Once we finished moving Yashodhara to Kamshet and our 20 children got accustomed to their new surroundings, the next step was to open the Shelter’s doors to more girls and boys, as our new facilities will be able to house 26 more children. Of all the applications we received, only a few were chosen for closer examination. Among them, Ravi Jadhav’s (now 9 years old) stood out. Both of Ravi’s parents had died in his hometown a few years back, and his maternal aunt had taken him to her humble home in Pune. However, Ravi's tribulations did not end with the death of his parents, for living with her aunt’s sons, around ten years older than him, proved to be a very trying experience.
Due to the continuous beatings from his cousins, Ravi’s aunt reported her own sons to the local police, who shrugged the matter off. Powerless to stop the abuse, and desperate to get his nephew out of this situation, the aunt came to Asha-Kiran hoping to find a way out for Ravi.
In a situation where immediate action was of the essence, Ravi was admitted in the Shelter almost immediately, where the children gave him a warm welcome. Not only did Ravi physically blend into the Home very fast, but emotionally as well. After one month in Yashodhara, he is attending the local school. Besides having joined a home where he is emotionally cuddled by peers and caregivers, the psychologists who work with the children in Yashodhara will also work with Ravi so that he may gradually assimilate new patterns of coexistence. Psychological counseling will also be offered to his family, since aiding to achieve family balance and offering new avenues of communication between children and their guardians or relatives, is an important part of Asha-Kiran’s work, aside from being a significant element in the healthy development of children.
Pleased to have Ravi among us, we continue evaluating applications of children who will bring new shades of color to Yashodhara Shelter.
