|
 Odanadi
is the state secretariat for ATSEC Karnataka. The shelter
home at Odanadi is called ‘Madilu’ or mother’s lap.
It houses more than 100 girls who are mostly rescued by
Odanadi or picked up from the streets by them. Odanadi
follows a rescue model, which has been developed by a team
comprising journalists, photographers, videographers,
local elites, teachers, trade unionists and of course
members of Odanadi. The police is informed after the
rescue operation has taken place and not before that. The
uniqueness of the home is that the inmates manage the home
by themselves. They prepare their own food menu; do the
marketing according to the money available to them for
home management. They also have educational facilities
within the home, but there are girls who also go out to
the locality schools. There are no escorts to drop and
fetch them from school, yet they come back to the home
individually after the classes get over. There are
facilities to learn music and dance at home, besides other
hobbies like paintings etc. Games and recreation also form
a part of their daily life. Vocational training, skill
development, social marketing are also given importance by
Odanadi for each and every eligible inmates. Driving
lessons are also imparted which has made some of the girls
confident to go out and do the job of a driver. Few girls
have got together and started a beauty parlour and a shop,
for which they have got themselves registered, as a
society named ‘Manavi’ and their shop is located in
Mysore.
 A
very small number of the inmates were married off, and now
they are living a happily married life with their husband
and children. They often drop in to the home for old times
relationship and bonding with the inmates.
For the purpose of restoring back the relationship,
parents are allowed to visit their children living in the
home. The home also has the facility of counselling the
girls by a trained counsellor within the premises of the
home. The counsellor provides group as well as individual
counselling to the rescued girls to overcome the trauma
they had gone through prior to rescue. Music and dance
therapy is also used to overcome trauma. The independence
the inmates of the home enjoy is praiseworthy. It can be
and needs to be replicated in every other shelter home
across the country. The inmates follow their daily routine
of the home as well as participate in all the activities.
The home is not confined to four walls for the girls
living there; it’s rather an open door system. The girls
are free to go out anytime for shopping and purchases,
just by intimating their Superintendent. Given the
liberty, the girls have neither misused their freedom in
any way nor run away.
Madilu is a unique home which has been able to provide
protection and shelter to the rescued girls where
facilities are available for them to grow and develop and
restore their self-esteem.
The Odanadi home is now supported partly by Swadhar
program.
|
