SLS Mirror - July 2019 SLS MIRROR JULY 2019, Volume 13, Issue 7 | Page 8

SHRADDHA REHABILITATION FOUNDATION, KARJAT, MAHARASHTRA
Rapporteur: Nidhi Gajjar and Sanjana Shah
Introduction:
Every year to enrich students learning experience SLS, PDPU encourages internship in applied areas.
For May – July, 2019 Department of Psychology facilitated Internship in various applied areas. With Dr.
Bharat Vatwani from Shraddha Rehabilitation Centre, Karjat as an external mentor and Dr. Ritu Sharma,
Dr. Nigam Dave & Mr. Ankur Pandya as Internal mentors, this exclusive internship for the first time
was initiated for SLS Psychology students at Shraddha Rehabilitation Foundation, Karjat, Maharashtra.
Shraddha Rehabilitation Centre, Karjat, Maharashtra.
Shraddha Rehabilitation Foundation is a fully charitable, Non-Government Organization that focuses on
the treatment of mentally ill destitute wandering on roads. Founded in the year 1988, the objectives of
Shraddha Rehabilitation Foundation are to rescue the maximum number of mentally ill roadside
destitute; to provide free shelter, food and psychiatric treatment to the rescued destitute and to trace out
addresses of the destitute and reunite him/her with their lost families in any part of India. This foundation
promotes massive mental health awareness among rural villages, families, police personnel, railway
officials & the general public. The team networks with other NGOs and Government Mental Hospitals to
generate collective efforts. The students were allowed to stay and work at this organization and
understand its functioning and programs. On the first day, the students were given an orientation about
the objectives and the kind of work that Shraddha does. Thereafter, the students interacted with the
patients in the female ward for they were instructed that to talk to patients and trace back their
addresses, the initial step should be to build a good rapport. It was an overwhelming experience for the
students to talk to the patients, many of who were old aged people. Being from different parts of the
country, language posed as a barrier, but, Shraddha Foundation has in-house social workers from
different states in the country to have a better communication channel so that patient’s worries and
inhibitions are addressed in time.
At Shraddha, a routine is set for the entire day which includes the morning personal hygiene, meals and
entertainment. At times, the head nurse and other social workers sit down with the patients and try to
inquire about their home address. They sometimes use harsh means because the patients refuse to tell
anything. On average, a patient is kept for two to three months, during which they are given medicines
and proper treatment. Once they are stable and the nurses and social workers trace out their address,
trip is planned wherein one or two people from the centre accompanies the patient to reunite him/her
with the family. Three students were given an opportunity to accompany the social workers for a
patient’s reunion in Panvel, Maharashtra. Students also got an opportunity to interact with Dr. Bharat
Vatwani, the founder of this organization, while his visit and OPD. In seven days (8th July- 14th July),
students learnt a lot about social environment and its key issues in psychology.
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