Accepting the Challenge

Working for children is a challenging task. Most of the cases I intervened involved (i) the child’s family (ii) schools where  parents or authorities want to hide abuse (iii) poor support from the system, and (iv) lack of awareness by the public.  I am a person who accepts the challenge and the needed change. Rewards came as opportunities to learn and to change myself as well as others through active interventions and awareness creation. 

As a person who love to work for and with children, I started to deeply and mindfully analyse the issues of child protection -- its background, its history, institutions involved, logalities, etc. I found that there is a relation between the institutional background of children and the issues faced by them. So, changing the system is certainly a critical felt need. I started to think creatively to build  awareness among my colleagues as well as different stakeholders. All these laid the ground to prepare me to serve CHILDLINE as the district Coordinator of CHILDLINE Thiruvananthapuram (which is a project of Women and child Development Department) in 2014. 

My first programme was Child Rights Express. My friend Maneesh, who was consultant with UNICEF gave me immense support to carry out this programme. His idea of providing and promoting awareness on children and children protection issues through mobile exhibition using bus was taken and implemented. He helped all through the process. I travelled all over Kerala in 14 districts for 14 days and interacted with all people who worked in the field of child protection. The Child Rights Express  was a majoreye opener for me. 

In my capacity as dstrict coordinator of CHILDLINE,  I then started networking with different kinds of stakeholders for awareness creation. My position allowed me to collaborate with tribal department, through which I could intervene and serve the education of tribal children. The sponsorship effort for tribal childen was arranged with the help of Sanchari, an online platform for tourist that support children in distress. In addition, during Covid pandemic a unique venture called Snehanidhi was started to give online gadgets to tribal children in Pathanamthitta and Thiruvananthapuram district. Loyola Extension Services(LES) gave all the support to raise an amount of INR 300,000 which benefitted 30 needy children.  

My life’s work in child protection is rich with diverse experiences. I have reach out to case practice and support workers to expert practice leader. I could train many youth in the field of child protection and nurture their interest in working with children. In collaboration with UNICEF, I could also reach out to an important stake holders --  the police officers of Kerala in the field of child protection. W ith the support of CHILDLINE india foundation, I sensitised them to come up with child friendly polices. 

Last but not the least, I also worked as consultant for Kudumbashree Balasabha (ongoing). I helped in creating critical vulnerability mapping. In addition, I trained them in the field of child protection.