A cooperative project between a Taipei-based foundation and an Indian non-governmental organization (NGO) has assisted at least 500 female burns patients in India, giving them access to physical and psychological rehabilitation services.
In the three-year program, which ended last month, the Sunshine Social Welfare Foundation worked with the Chennai-based International Foundation for Crime Prevention and Victim Care (PCVC) to provide care for burns patients, prevent violence directed at women and set up a recovery and healing center.
A unique facility in Chennai, the center has treated more than 500 people, offering physical and psychological services, the Sunshine foundation said in a statement earlier this month.
With the assistance of Sunshine, which has been devoted to the care of burns patients for more than 30 years, the Indian NGO has established a broad system to provide services such as individualized physical rehabilitation, wound care, psychological counseling and social reintegration services.
“In the process, PCVC staff help these women rebuild confidence and empower them to face their future,” the Sunshine foundation said.
The cooperation was vital to the Indian group’s efforts to help women affected by domestic violence, a prevalent social problem in India, the Sunshine foundation said.
Most of the female burns patients at the center are from a disadvantaged socio-economic background and their injuries, which are usually the result of domestic violence, worsen their financial situation, the Taiwanese group said.
Another problem is that women and girls are traditionally undervalued in society, which makes it difficult for them to seek help if they face domestic violence, it added.
With the assistance of the Sunshine foundation, the center was established to respond to the needs of women in India.
“Within a three-year period, the center has become a place where female burns patients can concentrate on regaining their health and rebuilding their lives, all while progressively reintegrating with the community,” Sunshine Social Welfare Foundation chief executive officer Shu Ching-hsien (舒靜嫻) said.
Among those who received assistance from the center is a woman, known as Shivagami, who sustained burns in January last year, the Sunshine foundation said. After two months in hospital, she was forced to return to her village because of a shortage of beds.
“Without access to proper medical care, covered with wounds, undernourished and her scars contracting, she was too weak to care for herself,” it said. “Everyone had given up on her, she herself had lost the will to live, but her young daughter continued to care for her.”
Staff at the Indian foundation encountered Shivagami during a home visit and took her and her daughter to the center, where she received proper care, nutrition and physical rehabilitation, as well as counseling from social workers, the Sunshine foundation said.
In the process, she gradually regained confidence, it added.
It also related the story of Anandhi, who said her life has changed because of the care she received at the center.
Anandhi, who was married to a man with what she called an unbearable drinking problem and faced domestic violence, had self-inflicted burns, the Sunshine foundation said.
Afraid of being held responsible for Anandhi’s injuries, her husband committed suicide when she was in hospital, leaving her alone to care for two children, it said.
After she was discharged from hospital, Anandhi was admitted to the center, where she received rehabilitation treatment and used her experiences to help motivate other patients, it said.
She was employed by the Indian NGO as a rehabilitation assistant.
“Thinking back on the past three years of her life, Anandhi never imagined that from a housewife victim of abuse, she would be able to help others, let alone get a chance to improve her knowledge and skills through training abroad,” the Sunshine foundation said.
International Foundation for Crime Prevention and Victim Care founder and chief executive Prasanna Gettu said that although the cooperative project with the Sunshine foundation has ended, she hopes the two organizations will continue to work together to expand the center’s services.
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