— Charu Garg
I have been a social worker since the age of 19 years. I have worked for children and disabilities for the last 13 years. After 8 years of working professionally in the development sector, I decided to shift to a corporate, in my search for better-paying opportunities. As it turned out, this experience of working in a profit-making organisation was not me and it only helped me be firm on my idea of work that I was made for working in the development sector.
The only reason, I had to leave my previous NGO was so that I could be close to my son and spend some time with him in the early years of his life. I came to know about and joined Sambandh through a reference from a friend. When I went there for an interview, I was only looking for a job that could give me a work-life balance. The kind of organisation Sambandh is, I was really skeptical if I could work in Mental Health. It requires you to be self-driven and take initiative with people who have lost hopes in their abilities. Yet, I joined because it was close to my house and could reach home in 15 minutes and spend time with my little monster.
Initially, I didn’t understand what we were doing. Unlike my work with people with deafness who are so self-motivated, in Sambandh, you are the motivator and you need to push people to believe in themselves and their abilities. It was very challenging. As a personality, I am an introvert who will not take initiatives with people who are not interested to talk. Yet, I tried and for the first 6 months found it difficult to connect with our beneficiaries (we call members). Our members will welcome anyone with a big smile and warmth but will take time to trust. It took them 6 months to trust me and take me seriously. I won’t blame them either, I was very nervous and hesitant.
One thing that I appreciate about Sambandh is the fact that not only members but the entire team including our Senior leadership are always available to talk and hear my challenges and help me overcome them. The essence of Sambandh also lies in the team we have created, who are really friendly and helpful towards each other. The team is built on trust which is an integral part of Sambandh’s work culture. The ideals on which Sambandh was founded is reflected in its name. Every day we make sincere efforts to win each other’s trust and build stronger relationships with each other, our stakeholders, and with everyone, we come in touch with.
It’s been more than a year, and my learning of Mental Health is still growing. At this point, I would also like to mention, that before joining Sambandh, my understanding of Mental Health was almost zero. In this last 1 year, I have been able to focus on my mental health as well and can definitely see better results in myself. My reason to work at Sambandh has transformed into something much larger now. My son would always be my top priority, but my aim now is also to build a better understanding of Mental Health among people I know – My family, my friends, and also society at large. I think today more than ever before, there is a need to take your mental health seriously and at the top of your priority list.
sambandhhealth.wordpress.com 