Satish's story
Helping the whole family recover from trauma together
Satish* was 14 years old when one of our outreach workers found him wandering around the station at Trichy. He was reluctant to talk and hesitant to give much away so we took him to our shelter nearby where he was given something to eat and drink and as he relaxed he explained what had happened to him.
His dad was abusive and violent, and had a problem with drugs that made him lash out at the family.
One day during an argument he tried to strangle Satish’s mother and their neighbours called the police. Satish’s dad was sent to prison but while he was there he committed suicide.
The family is extremely traumatised. Neither Satish’s mother or younger brother are coping well with what they have been through and Satish got into trouble at school when other boys started teasing him about his dad killing himself.
So he ran away from school and found himself at the station instead where he was at risk from trafficking, violence and abuse.
After working with Satish and his family for several months we helped him realise that he would be best going back to school, but by then he had missed so much study that he couldn’t get in. Our team worked intensively with him in all subject areas until he passed his class 9 exams and was able to re-enrol at a school near his home.
Satish, his mother and his brother all need our ongoing support to make sure neither child is at risk of running away again. The relationships between them have been damaged by the trauma they have all been through and we need to help them strengthen those bonds and rebuild their lives together.
Our counsellors can help them process those experiences and focus on loving and caring for each other. Satish’s mother works hard cooking and cleaning for three households so she can support her children and Satish is now working hard at school where he loves PE and has started to make friends.
He loves to fly his kite and dreams of passing his technical diploma so he can be an engineer.
Help more families like Satish's recover from trauma
£18 could pay to keep a shelter in India running for a day, covering rent, bills, food and first aid.
*Names and identities have been changed.