This weekend I returned home from just over three weeks in India. As I predicted, in the blog on 17 February, it has been an extremely busy time, but very worthwhile. It has been a question of working straight through, long days of providing training, strategy and exploration meetings, preparing for the conference and holding it, and days of observation and on-the-job training.
In the blog I wrote before I left, I already mentioned most of what would keep me busy for the first half of my Indian trip (you can find the blog HERE). What I wrote there, is pretty much what happened, the days were just even longer than I expected. However, it was very much worth it. The Family-Based Care Team has received a lot of new training and a plan has been made of what should be the next steps of the process there. Plus, the conference was a great success. Both attendance and reactions exceeded expectations.
I already posted a blog with a brief summary of what happened at the conference (HERE), and I will be posting a blog with a video of the Q&A session that I held during the conference, and one with the outcomes of the conference over the coming week. So there is more to look forward to.
In this blog, I want to focus on the second half of my Indian trip, the time spent in Bangalore, working with U&I. I have been involved with U&I for 10 years this year, together we work to improve the living conditions in the state-run institutions for boys, men and women with intellectual disabilities and one for children under six years old – with and without special needs. I was delighted that for the first time in five and a half years I was allowed to spend a full day in the boys’ home again – and I have the bruises from the (welcoming?) pinches that I got from some of the boys to prove it.
This work is still largely in line with that of Orphanage Projects, which I did before I started Why Family-Based Solutions, because there did not seem to be much hope of the government being willing to look into moving the children into family-based care any time soon. So, as usual on my annual visits, I observed the current care given in the various homes, provided on-the-job and formal training and this year I also held a session to shake up the staff employed by U&I and working in these homes. The shake-up was designed to pull people away from the risk of dehumanising the people they were working with, something that is a danger when few people have to care for many children or vulnerable adults.
From the feedback I have received, I get the impression that the shake-up was both effective and welcomed. And it was great to see the improvements made over the past year, when I got to visit them all again.
What I consider to be even better news, however, is that there are some signs that the Karnataka (state) government is starting to explore the possibilies of moving to family-based care. It would be wonderful if this was true, and I am certainly looking into ways of getting involved and helping along this process if they do in fact have an interest in this.
While I was in Bangalore, I also had a couple of meetings with other people who are either taking their first steps along the road of moving towards family-based care or, who expressed an interest in knowing more about what is possible and what is involved. Meeting people like this really gives me hope for the continued increase in momentum of the move towards family-based care.
Now, I will need a couple of days to rest and recharge and then I will be surging ahead with all guns blazing again.
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