Lhamo Sherpa Bhote, Senior Psychology major and Philosophy minor, shares about their internship at NGO Sadhana Village in Pune, India
(Please note that the use of the term “special” in regards to disability is considered insensitive and outdated by many disabled people. However, the use of the term here does not detract from the value of programs and projects such as this which are dedicated to genuinely improving the lives of disabled individuals. Cultural and linguistic differences globally can effect terminology use and acceptability)
“My name is Lhamo Sherpa Bhote. I am a rising senior with a psychology major & philosophy intended minor. This summer, I interned at an NGO named Sadhana Village in Pune, India. It’s a residential house for adults with special needs. They are called “Special Friends”. The Special Friends are truly inspirational for they got up every morning and perform all their task despite the extreme drowsiness they experience either from their illness or the heavy medications they take. I, first, learned about Sadhana Village through my friend, Tejashree Jadhav whose experience at Sadhana led me to pursue one.
Fig 1: is with one of the Special friends to whom, I always read a book that he had. He’s known as the computer of the community; very sharp! He is known for remembering every date, and year that all special friends join the community.
My schedule at Sadhana was arranged accordingly to the routine of the Special Friends. Since my internship was just for a month, I wanted to be as useful as possible. With that intention, I was pretty much occupied from 6:30 in the morning to 9:00 in the evening with few breaks during the day. Sadhana is a home. There are daily workshops throughout the weekdays. Those workshops included games, stories, reading, dancing, singing, and creating art & crafts. Drawing and painting were two of the main activities that I initiated to do since this would incorporate most of the special friends because every Special Friends were on a different level.
Within a month, I changed housing three times. It was a decision made by the head of the NGO so, that I can experience every house with all the Special Friends. In fact, each house was very different. Despite the initial hesitance to change housing because I’ve bonded well with the special friends of that particular house. The changing house opened me to more possibilities to learn and bond with other special friends. This decision made me see other special Friends through my perspectives and experiences than the experiences of other staff around me.
Fig.2 shows some Special Friends helping me move to another house; each one carrying a stuff of mine.
My learning at Sadhana was through active participation during the workshop. However, observation towards the Special Friends, decision-making & work structure of the NGO helped to gain more insights into the importance of life. I found answers to the “why”s of service from my supervisor, not to judge our emotions through the Special Friends.
The relationship that I was able to build with the Special Friends is the highlight of my internship. Each special friends were like an emotion. They each represented an aspect of our being. One was extremely helpful and kind, one was extremely arrogant, one was extremely lazy, one had anger issues, one had mood swings, and so on. I saw different aspects of my being in each of them. Underneath all of this representation – they have the most sincere and honest hearts. Although, I was at Sadhana to learn about different mental health related illness. I did learn, but that never became my priority because the special friends were more than their challenges.
Professionally, I learned what it means to work together or what it means to work under different leaders in the same community. Despite being under the same NGO, each leadership was different. The aspect of changing house challenged me in adapting to the expectation of the particular leader in that housing with a very limited time. However, it was good for me to learn under what kind of leadership I work better. Before the internship, I assumed that this must be an alone experience because they are people with special needs; perhaps they can’t connect with you. However, all my assumptions were proved wrong. They never once made me feel unseen. When I left Sadhana Village, I felt that the uneasiness, as some would say pain, of separation is as alone of an experience for me as for them.
I am very thankful for Whitman & CCEC for opportunities like WIG that has allowed me to pursue the internship. I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to Medha Tai, my supervisor, for her guidance during my internship and also for having me at Sadhana Village. This is one of the best experiences I’ve had.”