The day after tomorrow, I will be on my way to India again. A short visit this time, I’m only able to be there for just over three weeks. And in that time I am going to try to cram a busy schedule of trainings, meetings and presentations for two projects in different parts of the country. I am looking forward to it.
The first part of the trip will be a visit to the project where I provide guidance for deinstitutionalisation of a large-scale institution. As usual, I will be providing training to the Family-Based Care Team there, and hold strategy meetings with its management to map out the next steps along the way. However, much about this visit will not be as usual.
As I mentioned in the previous blog (which you find HERE), while there is a strong will and great pressure to move towards family-based care in India, at the executive level of the state governments, there is often still a lack of knowledge and skills to really take this on. I also mentioned in the previous blog, that this makes it necessary to provide training to government officials als you go.
In order to provide this training, we have decided to organise a one-day conference in Pune, during my visit. CERI (Children’s Emergency Relief International) is also a partner in the deinstitutionalisation process that I am supporting, and their director of global advocacy, Ian Anand Forber-Pratt, will be facilitating an Immersive Simulation Lab – developed by the Christian Alliance for Orphans.
On 27 February, key decision makers in the Maharashtra governement departments involved in child protection and alternative care, will get the opportunity to have a concrete look at what is involved in moving children out of institutions and into family-based alternative care. This will be done by discussing different aspects of the process in work groups, using concrete case studies. These groups will each be facilitated by experts in family-based care and deinstitutionalisation. And at the end of the day, each group will present their findings and experiences and lessons learned will be shared.
I really look forward to this conference. Both for the opportunity to help facilitate this event, and for the exchanges and discussions across the divides of different departments and districts. This is an amazing opportunity to give the development of family-based alternative care in Maharshstra a real boost.
On 28 February, the day after the conference, I will post a blog about the event. So watch this space.
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