Opening the Door to Untold Stories and New Horizons

  No blood ties bind us, that much is true, But love from you, we need it too Hugs and playtime, a listening ear, As we grow, our doubts and dreams appear With challenges and obstacles our life begins That teach us skills and real life learnings We face new things, we learn and climb, But need your hand to face each climb Though not your own, we still need care, Your love and guidance, a burden we'll share With open hearts and a watchful eye, We'll reach for success, support us to fly No walls of sadness will hold us down, Your love and strength will make us whole Exploring dreams, big and bold, A family story, yet to be told One day we'll be a family strong, Love will bind us, where we will belong.

 Not everyone is born with a silver spoon but then there are those who create one for themselves. I am excited that I am one of the latter!  My life has been full of hardships, struggles and poverty. But my persistence,  resiliency and diligent  attitude has helped me shape my destiny and become a person that  I am today: A young girl with experience of being in formal care in India, but with high dreams and hopes for the future and an inspiring change maker. I am a LIFT (Learning in Fellowship Together) fellow, raising awareness about the situation of care leavers in India and working towards getting them identified and their rights. LIFT is the name we, as fellows coined in consensus  and it is a one year life changing opportunity for us.  Reflecting on my life journey is a medium to bring attention to the stories and situation of Care Leavers (CLs) and children put up in child care institutions in India. It is also aimed to  become sy...

In India, the Juvenile Justice Act was enacted in 2015, under which, children  in need of care and protection can stay in any form of care system till the age of 18 years. The Act also states that any child leaving a Child Care Institution (CCI) on completion of 18 years age ‘may be provided with financial support in order to facilitate child’s reintegration into the mainstream of the society in the manner as may be prescribed’ for three years by placing the children in aftercare. Here, a  care leaver is an adult who as a child, experienced care in a formal or informal alternative care system, and were legally compelled to exit their care setting on attaining the age of 18. For them,  leaving a care home to live on their own for the first time, the experience can be a bit overwhelming and it can be more challenging for those care leavers who don’t have any support and family system. But in India only few aftercare programs are being run to support care leavers with accomm...

I am writing this for each one of us to understand and reflect on why we are failing in making arrangements for welfare of persons with different abilities to an extent and that this population also consists of youth who are care experienced as well. Are we fulfilling the needs of this population? are we really aware of those youth who are with some different abilities and on top of this, their care leaving struggle. In my article below, I am going to share my learnings and insights for the welfare of this population of youth that is highly vulnerable and need immediate interventions. I will also talk about the so-called inclusion which is apparently not there for PwDs I'm a care leaver in India, raised in a child care institution. For a long time, I felt alone in my struggles. But when I met other care leavers with disabilities, I realized we share a story. Even without a disability, care leavers face challenges getting an education and finding jobs. We lack support – from documen...