*20 Feb 2012* * * *Anuradha Mascarenhas* *Pune*<http://maps.google.co.in/maps?hl=en&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1280&bih=847&ix=sea&ion=1&q=28.739215519327857,77.09054946899414&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x390d06c4ee6242df:0x376d39f18f277d27,%2B28%C2%B0+44'+5.90%22,+%2B77%C2%B0+5'+13.78%22&gl=in&ei=6I9ET6upEYS4rAfdzZWqDw&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CCAQ8gEwAA>: Through their Shraddha Rehabilitation Home at Karjat, Dr Bharat and Smitha Vatwani work towards reuniting homeless mentally ill people with their families across the country
Way back in 1989, during his rounds to the hospitals, Dr Bharat Vatwani, a Mumbai-based psychiatrist, chanced upon a young man with unkempt long hair who was drinking dirty water from the roadside gutter. “I was so moved by the plight of this boy that I decided to take care of him. After treating the boy, I was shocked to learn of his identity. He was a BSc graduate with a diploma in medical laboratory technology and his father was a superintendent in Andhra Pradesh,” recalls Vatwani. He helped the young lad who was suffering from schizophrenia to reunite with his family and since then he has reached out to innumerable such people. “We were able to set up the Shraddha Rehabilitation Home at Karjat. Our team of social workers has now reached out to various parts of the country to help rehabilitate the mentally ill roadside destitutes and reunite them with their families,” he adds. The Foundation’s prime movers are Dr Bharat and Smitha Vatwani, practising psychiatrists in Mumbai. Along with their trained team of professionals from different walks of social and the psychiatric field, the duo have provided a ray of hope in the lives of many. >From 2006 to 2011, they reunited 1142 such people with their families. “Most of the destitutes were from UP (154), Maharashtra (326), Karnataka (48), MP (75), West Bengal (45), Gujarat (36), Bihar (97), Andhra Pradesh (131) and Tamil Nadu (29). Six people were also reconnected with their loved ones in Nepal,” says Vatwani. Recalling some instances, he point out how 52-year-old Shyamlal was picked up from the streets of Hyderabad by a team of social workers and reunited with his family in Uttar Pradesh after 30 years. Similarly, 38-year-old Shrikumar was reunited with his family after nine years. He was found in Panvel and often said his address was in Varanasi. The social workers took him to Varanasi twice but in vain. Finally, they learnt that his uncle lives in a village near Bhadohi district of UP. “On the way, we came across an elderly man on the highway who recognised him because he used to study with his father. There were two villages named Danapur. We finally reached his village,” recalls Mansoor Rizvi, a social worker with Shraddha. Their basic objective is to remove the myths and stigma surrounding mental illnesses and bring about a certain concern and care towards the plight of the wandering mentally ill person. While free shelter and food are provided to the rescued patients, they are also given free pharmacological treatment. “In about 80 per cent of the patients, recovery is possible. More than 60 per cent of them can still expect full and lasting recovery,” Vatwani points out. “In our country, most of these patients go without any treatment and are forced to take to the streets. It is at this stage that we try to help them,” he says. http://www.expressindia.com/story_print.php?storyId=914225 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Mental Health Advocacy (News 'N Views) India" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/MhaNewsViewsIndia?hl=en ------------- Affiliated Groups : MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCACY INDIA [email protected] Discussions on mental health law / policy / plan monitoring / human rights etc [email protected] India-specific news and views related to mental health [email protected] Information and support to carers of people with mental health issues [email protected] Mutual support and sharing of experiential knowledge, skills and social learning amongst peers
