Successful Interventions

• 14 trainers have already embraced DMT as their career option and practicing the profession at various partner organizations.10 members from the community and shelter homes has already enrolled on their own initiative for the Kolkata Sanved TOT. Kolkata Sanved has also expanded its sphere in preparing 25 leaders from South Asia (India, Bangladesh & Nepal).
• Presently we are partnered with 30 organizations in South Asia. In the last three years Kolkata Sanved reached more than 5000 individual directly through 4564 DMT sessions
• 2 major mainstream schools of Kolkata have already incorporated Kolkata Sanved DMT process as part of their academic curriculum. The faculty of TISS (Department of Social Work) Mumbai has confirmed to introduce DMT in their faculty.
• 16 participants have already completed the course and 20 are in the queue for the next phase. Another 30 individuals want to undergo DMT for their own counseling.
• Kolkata Sanved members have already participated in more than 20 national and international conferences and seminars and 30 workshops, reaching more than 10000 individuals indirectly.
• Positive notions regarding the effectiveness of DMT motivated The Department of Health, Govt. of West Bengal to permit DMT sessions in Govt. Mental Hospital and The Department of Social Welfare, Govt. of West Bengal in Government Shelter Homes.
• Kolkata Sanved has been able to create a self-sustainable process by raising revenues through workshops and performances. Kolkata Sanved mobilizes non-financial resources to keep operating costs to a minimum

STORIES OF CHANGE

Shampa Roy, Dance Movement Therapy Trainer
"I love dancing because it gives me pleasure and courage to move ahead in life fearlessly."
Profound and reflective, Shampa moves with her mind. She has worked hard to lead her life with dignity. At first she demonstrated little control over her negative emotions. A remarkable change was noticed in her attitude after she joined the DMT sessions of Kolkata Sanved conducted at her shelter home. Her level of self-esteem and confidence increased and gradually her leadership skills began to grow.

Rupa Choudhury (name changed to respect privacy), Age 18
"Earlier, I couldn't talk to anyone. I didn't know how to communicate effectively. But now I feel comfortable speaking to different people. I can sense how much I have changed."

Mitali is a 29 year old woman from the Ramechap district of Nepal and a victim of domestic violence. She was rescued by police and brought to the Saathi shelter in Nepal. Diagnosed as suffering from schizophrenia she started taking medication. While taking medicine she spent most of her time either sleeping or sitting without doing anything. She even refused to talk to others.

When she attended dance therapy curriculum under Sohini, a visible change in her manner and attitude started coming through. She now shows a more positive and responsive attitude towards herself and others. "I enjoy dance. I gain sense of freedom through dance. I love how I can express the unspoken through movement."

Monika (name changed) is a 15 year old victim of trafficking staying at the All Bengal Women�s Union Shelter Home for the past 5 years. When we started our DMT class, we found that she was doing nothing in the shelter home and suffered from depression, often sitting alone and disturbing other girls in the home.

We took her in our DMT class. Initially she only disturbed the other participants, but gradually through the process she started to progress. It took two months to bring her into the process. The problems were as follows: no concentration and coordination, negative feelings, low self esteem, trauma, anger, violent behavior (self destructive). She started to come regularly to our classes. The first indicator was that she came to class on time and took the responsibility to call others for this class.

Finally she was very keen on joining TOT (our Training of the Trainers programme). Since last December she has been joining our TOT classes and also other regular classes for training. A girl who was suffering from depression and feeling as if she had no purpose in life is now dreaming to become a DMT trainer and to use this future career option to bring changes in other people's lives.

Seeing these remarkable changes, representatives of All Bengal Women's Union reported at our Roundtable Conference that DMT is working wonders for the children and they would like to incorporate this process for all the Shelter Home children.