HYDERABAD: There would be no need for shelter homes for the destitute if people took care of each other, says 26-year-old Jasper Paul, who is the founder of the Second Chance Foundation — a rehabilitation home for the poor living on streets. The organisation will launch a first-of-its-kind hospital tat will treat the destitute for free, by September.
Based in Hyderabad, the Second Chance organisation provides food, clothing, shelter and medical help to the victims of abandonment or forced slavery through a dedicated team of 15 youngsters. These youngsters are trained to take care of people in distress. Till date, Jasper along with his team have rescued over 1,500 destitute and residents over 150 people in their three homes.
“During the pandemic, we had rescued more than 100 destitute from in and around the city. We were also into many relief activities — distributing oxygen cylinders, medicines, and food. However, the Covid had also hit our home, where one of the staff from one of our homes got infected. Before we even knew about it, around 11 inmates got infected. We got medications and due to frail health, they were more prone to get complications. Thankfully, everyone had a speedy recovery,” adds Jasper,
When the oragnisation receives calls from strangers, they first authenticating the case before a team swings into action. Recently, the organisation also got a call from a woman about an old man who was lying outside her house for a couple of days. The team then rescued the old man. During the man’s rehabilitation, he told the organisation that the woman who called was his daughter, who never visited the organization to know if he was fine or not.
“There shouldn’t be any such homes in the first place. If people take care of their parents properly, there would have been no such homes. But people these days have become very selfish that they do not bother about their parents. I request people to take care of their parents and not leave them in such a condition,” adds Jasper.
During the course of his work, Jasper has seen several deaths and performed their last rites. It all got started when Jasper met with a fatal accident when he was 19 years old. His car somersaulted and fell 50 feet off the road. He miraculously escaped the accident without a scratch. “This incident had completely changed my life. Luckily, I did not get injured in the accident and it dawned on me that God was kind. Two months after my accident, I saw an old woman lying on the road in the rain with injuries and maggots crawling on her. I took her to Gandhi Hospital and uploaded a video on social media and asked if anyone knew about her. It appeared in the newspaper and the next day, she was reunited with her family. Soon, I started the NGO,” he says.