Onam celebrated at Care Home

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: They have every right to celebrate. Which they did with utmost glee this Onam. It was a day set aside for fun, frolic, music and sumptuous feast for the inmates of the Care Home at Venjaramoodu. The Care Home is a shelter for those individuals who, in spite of  being cured of their mental instability, have been disowned by their near and dear.  Two years into existence, the Care Home is a joint initiative of the State Social Welfare Department, District Panchayat and the Sri Sathya Sai Orphanage Trust. “They celebrated Onam with great happiness, with ‘pulikkali’, songs and a ‘sadya’. It meant a lot for these people,” said K N Anandakumar, executive director of the Trust which is running the Care Home. In 1985, the then High Court Judge Padmanabhan Nair had issued an order asking the State Government to rehabilitate the mentally challenged individuals not taken back by their family members once they were cured of the illness. “It was only in 2009 that it finally got materialised. And when no NGO came forward to take care of these people, the then Health Minister P K Sreemathi personally requested the Sai Trust to support this initiative,” said Anandakumar. Though similar centres ought to have been opened in all districts, right now this is the only such centre in the state. “It is a fact that these people need constant care and support even after getting discharged. They need to take medicines, have to go for medical check-ups and need mental support. So, even if they are discharged, they are considered a burden by the family members. So, we have disowned sons, wives and husbands at the Care Home,” said Anandakumar. Right now, there are 20 inmates at the Care Home, who fall in the 25 to 55 age group. A few have been sent back to their homes after their family members were given counselling. “There are some heart-breaking stories. There is one inmate who has wife and children. Once when he was taken for medical check-up, he told the volunteers he would like to meet his family who lived at Sreekariyam. He pleaded a lot, saying he just wanted to see them. So they took him home. But the moment they saw him, his family members closed the door on his face,” he added. The Trust keeps the inmates engaged by way of vocational training, exercises and extracurricular activities.