Helping ourselves and others
  

SuDatta started as a small group of couples who had been looking out to meet with families with the same difference- adoption.

The SuDatta family members all built their families through adoption. We have all grown, learnt and shared like members of any family would.

Whenever needed the group members reached out to each other. They telephoned the other when the day’s work was done to:

  • Talk
  • Listen
  • Normalise their anxieties
  • Exchange parenting tips with each other

They occasionally met the other family over a cup of coffee or tea. They met at their first annual picnic as a large group.

Members shared books and literature to gather information and help themselves. They shared their parenting and adoption experiences and appreciated the strengths and resolve others demonstrated. They invited professionals from the field of education, psychology and art to learn and reflect more about their roles and responsibilities as parents.

Setting realistic expectations of ourselves and our children is a value that SuDatta greatly encourages.

Soon SuDatta was developing its own base of resources.

  • One member went on to create and conduct parent preparation modules.
  • Another is an influence to contend with in law enforcement.
  • One couple found meaning in doing outreach programmes with a children’s home and created bridges with institutions.
  • Two members found their calling in special needs education.
  • Another went on to become a therapist with special interest in attachment issues.
  • One member volunteered in Child Welfare and has become an Adoption Consultant.
  • Yet another member has realised her dream of contributing to the NGO sector’s need for customised organisation of their financial systems.
Sharing sessions are now a routine sometimes facilitated by counsellors within the group and sometimes by individuals from other centres. Members participate and take initiatives as and when their time and interests permit.

What is most heartening is that with all this openness our children have formed their own voices and we are proud to be their parents.