‘This is the ward for the drug addicts and the alcoholics’, the manager of the biggest rehabilitation centre and psychiatric ward found in South Asia was telling me. Mahmood had invited me to come over and carry out a consultancy as to how they good improve their services by introducing music and art activities to their clients.
Mahmood gestured towards two different buildings with his hand. ‘We house about 50 adults who need help. We have separate sections for those who had psychological problems and those who have addictions.... In fact, the addiction wing is relatively new and we would really appreciate your input as to how to improve it.’
We walked through the courtyard of the building. The buildings that belonged to the psychiatric unit and the rehabilitation centre covered an entire block. The buildings were built with old maroon-coloured stone. The courtyard in the middle of the buildings had been designed to be an oasis where the clients could sit, relax and absorb the calming effect of the flowers and pushes that surrounded them.
Mahmood guided me in a smaller building at the back of the courtyard. ’We house clients from lower social class separately from clients from higher social class. This is purely because people from different social classes are used to using different types of language and this way we can ensure that everyone’s stay here is comfortable. We can talk to everyone in a way that they are used to and they can communicate with each other better.’
Our tour continued to the living quarters, which consisted of rooms filled with beds that were in line, like you would like in a hospital. There were ten beds in each room. The living quarters were located next to dining hall where the clients had all of their meals. There was no privacy for anyone.
‘How much do the clients need to pay in order to be housed here?’ I asked.
Mahmood smiled.’Oh not much. We get a lot of donations. You know, one of the five pillars of Islam says that everyone should give to the needy and contribute to charity. This is known as Zakah. People take this pillar seriously and are generous with their donations.’
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‘We tach children with all sorts of special needs. We teach autistic children, children with physical disabilities, with mental retardation, with spec and language problems... you name it, we teach them,’ Amena was telling me. She was taking me around a school catering for special needs children. She herself was a teacher for autistics children.
The school was four floors high, with at least ten classrooms on each floor. Classes we on, which is why the corridors were quiet. Two teenage boys walked towards us.
‘Oh hello Mohammad and Ali’, Amena said to the boys and then turned to me. ‘These boys are both former students here who nowadays work as assistant teachers. We do that a lot. We give former students jobs. They help us teach different things. In addition to all the academic classes, we also offer vocational classes in handicraft, woodcraft and cooking. We also give the students an opportunity to do a lot of sports. Can you believe it, we have in total 18 gold medals from Olympics under our roof!’ Amena laughed with pride.
I was impressed with the facilities, in particular, with the handicraft classrooms.
‘We sell the handicrafts at markets and you can also order them online’, Amena told me. ‘This is one way of us getting an income and paying small salaries to the staff working here. See those girls over there, they are also former students.’ Amena waved at them an they waved happily back at us. ‘The rest of the money comes through donations. People here are so generous. All the 200 pupils that we have can change their lives, because of the generosity of their country fellows.’
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The Fountain House and the Rising Sun Institute are both located in Lahore. For anyone interested in knowing more about their work, here are their links:
http://pb.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/25/4/158
http://www.starz.pk/biz/lahore/rising-sun-mughalpura
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