Children of a Special God

Dr Nandita de Souza is a livewire with energy that can light a whole village. She is a certified paediatrician with an MD from Goa Medical College. However the ‘assembly line’ treatment of patients and her passion for developmental paediatrics made her move away from mainstream medicine and a government job to partner with five other women to form Sethu. Explaining the formation of Sethu in 2005, Nandita insists, “I may be the more visible and vocal one in the group but Sethu was started by a group of six women to promote child development and behaviour and to ensure that every child is nurtured to their full potential.”
Starting out with 200 children, today Sethu has helped over six thousand children and families.Their team comprises of 18 well-qualified professionals.50% of the children that come to Sethu are below 5 years of age so the scope for early intervention and progress is massive. Explaining Sethu’s growth, Nandita explains, “We have grown organically. With 20% of autism cases, 30% with learning disabilities and a large group with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), we focus on a strengths based approach that empowers the families and trains teachers and caregivers to focus on the positives, in creating a stronger network for the child.” Sethu has collaborated with over 150 institutions and conducted over 300 training programmes besides working closely with the government.
Working on a vast spectrum of disorders has given Sethu the expertise in developing a child protection policy in collaboration with Coimbatore based Karl Kubel Foundation. Explaining why Sethu hasn’t branched to other locations, Nandita says, “It isn’t easy to widen our network and spread ourselves thin. We train others to be our bridge but we neither have the funds nor the human resources to expand.”
Charging a nominal fee, Sethu is open to everyone irrespective of the ability to pay. In fact fees cover only 30% of their running cost. Funding is crucial to organisations such as these and Nandita finds corporate accountability in obtaining project grants reassuring. Stubborn about driving their agenda, Nandita says, “We stick to our agenda and do not change it to attract funds.”
Growing rapidly, with so many cases and referrals, Sethu has outgrown their rented premises in Succoro and is now looking at having a permanent home established in the next 3-5 years. An excited Nandita adds, “We have identified land and need to raise Rs. 5 crores. I believe in the Zen saying ‘Jump and the net shall appear’.” The team has put all their hearts, heads and energies together to meet this goal.  The well-wishers have also raised funds through ingenious ways, including the recently held ‘Concert for the King’ that featured some of the best Goan music talent. Realising the need to have a more strategic and direct approach to funding; drawingon their good will and shared vision of the wider community. Sethu has now adopted a peer to peer based funding approach. Their clarion call to donate a brick worth Rs. 10,000 seems to be getting a steady response; they need 5000 bricks to make this home possible!  “We need better infrastructure to service our children and their families, to get more professionalson board and to sustain this growth, and allowings us to focus on our work. Money isn’t everything but it’s a lot better than the next best thing.” chuckles Nandita.
The team’s passion and hard work comes through when a visibly emotional Nandita shares some examples of children who have broken down the labels that society put on them to soar above their disabilities. “A child who was reprimanded in school by his teachers and called ‘A hero of zero’ is now in Amsterdam pursuing further studies.  Another child with a mild degree of cerebral palsy is doing a Mass Communications course and recently met me to interview me.” says an elated Nandita. She is quick to add, “We are mere catalysts. These are success stories of the individuals and their families. Families provide the strongest fulcrum that can make all the difference.”
As Sethu builds bridges between these children and society, each individual’s help acts like cable support. 5000 bricks is nothing given the huge bulwark of support that Sethu provides for children with special needs in Goa.“We have already got 200 bricks. The rest will be raised one brick at a time.”, concludes the ever hopeful Nandita.