Impact Story
Timaben Vision combined with action can bring much change in situations that may seem impossible. Timaben was a resident of State Mental Health Institution at Selaqui. Somehow, she got separated from her family and wandered away to far away Dehradun, and landed at this place. She was from Ahmedabad, in the state of Gujarat, where she was a vegetable seller with a trolley cart. She somehow got separated from her family and ended up far away in Dehradun, where she was unable to communicate her situation and was then institutionalized. After building trust with the reunification staff, she confided about her family details and her story to a trusted member of the KII Family Reunification Team. Once they had a general area in mind, the team went to work using their best detective skills. Over 149 doors were knocked on, but on the 150 th door, a link to her family was made. The family reunification team then located her home and then visited her home for a prereunification visit. When the team met with Timaben’s mother, she desperately asked to be reunified with her daughter before she died (as she was in the last stages of cancer). Finally, on 24th March, 2023, she was reunified with her family. When her brother and sister came to pick her up, we noticed her brother was not wearing any footwear. He then told us of his vow that he would not wear footwear till his sister, Timaben was found. Timaben then travelled back home, with her siblings, to meet her mother, who died a few months later. In a post reunification visit by the team, it was shared by the elder brother that with added expenses in the family some kind of support to increase income would help the family. A pushcart was then given as a post reunification support, which now helps the family earn 400-500 Rs per day. Timaben stays at home to do the family chores and take care of her son. From staying in a dire situation at the institution where there seemed to be little hope of getting out, to being with her family in a robust strong valued role as mother (of her 5 year old son), a sibling and daughter, a hostess, a cook, encouraged the whole family in supporting and taking care of each other, once again reminded us why we do this work. Each step is significant, and all the steps worked together to make one more family strong and complete. That is why we do this work.