Success Stories

Name of Resident: Raja

Purpose: To meet Raja's sister who could take her to meet her ailing mother

Raja has been with The Banyan since 2001.Raja had already been reunited with her family once but had returned subsequently to The Banyan. Despite this, Raja kept asking staff to return home, as expectant as ever, and became rather depressed when not taken. This time round, Raja was desperate to meet her sick mother in Andhra Pradesh and was asking staff to take her to her sister's house in Basin Bridge.

We started in late November from Chennai. Raja guided us when we reached near to Basin Bridge station. She identified some children in her neighborhood and smiled at them. Raja's excitement was reflected in her face as we neared the house. Unfortunately the excitement was not reciprocated. Raja's sister invited me in but gave an expressionless look at Raja. Still, Raja as innocent as she is, could not comprehend it and urged her sister to offer us coffee. It was a surprise to see Raja speak in a louder tone, as she only murmurs in a low tone at The Banyan. It was obvious that Raja's sister was not too happy to see Raja. When asked why she had not visited Raja all this time, she seemed to fabricate a tale of illness and said that her sons would not allow her to visit. I urged her to meet with her sister at least once a while. Meanwhile her husband joined in and was hasty to know the purpose of our visit. After some pondering and reluctance he finally agreed to take Raja to see her ailing mother, but added that Raja would create problems within a few days and said that even her mother or brother in Andhra Pradesh would not have her for long. He also wanted to clarify if Raja could be sent back after 15 days to The Banyan. I explained to him that Raja had not created any problems in The Banyan and also attributed it to the continuity in drug-compliance. I handed over the medicines and explained about the timings and regularity of taking tablets to which he seemed uninterested. Finally, he gave us a letter of acceptance with a note to bring back Raja after 15 days. I gave them the contact numbers and left the place, with Raja waving good-bye behind me.

Name of Resident: Sujatha

Purpose: To attend the annual death ceremony of resident's mother.

Sujatha and I started our journey at around 1.30pm and reached Sujatha's house at around 3.30pm; It was about 2 km within Chrompet. Sujatha guided me to her brother's house. The brother's wife, who was a little shocked to see us, invited us in. Her brother came out after a few minutes of waiting and explained about his ill health. Sujatha was happy to see her brother and started asking about his children and other relatives. Her brother described their history to convey the efforts taken by them. He felt that Sujatha had not understood. I explained to him the effects of her mental illness and I also described the work of The Banyan.

We then went to Sujatha's father's house which was near by. He was bed-ridden. Sujatha's sister expressed how sorry she was that they had been unable to take care of her due to the many difficulties faced by the family.

Outcome: Sujatha was very happy and satisfied with the visit. Unfortunately, we could not attend her mother's ceremony as the date we had was incorrect. However, Sujatha asked her relatives to come and visit her and to take her with them on special occasions.