Success Stories

Siddhalinga Hiremath – The Marvel of Counseling
Siddhalinga Hiremath, 17 years, hails from Pujar Oni, Marewada village, Dharwad and was a school dropout from the past three years. Today, had he continued his education, he would have been in college. His father late Mr. Karagayya Hiremath passed away leaving his mother Mrs. Mahadevi Hiremath in economic crisis. The lady works as a domestic help. The child was so fickle minded that he tried hurting his very own sister with a sharp knife and also got in fight with neighbors and other boys of the locality every now and then. This hurt his mother the most who asked for help from Childline Collab. Hence, a detailed counseling was needed.

BDSSS’ staff Drakshayani Hampannavar and Chandrashekhar Rahutar had first visited the village and later called the mother and asked her to drop into the Collab office. The counseling was done on 17 th March 2020 by the Collab Counselor. His mother was a daily wage labourer, finding it difficult to earn her livelihood after Siddhaling’s father’s death. The boy would lose his temper every so often and get into fights with everyone. So much that one of the neighbors tried hitting him and also wanted to apparently kill him. The boy chewed tobacco and gutkha, consumed alcohol and even hit his own mother and sister. He was also involved in petty robbing of his own mother’s money.

When he had come to BDSSS, he had bruises on his leg and neck as he was hit by other boys of his locality. He was mentally unstable and would always be in anger. The reason of the anger seemed to be acute poverty of the family and the child’s comparison with other children’s lifestyles. He was attracted towards money and bikes. BDSSS Director too counseled the child and said that education will bring a better job to him and then he can buy all comforts of life. The observation by the BDSSS Counselor was that the child was upset because of acute poverty and would compare himself with others. On 17.3.2020, he was produced to CWC and a medical test was done. He was against living in the open shelter as ordered by the CWC but it was dangerous for him to live in his village.

The same boy, who was unwilling to live in open shelter, transformed drastically in the open shelter living with other children under the vigilant eyes of the staff members. According to the officials, the child is participating in many competitions and games that are held within the institution and has shown promising signs of improvement. The biggest issue of the child was that he turned to tobacco and alcohol addict and would not adhere to any standards of a civilized life, hence he was referred to DIMHANS but his stay at the open shelter made him polite.

At present, his mother is happy with the progress and has thanked BDSSS for its unremitting efforts. The counselor’s counseling worked extremely well for the child.

The Rise and Rise of Shrishti
Shrishti S. Basappagol, 14, hails from a Dalit family of Banahatti village. She’s a girl with big dreams and a family that doesn’t support much when it comes to education and allied activities. “Our family problems are so much that we do not have much time to think about our daughter’s education. All we need to do is to ensure she finds a good match once she grows up” says Shrishti’s father.

The lack of financial resources has always kept the little girl away from the charm of mainstream life. Her mother works as a daily-wage labourer in the municipality, which is not a permanent job and the father is a small-time weaver, with difficulties in keeping the kitchen fire burning. Plus, her father’s alcoholism ensures that every penny earned, goes to the bar. There’s her grandmother in the home who’s an ex-Devadasi and therefore the family is aware of the hazards of the system. Till today, the old lady begs as “Jog” like many other ex Devadasis of the vicinity. The poverty of the family can be realized by the fact that there’s no electricity in the house even today.

Amid all these issues, it so happened that in the year 2015-16, Shrishti joined the evening tuition classes of BDSSS-KNH on the behest of the team. It wasn’t something new as her elder sisters were a part of the classes before. “It was good that Shrishti joined the evening classes because we trust BDSSS and KNH and I’m also a part of the SHG network started by them” said Shrishti’s mother.

As time flew, Shrishti became more dynamically engrossed in the Banahatti children’s parliament and later went on to become the President. Her knack of grasping things quickly made her more intelligent and determined and that improved her performance at school. She became a major part of the vocational training, important meetings where children’s participation was a must, campaigner for health and sanitation drives for the villagers and most importantly, went on to represent her taluka at Bangalore’s Children Parliaments’ Convention held in 2017. “I’m happy to be a part of this iconic moment because nobody could have ever thought that someone like me can come over here” said Shrishti with a smile on her face and a hidden pain in her eyes.

In 2018, she was declared the best student in her school and also stopped 4 child marriages in her locality. But she didn’t stop here. She represented the plight of former Devadasis and their children in the UNICEF Conference held at New Delhi on 17 th November 2019. This was the biggest moment for her and for BDSSS who trained her to perfection. The photo above was clicked at the airport during her departure to Mumbai. This little girl can speak fluent Kannada and English now. Let’s wish her the best.

Sumitra Bhusannavar - From Cancer to Social Dignity
Sumitra, 41, is from Mummigatti village of Dharwad district. Mummigatti is 15 kilometers from Dharwad city and has been a constant hub of cancer awareness programmes under the campaign that BDSSS incepted in December 2019. SPARSHA Cancer Campaign is driven by the principles of Equity, Locally driven initiatives, Local partnerships and sustainability.

It was in early 2018 that Sumitra first got confirmed of breast cancer. Initially, she would suffer with breast pain – subtle in the beginning but started piercing with every passing week. Dr. Bhandari, Sumitra’s family doctor, suggested that it was a simple acidity but one day Sumitra bled from her nipple. That was the day she was devastated like never before. She was referred to Dr. Chidanand Ramangouda, one of the famous doctors of Dharwad. Necessary testing was done and the disease was confirmed.

Dr. Ramangouda recommended amputation of the breast via surgery that eventually happened in March 2018. Dr. Kattimani from R.B. Patil Cancer Hospital Navanagar, Hubli, operated Sumitra in Dr. Ramangouda’s hospital in Dharwad. The operation was successful; however, the chemo process brought physical as well as psychological pain. Sumitra stopped mingling with people completely as she lost all her hair. “I was always away from people as I felt extremely ugly without my hair” said a sobbing Sumitra when Sujata, BDSSS’ Cancer Campaign Co-ordinator met her at her home. It was then when Sujata took the initiative of counseling her and inspiring her psychologically.

Sujata conducted multiple meetings and counseled her with help from the volunteer doctors that support the campaign. “I started feeling good after Sujata madam met me. The doctors and their guidance were very helpful in dealing with my agony” said Sumitra. Today, as we bring this story to you, Sumitra has found solace and accepted herself as she is. She’s a champion cancer survivor and a role model for many – with or without cancer. BDSSS’ relentless efforts and Sumitra’s zeal to accept life situations as they come made her greet life with arms wide open. The lady who once tried suicide is living life king-size now. Big salutes and three cheers to this brave woman!