I have spent the last few days working with underprivileged young children and witnessing the horrors that they go through both in their daily lives and amidst their struggle to overcome substance abuse. Witnessing these young kids fight to overcome troubled backgrounds, debilitating addictions, and suffocating stigma has moved me immensely. I have come to care intensely for these youth and wish to do whatever is in my power to help alleviate their plight.
Various decorations done by the children at the centers.
Now that I have started work on my project, I have gotten a better understanding of the true impact my summer task of re-drafting and re-implementing standard operating procedures (SOPs) might have. Thanks to recent political and financial disruptions, the Society for Promotion of Youth and Masses (SPYM) centers have seen their daily operations fall into disarray, often to the detriment of these children’s development. A good deal of basic protocol needs to be rethought and restructured, and that is where I come into the picture. If the new SOPs are detailed and comprehensive enough, they will have the potential to drastically increase the quality of life at the centers upon implementation.
A specific butterfly art piece completed by children at the centers.
I am confident in my ability to get this job done and completed by the end of the summer. I now have four solid weeks of exposure to SPYM under my belt, which I can combine with my own perspectives from my experiences working in healthcare environments in the United States. Whatever major problems SPYM faces, I want to help fix them. For every child who I have seen at the drug centers, I want to help reach them. There is truly a fiery resolve in me to get these new SOP’s fully drafted and implemented before I leave India.