This centre is run by an NGO with assistance from the government and is a result of the efforts of a police officer who wanted to do something for juvenile offenders. He established this NGO under the name ‘Prayas’, which is a Hindi word for ‘effort’.

I was briefed about the centre on my first day and advised not to carry my mobile phone inside. I was also told to be careful when disposing of used surgical blades or any other sharp objects, since, if found by the children, they were likely to hide them. ‘How?’ I wondered! I discovered that many of them could hide the blades in between their teeth and that a few were expert enough to even swallow them, tying the blade to a thread which they then vomit up without causing them harm.

Upon meeting the resident who was in charge, we decided to provide some health education to the children. We chose to do that by way of a ‘focused group discussion’ and decided to talk about substance abuse. At the start of the talk I thought a lot of the residents would be unaware of some of the substance names, but I was very surprised to find out that even the youngest of them knew more about these substances and how to use them, than your average medical student. Why did they possess so much knowledge about drugs and addictive substances? I’ll tell you why, its because they have grown up in communities where they are readily available and in which they have seen people using drugs on the streets, right outside their homes.

We can all very easily escape from our sense of responsibility and assume that the kids are rightly placed in the home and should be punished for their crimes, but by not providing them with the basic amenities of life, it is almost as if we are forcing them into a life of crime. We, being future physicians, can play a very important role here, be it providing timely health education or helping with addictions and the process of becoming clean again.
 
Off Duty
Although I had quite a bit of time ‘off call’ during my elective (since it was free of any night calls) I spent most of the time looking out for and preparing health education material for the children in the home. Otherwise life was as usual and the weather was as hot as it could be; there is no rain in this part of country, whilst other parts are facing floods. There seems to be a very unequal distribution, which is very unfair to all! Meanwhile I’m thinking about my further training and whether it should be in India or somewhere abroad. I’m in the process of weighing up the pros and cons and hoping to decide before I post my next entry. Till then, bye.