- Penned by Board Member, Ms. Alo Pal
- So what does Sharana mean to you?
This is a question I ask at every interview with a beneficiary at Sharana. At the starting point – the pre-Sharana intervention, the conversations are intense, the emotions deep and even piercing, the deprivations severe, the abuses violent and the helplessness palpable. Since my blogs are not just about documenting the lives of our beneficiaries but also serve as audit and evaluation of the quality and effectiveness of Sharana’s intervention, I need to necessarily ask – So what does Sharana mean to you?
Most of the time the women and the young boys and girls are eloquent and candid about their journey. Often, I even am amazed by the eloquence of expression and translation of emotion even in broken English or a Tamil that I can access. But when it comes to what Sharana means to them, it is most often a tongue-tied emotion. Their eyes dart to the social worker sitting with them, words fail and when they are expressed, they don’t quite convey what their heart feels. Social work demands extreme professionalism with red flags and boundaries that should not be crossed since our work is with the marginalized and the vulnerable. And yet social work cannot be clinical, dry, rational without emotion since empathy is at the heart of our work and trust its most important pillar. I read pain, pride, happiness, affection and the disposition of a benevolent guardian when the social workers watch their wards express.
Siva
What is more, a beautiful relationship between beneficiary and social worker ranging from helpline to life long mentor persists and strengthens when they walk through life empowered by Sharana. They reach out to our social workers – their mentors in their moments of triumph and struggle. Little wonder therefore that Siva, whose journey I have documented here and Kanchana, whose journey I have documented here, where here at the Sharana office to share their respective milestones.
Kanchana
Siva has not only successfully completed his BBA and has now written the entrance exam for his admission to the School of Management, Pondicherry University. But has also received a cash award for standing first for his BBA from his college. And Kanchana, she is now a registered nurse with the NHS, after passing several rounds of grueling exams and interviews. She has relocated to England from the Cayman Islands. There is no looking back for these two children of Sharana.
I for one read a lot when Ravianand, our Back-to-School program manager tells me “Madam, I don’t need to be there with them when they speak to you”, but waits in the adjacent room, with a large glass window from where he can see his wards recount to me confidently of their journey and their dreams.
