The Indian government and aid agencies have been working hand in hand to raise mental health awareness. Despite their efforts, many people still brush aside mental health issues. Such disregard, especially at home or in schools, can drastically affect children.
Realising the importance of mental healthcare access to children, the Enactus team of Lady Shri Ram College for Women (LSR) launched Project Ruhani in 2019 with an aim to promote mental health inclusivity.
Project Ruhani started with the team organising sessions on mental health awareness at a few primary government schools in East Delhi. “During these, we realised that this mental health issue in adults starts from a young age,” says Sakshi Yadav (19), a second-year student from LSR, who currently co-heads Project Ruhani with Aditi Verma (19).
Their team has developed the Project’s main vertical—the Social and Emotional Learning Curriculum—which has been implemented at various schools and NGOs across Delhi. “When we are young, we don’t realise if we are going through an issue. What Ruhani tries to do is introduce this emotion to people so they are able to identify it [the problem]. Ruhani helps one know themselves,” adds Yadav.
Learning to express
The Social and Emotional Learning Curriculum is created for two age groups—8 to 10 years, and 13 to 15 years. With the help of an advisory board comprising mental health professionals and researchers in psychology, this module empowers children with soft skills that help them become attuned to their emotions.
Explaining the Wrinkled Heart activity, which is part of the curriculum, Yadav shares how every child who participates in it crumples paper (cut out in the shape of a heart) while recalling instances when they have been hurt by harsh words. The children are then asked to smooth out the paper while thinking of moments when someone shared encouraging words with them. “Children understand how words impact people.”
Along with the curriculum, the Project Ruhani team also organises Resilience Circles, which are “safe spaces” where people—mostly college students—are encouraged to come together and talk about their feelings on various themes. “It is a sort of a peer-support group,” says Yadav. Now mostly virtual sessions, Yadav adds that these would be organised offline in Delhi prior to Covid.
Lending a helping hand
With Covid restrictions lifted in the city, Yadav is hopeful that the team will be able to conduct offline sessions.
Talking about the success of the Project to date, Yadav concludes, “We had our first implementation with a Teach for India (incubated) project named Project Balika. After we were done with the session, a little girl came up to me and told me that now, whenever she feels angry, she takes a deep breath and reflects before lashing out. This is a very small thing, but it has made a significant difference in the life of that girl.”