Journey of a social worker

The GREVALTES

My journey took another turn it was GREVALTES, greater Vishaka leprosy hospital where we had more than 500 people who were affected with leprosy abandoned by their families living in this home with their owns with the deformities with the disease.

Day 1 there was a shiver in my spine I entered the hospital with lot of fear but I was received with smiles all over. They accepted me and they made my life much easier but here it was different they were all elderly all above 50s in their age but still looking very energetic smiling all the time.

I could never understand how could a person who was abandoned by the family, by the society who is labelled as a leper can be happy, can ever smile but heat that was what that was happening. It was a great day because all of them told me ...so you are the one who will be coming from today onwards. Then I came to know that I am not the only one, it is from years together that people have been visiting them. Some of them were very enthusiastic while others we're not so happy, while conversing I could understand that it all depends on the person who comes to the hospital to meet them. If the person is lively, jovial and wants to indulge into conversation, understanding them the inmates receive them very well and support them and in case if the person is not willing to learn the inmates do not care. But for me It was another learning opportunity and I was not ready to miss it so I decided to make best use of the opportunity I kept on meeting people trying to talk to them, trying to see who would be my best friends for the next one month and after a successful 4 hours of my field visit went back home with the contentment that I am going to work with somebody who have been rejected by the society, I was so excited that I wanted to tell my parents about my new assignment. I went home excitedly only to be stopped at the gate by my mother she told me to wait, I was shocked, I said mom I need to tell so many things.... let me in.... give me some water. I want to say so many things to you.... she said "nothing doing directly go into the washroom I have put Dettol in the water soak your cloths in the water, take a bath .... I have put towel and your clothes in washroom, after you are done, we can do the talking or you can have some water, until then do not touch anything. But I said why.... she said do you understand you have been to people affected with Leprosy; it is contagious please do as I say

I had to listen to my mom, there was no other way as I joined this course against the wish of my family. They were not completely convinced with my taking this course in my graduation, as nobody in my family had heard about the course before and they were not aware of the prospects of the course.

Working with special children was ok in the family as every one had sympathy towards children but leprosy still had so much of taboo attached.

Every day at home it was more or like the same situation but in my field work it was always learning new things, new experience.

August 15th was fast approaching; we were asked by the management to organize games. Now, our responsibility was to organize games for aged, infirm, deformed.

We organized bun games and also Antakshari(singing game) and musical chairs for the Inmates. The one game included hanging the buns on the rope and one has to eat the bun without touching it with hand.

There was a lot of enthusiasm and vigor in the participants and they participated like children. They were all happy, at the end of the day the idea is that they could be happy within their own limits this also gave us a sense of inspiration to work further.

The inmates we made to sing songs and also dance this was the time when they had to really moved their limbs and it was that after a very long period that they had attempted such activity. They were flexible and they never realized it so we told them that daily exercise is a mandatory from now onwards to which they really listened as if they were school children we ware teachers and from the next day onwards in our curriculum at 10 minutes of exercise included.