spark the rise project: support it!

Mahindra recently launched a campaign called Spark the Rise. It is a platform for launching projects and hopefully getting resources mobilised for those projects. It takes the idea of crowdsourcing to the realm of social entrepreneurship.

Swati Ingole, who is a founder of Shield Foundation, has a project on Spark the Rise. It is a Multi Service Centre for senior citizens in Dharavi. It is envisioned as a single go-to centre for medical, legal, educational, nutritional, recreational needs of the senior citizens. It will also serve as an information desk on government schemes relating to the elderly.

If you support this project, or can help in anyway, please visit the project page on the Spark the Rise website. If you can't support the project and are just curious, we'd very much appreciate if you forwarded the link to anyone who could pitch in with resources or information.

If you are not aware of this Mahindra campaign, click here.

Spark the Rise Commercial

alone and dying

K. Rambabu* (65) never married, and had lived alone for 35 years at Matunga Labour Camp. His untethered ‘freedom’ meant that he worked hard, leaving in the morning and returning from work only late at night. Rare for someone living in the area, he spoke good English and was always game for conversation about anything under the Sun. He was the local knowledge bank at Matunga Labour Camp and well liked in the community.

Things would have gone on as they had for three decades, but  Rambabu had inguinal hernia. The boys in the community knew he was alone and hence shifted him to the community centre for proper care.  Rambabu's health was deteriorating and he soon became home bound. The community centre provided his meals when he could no longer work; but the centre couldn’t give him medical assistance. A failing health meant there had to be causes other than hernia.

Initially Rambabu was reluctant to talk to community outreach workers, but when he yielded gradually a doctor from the department of preventive and social medicine (PSM) visited him at the community centre. The doctor confirmed that his hernia needed prompt surgery, and also diagnosed that  Rambabu was severely diabetic and had a high blood pressure. Immediately, the social worker in-charge of the case took the case to the surgical OPD of the Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General (LTMG) Hospital (aka Sion Hospital). A doctor from the department of surgery was to perform the relatively minor hernia surgery.

However, during the pre-operation check-up, it was noticed that  Rambabu had multiple hitherto undiagnosed health issues. A battery of tests were conducted before the operation and the decision was made to operate. The surgery was a success but the test results were grave. All this while  Rambabu had cancer, it was now in its terminal stage. His medical expenses were taken care of, but the doctors said that medicines at this point couldn’t contain his cancer. He needed palliative care.

Thus,  Rambabu was brought back to the community centre where his nutritional and medical needs were met. The boys from the community provided emotional anchorage since  Rambabu never had a family and had fallen out with everyone he knew. He spent his last few days in good spirits, glad to be taken care of. He died within a week of discharge from the hospital but it was a dignified death.

More importantly, he didn’t die alone.

*Actual name withheld for privacy.

tuberculosis takes its toll

Abhimala Kamath* (82) shared a 10 feet by 10 feet shack in Matunga Labour Camp with her son, daughter and granddaughter. The four lived on a combined monthly income of Rs. 2,000. The granddaughter earned Rs. 1,500 per month working as a domestic help, and was the only consistent source of income to the family. Her daughter earned daily wages whenever she could work. Her son was an alcoholic and a casual labourer at construction sites. Abhimala had tuberculosis.

Things were bad when her case was identified: their shack had one bed without proper mattress, bed linen or blanket. Chronic illness had emaciated  Abhimala. Old age and constant pain meant that she shifted restlessly in bed, talked to herself hours on end, forbid her daughter to go out and constantly complained helplessly. The family knew they couldn’t afford getting her treated. Having an alcoholic in the house didn’t help.

Intervening after her community brought this case to notice, home based care was decided as her best bet. Thanks to Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General (LTMG) Hospital (aka Sion Hospital), a resident doctor from the department of preventive and social medicine (PSM) visited her and guided her family in matters of basic health care, home remedies and hygiene. One volunteer came forward to take care of  Abhimala thereby relieving her daughter to go out and work. This volunteer soon developed a good rapport with the old lady.  Abhimala was given nutritional supplements of proteins and vitamins twice daily, along with extended nutrition support in terms of two good meals a day. Whenever  Abhimala grew cranky or refused food/medicines, the volunteer would talk her into it. Considering his love and concern for her health, she would yield.

That said, her health still deteriorated. Her family was instructed in proper respite care and medical assistance to ensure that she was as comfortable as possible. Soon it was decided that she needed palliative care. She was shifted to the Urban Health Centre of Sion Hospital where the resident doctor from PSM department who had provided her home based care attended to her. Her family was supported financially and emotionally to deal with her impending death. She lived eight days after admission. Her family was helped in moving her body to her residence.

Thus, an old ailing woman who lived in a slum got medical attention and support in the last days of her life. She didn’t die hungry and her pain was more manageable at the time of her death. Her family survived the medical and emotional costs thanks to the medical team from Sion Hospital and the volunteer who went out of his way to make life easier for someone he barely knew.

*Actual name withheld for privacy.

the story of radha shetty

Forty years ago Radha Shetty* (65) was married to an alcoholic wife-beater. Soon after, she left him and returned to stay at her maternal home. Her husband died a few years later. Things were going pretty well at home – the family was huge, with her parents, three brothers and their families living together.  Radha worked as a labourer at a mill nearby.

At the turn of the millennium, disaster struck. In quick succession over the next decade,  Radha lost both her parents and two of her three brothers. She also lost her job when the mill shut shop. The onus of managing the entire family came upon the sole surviving brother and his elder son; they jointly ran a retail store. To help her brother who now had three widows to take care of,  Radha gave him her life savings. He in turn, promised her a sum of Rs.1,000 every month for her medical and personal expenses.

It is hard to say if it was the pressure of supporting a large family or the authority of being the sole breadwinner that corrupted  Radha's brother, but he soon became verbally abusive and stopped giving  Radha money. They quarrelled often. Meanwhile,  Radha's osteoarthritis rendered her homebound.

Her case came to fore during one of Shield’s regular community outreach programmes. While addressing a group of elderly Tamil people,  Radha's brother informed us about her problems. Immediate intervention included arranging for medicines and protein powder. Doctors from the departments of physiotherapy, and preventive and social medicine (PSM) did home visits to help  Radha. With counselling and regular follow-ups, she started moving around and attending physiotherapy sessions at the Urban Health Centre (UHC).

While her physical health improved, relations at home soured. Even though her brother was a member of a local NGO and himself participated in physiotherapy sessions, his relationship with his sister was stressful.  Radha would recount his verbal abuses when she came to the Shield Centre.

When a social worker intervened it was found that everyone in the house was afraid of the brother, who was unresponsive to counselling by the social worker. The widowed wife of the younger brother showed some sympathy for  Radha and took up the responsibility of giving her medicines and assisting her in getting to the common toilets in the community.

In her sorrow,  Radha spent longer time at the Shield Centre where she was discovered to be good with crochet designs and woollen weaving. Since support was not coming from home, Shield provided her with the material to keep her engaged. Soon, students from the adolescents’ project asked her to take classes for them. Meanwhile,  Radha started showing problems with her blood pressure and her asthma flared up. However, medical intervention gave her relief.

One day, there was an instance of domestic violence at  Radha's house when her brother hit her. She stopped taking food and her health deteriorated. She had to be admitted to a hospital. As a part of crisis intervention, her brother was threatened by the legal implications of the case. His son was mature enough to understand the situation and through counselling, peace was restored at home.

After this instance,  Radha started spending most of her day at the Shield Centre making mobile covers, sweaters and table clothes. Shield marketed her goods at NGO fairs whenever they came by. Since then, she has had a cataract operation in one eye which was conducted free of cost at the Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General (LTMG) Hospital at the behest of Shield. But she soon lost sight in the other eye due to complications after a case of retinal detachment.

These episodes, coupled with regular counselling and family visits by Shield’s field workers have brought some stability to the household.  Radha has accepted her condition and complains less. She has found support in her nephew and her younger brother’s widowed wife. The Reddy family (Radha had kept her married surname) has since shifted to Dombivali but keep in touch with Shield. Her brother often volunteers for programmes and gives news about Radha.

Last heard from, she is doing fine.

*Actual name withheld for privacy.

getting out there

It isn’t uncommon to see many ‘armchair NGOs’ functioning today. One of the biggest issues facing such NGOs is the simple lack of knowledge as to what is needed in the communities that they set out to serve. It isn’t merely a case of missing the problem; it is a fundamental question in development communication – if we misinterpret the problem in the community, how will the community see any credence in the solutions we provide for those (non)problems?

In such a case, community outreach becomes essential. Shield undertakes an ongoing conversation with the elements of the society we serve. Not only does it help in identifying the needs of the people in the community, it also helps in establishing the organisation’s credibility in the eyes of the people. It is a field job, and despite its labouriousness, it has benefits:

1. We can know the core areas of concern for the community
   
2. We can build trust and confidence in the organisation within the community
3. Having established such trust, we can publicise our programmes and initiatives to the people
4. We can build a secondary line of workers for conducting these projects and encourage self-sustaining activities in the community

You see, the whole process becomes efficient and one thing leads to the next! Shield engages in community outreach twice a week, every Monday and Tuesday at the centre in Dharavi. The average attendance has been 15. We discuss educational and social problems of the people.

In cases where the people cannot confide in the presence of a large group, we have been providing case wise counselling for matters such as pre-marital counselling, improving academic performance and cases of domestic violence. One such case of domestic abuse has already been referred to the Government Legal Aid Cell for legal counselling. The follow up on that front is underway.

So far so good! Watch this space for further updates.