The loneliness of their rooms is not something the 24 residents of the Thiruvananthapuram district panchayat’s Prathyasha care home in Venjaramoodu experiences much, for they spend much of their daytime in the farms and cattle-rearing sheds along with others.
The care home for rehabilitating those who have partially or fully recovered from mental illnesses has been experimenting with various ideas to improve the mental health of the residents as well as to provide them the earnings to lead a normal life when they are sent back home.
The efforts of the past couple of years of the residents are evident in the vegetable and flower garden as well as in the cattle-rearing sheds and the butterfly garden. The care home was set up in 2010, to accommodate residents of the Government’s Mental Health Centres in the region, who have partially or fully recovered, but are not either accepted back by their relatives or whose relatives are untraceable. Recently, the relatives of nine residents, including six from North Indian States, were traced, and the residents taken back home. In the initial years, it was run with the help of an NGO. Three years ago, the district panchayat took direct control of it and introduced activities, including farming and cattle rearing.
