A two-day workshop addressed issues faced by parents in dealing with children suffering from trauma
There are many institutionalised children who are rescued by the child protection system. Most of these children have either suffered or have gone through something traumatic — loss, abandonment, death of loved ones, violence, betrayal and sometimes neglect. Udayan Care, a charitable trust, had organised a two-day workshop which not only addressed the various health and mental issues of these children but also provided a platform for volunteers and NGO staff to understand and address their issues with care.
Not every child who is institutionalised shares similar problems and therefore it becomes necessary to address every child separately. “There are many factors that we had to keep in mind. Whether the child is a boy or a girl, whether they are from the city or the village, how they were raised and what kind of family they belonged to. Care options must meet certain standards as well as the specific needs of each and every child on an individual basis and we have tried to do exactly that,” said Kiran Modi, managing trustee of the trust.
A total of four workshops were conducted under the title Mental Health and Interventions for Better Care and Management of Institutionalised Children and Young Adults. Speaking about the need of properly trained people to tend to institutionalised children, Aneesha Wadhwa of the trust said, “We are in dire need of staff who are adequately trained to deal with the emotional and psychological complexities of children. With these workshops we aim to create a trained cadre of social workers, staff member and volunteers, capable of addressing mental health issues of children in institutions.”