Site Visit to SUPPORT NGO, Vakola, Mumbai

Site Visit to SUPPORT NGO, Vakola, Mumbai September 11, 2008 -Malti Raghavan, Asha Seattle

Regd Address: Old BMC Office, Opposite Vakola Market, Santa Cruz(East), Mumbai - 55 Phone: 2665 2904 / 2665 3045 Email: [email protected] Primary Contact Person: Sujata Ganeja (Executive Director, SUPPORT)

Sept 11, 2008

 Sections/sites visited I visited SUPPORT’s main office in Vakola and the vocational training centers for Carpentry and Welding in Parsi Vaadi. I also visited the girl’s centre and the kitchen facilities in Kadam Vaadi.

 Land Purchase As noted in the previous site-visit report, there has been a major reduction in space for SUPPORT’s main office in Vakola due to the development of a mall replacing the old BMC building. In the old BMC building, SUPPORT was occupying approximately 3928 sq ft. At present, SUPPORT is occupying 2607 sq ft in the temporary transit accommodation and the conditions are very cramped. SUPPORT also faces ongoing problems at their vocational training rental facilities where the landlords are hiking the rents frequently. There is also the uncertainty of lease renewal. SUPPORT’s long term plan has been to secure land & building of their own so that they are not subject to this constant uncertainty and rent increase. During this visit to SUPPORT, I was informed that SUPPORT had just then negotiated the purchase of 1 acre of land at Saphale. It is 95 to 100km by road from Santa Cruz, Mumbai (current premises of SUPPORT). They believe the title to be clear. It has cost them Rs 50 lakhs. At this time, the area is undeveloped, virgin land in a somewhat remote area. There are a few years of further work remaining to get a building/centre designed, for the cost to be estimated and for the construction to be completed. Arrangements have to be made for electricity and plumbing for the facility. After initial design & construction, SUPPORT’s plan is to first relocate the vocational training students there so that they can put to use some of their newly gained skills and help with carpentry & welding work at the new location.

 From Counselling to Detox to Rehab to Vocational training

One of the questions that comes up frequently is why the number of boys admitted into the vocational training program fluctuates from year to year and why the number is decreasing. The life-cyle of the typical vocational training program at SUPPORT is as follows – At first, counseling is attempted with receptive members of the target-group, this is done at the day-care centers at Dadar & VT. Those that agree to undergo a “detox” session are then scheduled for the next available “detox” session. After successfully making it through “detox” – i.e. if the person doesn’t relapse or return to addiction, and does not run away, he/she is eligible to go through a program of rehabilitation and then vocational training, as appropriate.

SUPPORT conducts about 3 to 4 “Detox” (detoxification) sessions per year on average – this number can change due to circumstances, staff and resource availability, and space constraints. “Detox” is a very intense exercise and requires that appropriate senior staff and medical personnel be on call. There is also the need for secluded space and facilities for the boys undergoing “detox”. “Detox” sessions are not conducted during times of holiday (such as Diwali, Ganesh Puja etc), due to potential non-availability of key staff members. These sessions are also avoided during the rainy season, such as in July and August – note that the quarters at SUPPORT are extremely cramped. The sessions are staggered across different age groups. Some sessions are exclusively designed for the very young children, others for older boys, and others for girls – it is not feasible to mix different groups in one session. At any given time, there is only one “detox” session that is held – this is due to the inherent intensity of the program and the burden on staff members and other resources and the need for additional space in very cramped quarters, multiple sessions cannot be held in parallel.

The older boys who emerge successfully from “detox” sessions then become eligible for vocational training. Since these “detox” sessions are staggered through the year, and subject to other constraints, it is hard to come up with a firm, recurring number of admissions into the vocational training program. SUPPORT attempts to target an average of 50 boys per year into vocational training, this includes the carry-forward from the previous year. If there are boys who are engaged in a job or have decided to stay back and continue in vocational training or as peer educators, they sometimes continue to stay at SUPPORT, which covers their lodging and food expenses. This expense is covered by the vocational training budget. This carry-forward affects the new number of boys who can be admitted. SUPPORT does not charge the boys. Cost of living is high in Mumbai. Sometimes, 2 to 3 boys get together and rent a place in a slum and stay in touch with SUPPORT. Typically, 99% of the successful graduates from vocational training are repatriated to their homes. (This is unlike the case of girls who find it hard to earn a living outside of SUPPORT).

Sometimes, the government or the police department refers certain kids to SUPPORT for “detox”. SUPPORT does not receive compensation for these and has to accommodate as best as possible. The number of admissions into a typical “detox” session varies (often with age group). A typical group for the younger children would consist of 10 to 12 kids. For the bigger boys, the number is restricted to 5 or 6.

A typical “detox” session lasts one month. A typical “rehab” session lasts 1 to 2 months.

For the older boys, mental “rehab” continues during vocational training.  Number of boys admitted into vocational training

There were 32 boys admitted in the vocational training section from the period of April, 2008 to September 11, 2008 – this included 15 boys carried over from before, plus, an additional 17 boys who were admitted. Of these, 6 boys were placed in jobs, 4 were repatriated, and 6 of them are peer educators. Of the 6 that were placed in jobs, 2 are presently staying at SUPPORT. At the time of the site visit, a total of 22 boys covered by the vocational training program were staying at SUPPORT.

Carry-forward: 15 + New admissions: 17

Currently under training -- Screen printing : 2 , Carpentry : 4 , Welding : 5, Kitchen : 3

Peer Educators: 6, Job (housed @SUPPORT): 2, Job (staying elsewhere): 4

Repatriated: 4, Runaway: 6

 Special Needs of target group requires high ratio of staff to boys , Staff shortage

SUPPORT focuses on enabling the boys to become functional in society.

The staff to boy ratio has to be high due to the very special needs and difficulties of the target group. Due to addiction and a rough life on the streets, they are often disoriented, and suffer from attention-deficit disorders. Every small task is very time-consuming for such kids. They have to be taught basic morals such as why it is wrong to steal . They come in spiritually bankrupt. They also come in with many health problems – both physical and mental. Several of them come in with physical problems such as STD, scabies and many wounds. Mentally, their thinking pattern and attitudes require much change, they suffer from serious social gaps and have to be taught basic societal behaviour and disciplined. They also need sexual education. They do not understand rules and regulations of society. The older boys (16 to 19 years) have often gone too far into some very bad habits and change is difficult. They need to be taught to live in certain boundaries and routines. They have to be taught to reconnect with the family (if appropriate). The emotional, social and mental issues facing these boys necessitate the need for frequent counseling. This is done by the staff members (who have experience as social workers).

The boys often need basic toilet training. They have to be taught basic hygiene – how to use the toilet, to flush the toilet after use, etc.

The boys sometimes have serious medical problems, this means time in the hospital. If one kid is in the municipal hospital, the nurse has to go there at 7:00am to talk with the doctor because only she can understand what the doctor wants to communicate. Then she has to come back to SUPPORT to continue with her work and another staff-member has to go to the hospital to relieve her. When a kid is in the hospital, an attendant is needed from SUPPORT night & day. This leads to shortage of staff and nurses. The nurse only makes $90/month, this leads to lot of turnover.

The boys coming into the program are often sexually disturbed. Due to their mental disturbance, they apparently tend to eat a lot when they first get there – sometimes, as much as 25 chapathis per boy. Eventually, this is controlled. They have to be taught how to eat – not with the whole palm, but rather, with the fingers.

10 to 20% relapse after “detox”. This percentage varies from batch to batch. Individual cases can differ depending on drugs used, duration of usage etc.

The staff has to be on hand to address all of these issues. It is easy to be short-staffed. They gave me the example of Yogesh, a staff member, who is recently married and wants to spend time with his wife. When asked to work on Sundays, he initially refused. A salary increase changed his mind. A few staff members have to stay with the boys through the night. Because the boys are disoriented and violent, more staff members are needed per boy.

The vocational training centres are located in slum areas where not every staff memer wants to come and work. So this reduces the available pool of staff members. Further, SUPPORT salaries are not very competitive, thus it is difficult to attract good staff members who will stay for a period of time.

 Networking The vocational SUPPORT is partnering with centers in Varanasi (UP), Muzaffarnagar (Bihar), Uttar Karnataka (Karwar, Honnavar), Tirupati. SUPPORT funds every organization Rs. 70,000 to Rs 1 lakh. SUPPORT is training others in all these places. In Karnataka they have school prevention programme where students are made aware of drug addiction among school children and its consequences. At all the other centers they have day care facilities. At Muzaffarnagar, work is done with sex workers and their children. At Tirupati, they are working with HIV/AIDS patients. In Varanasi, they are working with women and children. All these NGO’s are lacking in expertise on drug de-addictions among children. SUPPORT has a lot of expertise on this subject and is able to train people at those centers.

In conclusion, SUPPORT is a very worthy organization and fully deserves funding by ASHA. We are currently only funding the vocational training programme – which consists only of boys. In the future, depending on our funding situation, we could get involved with their work among the girls.