and was found to be HIV+. As she became more and more ill, she went to visit her family again. After a few months with no word, a team member went to visit her family and check on Mangala. She had expired a month earlier. That morning, she had told her family she was coming to Saathi to visit, but never made it out of the neighborhood.

Mangala’s death was very difficult for many of the team members. Many had become close to her and valued the love and affection that was so much a part of her nature. It was also difficult to reconcile that it was lack of resources that contributed to her situation – lack of referral options for the mentally ill, lack of understanding among her family, and inability to keep those who may need Saathi’s help the most for want of facilities able to meet their very special needs.

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Gagan’s Goals

Shy and timid, the thing he wanted most in the world was to study. He worked in a tea stall because his uncle would not allow him to do anything else. Even so, he had been trying to convince the principal at a local school to give him admission into the VIIIth standard, but he was 19 years old. Delivering tea to the CRY office, his background slowly emerged, and when they found out he’d left home fearing his uncle would never allow him to pursue his education, Saathi was called to see if any assistance could be lent to this determined young man.

After much persuasion, Gagan finally agreed to contact his uncle and share how strongly he desired to study. The news was not taken well and he was banished from the home for good, but for Gagan, it marked the release he needed and he’s never looked back. With Saathi’s help, he did gain admission to a school, sitting every day next to students who were years younger taunting and ridiculing him. He passed that year, but chose to transfer to the National Institute of Open Schooling for the rest of his studies. He is now studying Xth standard.

When Outbound Vocational Training was introduced at Saathi, Gagan found an immediate fit. Structured so that he could continue his educational endeavors, he proved to be an apt pupil with the ropes, as well. At every training session, he was certain to be there, actively and enthusiastically participating. In 2005, he learned about the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering and was one of the OVT participants to apply for the Basic Mountaineering course. He waited in great anticipation for confirmation of his place at the Institute, and the day the news came may have been one of the happiest of his life!

Gagan attended the 28-day grueling course, returning in November, 2007, with the skills and the confidence to make a profession in the adventure sport and camp facilitation industry. Three years after setting out in pursuit of his goals, he shared his accomplishments with his uncle, who has invited him back to the house.

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