Mariasadanam
psychosocial rehabilitation center
The Beginning
It was on 14th March 1998, Mr. Santhosh brought Mr. Thomas to his home who was wandering in Pala town. Nobody could imagine that it was the beginning of a mighty work of God that later on known as Mariasadanam. The sole basis for receiving Thomas to his home was the faith that God is with those people who are in distress and mental agony. Within no time the number of such persons increased and gradually it became difficult to accommodate all of them in his small house. Then, an abandoned cowshed was remodeled for accommodating the growing number of people from the streets. Some people fall into ill by birth itself and some fail to cope up with the complex and highly competitive modern society. But most of them are thrown into the dark yards of life by their own kith and kin. When our streets are being filled with so many of such persons, the conscientious and tenderhearted people feel the distress in heart.
Promoters
Mr. Santhosh Joseph and Family
So far 1300 persons have been admitted to Mariasadanam. Most of those who have been maintained well are rejoined their families. Others live a normal life and engage in some productive activities for their living hood. At present there are 286 mentally challenged persons (162 men and 124 women) as residents over here. some people who are improved continue here as caretakers to serve the fellow beings. Around 30 volunteers render service to the residents. The selfless service of Psychiatrists, social workers, volunteers from the student community of various schools and colleges and other organizations support in running the day-today affairs.
In March 2011, Mariasadanam entered the 14nth years of service. 11th anniversary was celebrated with huge mass participation. People from all walks of life gathered in the auditorium of Mariasadanam.
Mariasadanam Model of Treatment
As the studies say religiousness is a major contributing factor for a sound physical and psychological health, rehabilitation based on spirituality plays a vital role in bringing back the mentally ill to the mainstream of the society. The residents undergo a rehabilitation plan which starts right from their personal care and hygiene. The volunteers provide round the clock service and treat all of them as their near and dear ones. The medication part is handled by well experienced medical team.
Once the symptomatic behaviours are controlled with medications help the residents to divert their thoughts to productive activities. A varity of activities are offered to the members such as drama troup, orchestra, baking unit, occupational therapy unit, poultary farming,tailoring unit, vegetable craving,firewood collection,coirmat unit etc. All the residents are divided into different sub-groups and they have to performe the assigned duties for a specific period of time. Each duty rotates to all the sub-groups weekly. Assigned duties like dish washing, cleaning the premises, assisting in kitchen etc. develop a sense of resposibilty and create a feeling of unity among the residents. Once the members proved their interest and skill in a particular activity, placed them to train other residents too. The residents who turned into volunteers can not be easily distinguished from other volunteers.
Medicine alone can not cure the alignment of mind.They need emotional support, acceptance by the society and venues for their self expression. The combination of music and acting sucessfully used as an effective treatment for mental illness in Mariasadanam. Art Based Rehabilitation is a unique feature which distinguish Mariasadanam from other psycho-social rahabilitation centres. It is proved scientifically that the 'ragas' of music relieve the stress and frustrations. Mariasadanam offers a wide rage of opportunities to its residents through artistical performances for their self realization. Mental illness never affects adversely the creativity and artistical abilities of the sufferer.It is proved through the activities of Mariasadanam that one can sing without any troubles in rhytms and can handle even emotional scenes accurately with consistent and regular practice. It is unbelivable that the residents who even forgot his/her own name performe perfectly on the stage. This reflects how deeply arts influvence the mentally challenged people.
Mariasadanam Kalasamiti (Art Troupe) is an outstanding experiment in the world itself. A drama troupe and an orchestra cover professional stages for paid programmes. They staged 2 hours drama and 3 hours music concert. Even Limca Book of Records recognized this presentations. The orchestra team performed on more than 280 stages and the drama team staged on more than 160 stages. All the roles are handled by the residents who were once neglected and ignored even by their own family members. Many of them returned to normalcy with the support of art forms and some of them re-joined to their families. View Art as Treatment to get to know more about sucessful examples.