Thursday, March 11, 2010

Is it the time to let go..

Is it the time to let go..??

Most of you would have read my previous posts “its time for a new beginning” and “A new beginning has begun” http://catalyst-resurgingdelhi.blogspot.com/ which had stories of Ricky, Sunita and their new born son Rakshit. For those of you who are not aware of their story let me give you a quick recap.

Ricky (17) and Sunita (15) joined our Reboot program about 11 months ago. Sunita at that time was about 5 months pregnant and weighed about 33kgs, which grew to about 37 kgs (after much effort) when she delivered. Their son Rakshit was a miracle as it was a normal deli

very and he w

as a 3kg healthy boy in spite of his mother’s poor health, no immunization and regular use of alcohol in the initial stages of pregnancy.

(11 months ago)

Ricky & Sunita come from the poorest of the poor background living on the streets, doing odd jobs and begging for survival. They lived in absolute filth and

most unhygienic conditions.

(At present)

Under the Reboot project; they are being mentored to lead a better life, identify or acquire a life skill that can sustain them for the rest of their lives and have a stable life. Reboot process is ideally for 6 months but since Ricky & Sunita delivered their child during the project we extended the period to a year.

Now that even a year is being completed, Ricky & Sunita have failed in all aspects of their training. There is a very strong resistance to change into a better life. They like to have filth around them, for example, plates used for food with left over would rot under their bed for several days, their clothes are always unwashed and lying in a heap. Both of them resist regular working and lack punctuality. Even letting them choose their own working hours and anything that they would like to do, they would still not fulfill the commitments.

They have also been found to be compulsive liars and have been picking up odd things from here and there without asking (which can be termed as petty theft) including money.

We have used almost all tools and methods, including physiological counseling, but there has not been much improvement. We have also over shot our budget by Rs12000, and do not have any more funding for them. Over the year we have spent about Rs 1,12,000 including the delivery expenses.

Here is the scenario; Both of them, especially Ricky, does have dreams and aspirations and taste of a better life, but not in practice. If they leave now, our investment goes waste as they will go back on the streets, now with a baby. If we keep them, they will keep taking the facilities given to them for granted, which is money raised by enormous efforts and sacrificial giving.

Since, all of you have been instrumental in bringing them so far here is my question..

IS THIS THE TIME TO LET GO..?? Your inputs will help us take the right decision

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Abhishek, these are some of the concerns and challenges while working in an unpredictable situation. I hope you will be able to find the right answer to take this forward, because i can imagine, letting go is also not the solution to the problem.
good luck!
Jim

blur said...

Hey Abhishek, Richard and everybody else!

How are you guys!! your website looks great..had never seen this until now and wow I love it. I'm in US currently and waiting to come back to India in Oct ...would love to be back with ya guys and kids. I can still say that girls day out on Women's day was one of the best days of my life. keep up the good work!
c ya soon