6 years at home

On our final day of site visits, the group started off with a trip to CARE India, one of the largest international NGOs. We had a lively discussion with their staff members about CARE’s work and also about the concept of social enterprise.

We then visited one last NGO, Salaam Baalak Trust (SBT). The mission of SBT is to rescue children from the railway station in Delhi who are running away from home. Some kids run from abuse, others from neglect, others out of fear. They hop on the train as a stowaway hoping to find a better life in Delhi. SBT staff members, some of who were runaway children themselves, search the platforms looking for kids who appear lost. They do their best to retrieve them before they are fetched by other people looking for children to filtrate into the drug and sex trafficking industries that thrive in the nearby red light district. When a SBT staff member retrieves a child, they bring them to a nearby office and provide them with a medical exam, food and clothing, if needed. When possible, they urge the children to return home and most of the time, they do with the supervision of a SBT staff member. However, sometimes the situation at home is far too dangerous, so SBT takes them to one of the five homes they’ve established for children. There, the children grow up, go to school and hopefully make a better life for themselves than the one they had faced.

Salaam Baalak Trust 

Our group went to a drop-in center where many of the rescued children were playing. They were laughing, singing, and I would have never imagined the horrors some of them have faced. I spoke with one young man who had fled home at the age of six from Bangladesh. He took buses and trains and eventually ended up in Delhi where he was retrieved by SBT staff. He was a very outgoing young man with hopes of becoming a movie star. He didn’t talk in too much detail about his life at home before he left, but I can’t say that I blame him for not wanting to relive something so painful. SBT has provided him with a place to live and an education over the last several years and I am hopeful he will soon be able to find a job.

Talking with the boy who fled home at age six. 

As we left SBT, I couldn’t help but feeling incredibly depressed. I am immensely grateful for the work that they do and hopeful for the children they rescued. Yet, what about all of the other kids who slipped through the cracks? What will become of them? And perhaps what was even more difficult for me to understand was what could possibly instill such fear in these young children to make them run away from their homes at such young ages? It sickens me to imagine. For now, I’ll cling to the laughter that resonates in my head from drop-in center and hope that those children will grow up and learn to love and be loved.

After taking a few hours to decompress, our group ventured out for our final dinner at Olive, a fantastic restaurant! We were seated at a large table outside in a courtyard that reminded me of Greece with white buildings and blue chair cushions. I had some goat cheese tortellini with parmesan foam that were divine. Being surrounded with amazing food and company was a wonderful way to end our Indian adventure as a group.

Goat cheese tortellini

Looking back on this whirlwind case study of India, I am grateful to our professors for arranging such a meaningful journey. I know that what I’ve learned from this experience is just beginning to sink in and I will reflect back on my time here for years to come. As a group, I know that we all pushed ourselves to new limits and were able to grow as individuals and as global citizens. I am also left with many unanswered questions and concepts: Will the government of India, along with its many NGOs ever catch up to the growing population needs? If technical problems are not the direct solution to social issues, then how can we ensure that they are delivered within the context of social systems? What is the future of the non-profit sector if it is only as sustainable as the life the NGO that funds it? Is social enterprise a realistic and feasible endeavor for the myriad of social and health issues that exist in this world? I don’t know. But I hope to further explore these issues as I embark on my public health career. Change is happening everywhere, all the time, and that gives me great hope. For now, I am back in Bombay and tomorrow marks day one of my 120-hour practicum with the Impact India Foundation. So for now, let the adventure continue…