By Shalini Bisht
- Helen Keller
This is a story of hope and persistence. This is the story of a woman called Mani. and children who worked in one of the northern states of India. Her family was not aware of this and hope of meeting her husband and children Mani travelled to north India and ended up in Uttarakhand and then eventually in the Government Shelter Home, Kedarpuram.
Mani had big hopes in her eyes – she hoped to reunite with her family soon. The team was soon able to locate her family in Madhya Pradesh and everyone hoped that Mani would be going home soon. The family also shared Mani’s excitement and was eager to have Mani back home.
However, things were not as easy as they thought. There were many unexpected hurdles to be crossed were located all over the country working as daily wage earners. Fortunately, one of her brothers with Mani. This process wasn’t without challenges either. He was not granted leave from work to meet for Mani and her family. Nonetheless, Mani continued to stay in touch with her family through video calls, and dreaming of the day when she would go beyond the screen and get to hug her brothers and sisters-in-law. Begin Again
While the team worked on completing all the legal formalities, they also focused on discovering other important aspects of Mani’s story that could help her family understand the support that Mani required. This helped us understand how the strong belief in faith healing by many people in rural areas, including Mani’s family, had prevented the use of medication prescribed by a physician as an option. Mani had not been able to access medicines which might have assisted her in managing mental health struggles, as well as other sorts of mental health support. This deprivation led to increasing stigmatization by neighbours and community members for not being able to actively engage in her roles and responsibilities towards the family because of her mental health disorders.
Finally, after months of working on getting all the legal formalities done, the magistrate gave the approval, and the family was informed so they could plan their travel to Dehradun. Yet, the family was dealt another blow: when boarding the train to Dehradun, they were denied entry in the AC coach and were directed to board the general coach and in the confusion, the family missed the train and with it, their hopes of meeting Mani too ebbed away!
family to stay strong, not to give up. And
for from her brother and sister-in-law
next few days, she was back in the place
This is a story of the power of collective work, of perseverance to make a dream become a reality and of not giving up. This is also the story of the resilience of Mani’s family, of Mr. Raju who stood as a pillar supporting Mani’s family in the village, of the persistent efforts of the Family of Mani. Had anyone given up on this she was sitting in the backyard and watching the sunset with her family or visiting her relatives in the nearby village or sleeping in her own bed or simply enjoying the cool breeze on a bright morning amidst the comfort of the place she calls home.