Give burn survivors access to rehabilitation

In April 2013, Sunshine Foundation launched its newest capacity building cooperation project in India. Over a three-year period, Sunshine Foundation will provide technical support to International Foundation for Crime Prevention and Victim Care (PCVC), a Chennai-based NGO working in the field of victim care and prevention of gender violence, for the establishment of a Recovery and Healing Center for women burn survivors.

The primary beneficiaries of the Center are women and children admitted at the Kilpauk Medical Hospital with burn injuries sustained due to attempted murder or suicide or accidental burns. The Recovery and Healing Center is one of a kind, as it offers to burn survivors in and around Chennai access to comprehensive physical and psychosocial rehabilitation services following hospital discharge.

From April 14^th to 20^th, a team composed of one social worker and two occupational therapists from Sunshine Foundation visited the Recovery and Healing Center, to understand the structure of the current services offered, discuss with the PCVC team their capacity building needs, as well as begin planning the technical support that will be offered by Sunshine in the first year of the project.

Having begun operations in August 2012, the Center is still new, but already, the Sunshine team has seen the positive impact that it is having on burn survivors. The Center has become a place where women burn survivors can concentrate on regaining their health and rebuilding their lives, all while progressively reintegrating the community. Sunshine Foundation is looking forward to working with the PCVC team by sharing our experience in building community-based burn rehabilitation services.

Note: Establishment of the Recovery and Healing Center, as well as the capacity building project has been funded in part by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China (Taiwan).