Shobha Ramswamy

Compassion and professional expertise form the balm that Banyan applies to nurture homeless mentally ill women back to normality

She calls out to the man on the street, "Sir, can you help me? It's cold and I've nowhere to sleep, is there somewhere you can tell me?" To most of us, these may just be the poignant lyrics of an oft-heard classic. But to Nirmala these words spelled hard reality and bitter pain, until an organisation called Banyan helped her rebuild her life.

Nirmala lived with her parents in a small town in Madhya Pradesh. A schizophrenic, she experienced frequent hallucinations. One day she wandered away from home. Unable to find her way back, she was lost to herself and the world. Eight months later, she reached Chennai in tattered rags and matted hair, sleeping on the streets and eating whatever she could scavenge.

It was then that hope, in the shape of Banyan, entered her world of apparitions. Within its sanctuary, Nirmala began to heal. At times she was tormented by voices and figures no one else could see, but medication and the unstinting support of Banyan helped her recover.

After being at Banyan for four months, Nirmala, now in her late 20s, was able to communicate a clear address to the social workers there. The phone call from Chennai was the miracle that her parents had been praying for. The meeting between them, which happened in April 2003, turned into a touching reunion. Mother and daughter were locked in an embrace that could not be broken. The father, overcome with emotion, watched numbly as his tears flowed.

Banyan has written many such stories of hope, all revolving around homeless women in the throes of despair, who have been rehabilitated and united with their families. Today each of those women leads an active and productive life.

The organisation was founded by Vandana Gopikumar and Vaishnavi Jayakumar in 1993 to provide shelter, care and psychiatric and medical services to mentally ill, destitute women in Chennai. The initial years were fraught with hurdles. Although their aims were laudable, they could not get financial support. Most people scoffed at the idea. But they strove on.

A modest, rented bungalow was used as the adaikalam (shelter) to house over 300 mentally ill women. In 2001 it was shifted to the present premises. The new building has counselling rooms, dormitories, a prayer room, growth labs, a workshop, etc. The Banyan team comprises 46 residential employees, two psychiatrists and three general physicians. Their exemplary work has inspired over 125 people to volunteer their services.

The organisation firmly believes that these women need the same, if not greater, care and concern than 'normal' individuals. Within the limitations of an institutional setup, Banyan seeks to communicate the feeling of being wanted and cared for to women who are ostracised by the same society that led them to their state of despair. Over the past decade it has managed to rehabilitate nearly two-thirds of the 750-odd women who have taken shelter under it. Banyan touches the lives of hundreds of families and communities all over India through its awareness, intervention and outreach programmes.

Providing quality healthcare has been one of independent India's great goals. However, despite advances in science and technology, the benefits of medicine have been restricted to urban areas, calling for a new outlook to quality health services. To deal with these challenges, the Sir Ratan Tata Trust seeks to support innovative strategies for institutions providing special care to the mentally ill.

In view of the shift from the rejection of the mentally ill to their acceptance, from their isolation to integration, the Trust initiated a rapid assessment of the mental health needs and available resources in terms of prevention, treatment and rehabilitation.

The Trust has supported the activities of Banyan since March 2001. It committed Rs 63 lakh, spread over a period of three-and-a-half years, as part of the operating costs of the adaikalam. Support from the Trust, coupled with the goodwill earned by Banyan, has spurred several other corporate bodies and funding agencies, besides individuals, to loosen their purse strings and support this pioneering institution.

Till date Rs 40 lakh has been disbursed by the Trust to the Banyan, with Rs 16 lakh being allocated in the 2003-04 financial year. The previous year, as part of a comprehensive initiative focusing on mental health, the Trust supported three institutions similar to Banyan with disbursals of over Rs 21 lakh.

In February 2003 a review evaluating Banyan's healthcare and rehabilitation services for homeless, mentally ill women was conducted by a team of professors from the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurological Sciences, Bangalore. The review, while appreciative of Banyan's efforts, stressed the need for the organisation to appoint additional psychiatrists, nurses, social workers and clinical psychologists. It also suggested that follow-up care be decentralised and that partnerships be forged to help discharged individuals.

Continuing support from the Trust will help Banyan accomplish what the professors have recommended. The Trust's backing, along with Banyan's unstinting efforts, will surely put a smile on the faces of several Nirmalas, giving them a life beyond the confines of mental illness, and ensuring that society accepts them once again as normal human beings.

Uploaded in March 2005