Stepping Towards the World of Success: Shinu Varghese
In life, very often, an honest attempt can change a person for the better. When the attempt is given suitable support by an outside agency, the concerned person can march towards success. That is where the story of Shinu stands out.
Shinu is a resident of Bangalore, originally from Kerala, who joined Diya Foundation in 2018. His family consists of his father, mother and younger sister, with whom he is totally comfortable. Needless to say, from a very young age he has been dependent on them. He came to Diya as a highly introverted individual who felt severe anxiety when meeting new people and new situations. He was silent most of the time and did not want to take up any tasks given to him. At home too he was a person who spoke very little and answered only specific questions with minimum words. When he joined Diya, he was still looking for his comfort zone and neither opened up to any individual nor tried to develop any friendship. He required assistance and prompting for everything he did and initially responded to everything with a big “no”. Due to his mother’s medical condition, his education was stopped in grade 7. With the family dependent only on the father’s low income and with Shinu’s condition, Diya steppped in.
The presence of Diya in Shinu’s life provided a positive influence. With the interventions and activities that Diya provided, he is now progressing towards doing things independently, with lesser prompting needed. He was assigned many household tasks including mopping, sweeping etc. while in Diya. With the online mode of education, Shinu has now shown further improvement as per his family’s testimony. Shinu is now able to express his emotions better and is able to do tasks assigned to him. He is able to understand the consequences of not doing something. He has now become more confident in terms of giving answers as well as admitting if he does not know something. Shinu requires more help with budgeting, daily life skills and strategies for him to follow so that he does not forget what is being taught. With his favourite game being the memory game, there is definitely going to be progress in the near future with his memory power. We believe he will get more comfortable when communicating and getting acquainted with people.
As a trainee, Shinu is improving in various areas and skills. He is also getting physically strong so that he can be sent for field exposure or internships, with the ultimate goal of getting suitable employment. Thus Shinu is marching towards a brighter future with the support of his family as well as the Diya Foundation.