It is a warm spring evening and I am in conversation with Arlene Theknath, a resident of Bandra and founder of The Saved Pearl Foundation.
Arlene, thank you for agreeing to do this interview with Bandra Buzz. Let’s start by you telling us what The Saved Pearl Foundation does; the name itself is quite intriguing.
My husband Richard Theknath is the key person or rather, the reason behind my starting this NGO. We have a creative God and I say this because I got them both from Him! Several years ago on a holiday to Italy, while pondering on the Pieta – the famous Christian artwork of Michelangelo, I was inspired by an image that came to my mind of a comforting and loving hand of a mother and a strong yet protective arm of a father with a precious baby in the centre. That is truly how the name and the logo came to be.
This sounds so divinely inspired! Tell us a little bit more. What does the Foundation do?
Generally, when a baby is to be born, there is much laughter and joy in the family, especially for the mother — she is pampered and showered with lots of love. Unfortunately not every mother is blessed to receive this love. For some mothers, the news of their pregnancy brings shame and regret and to some, the baby in the womb is an expense they cannot bear. In a society like ours, young unwed girls who discover that they are pregnant have no one to turn to for support or advice and often believe that abortion is the only route. This is then followed by guilt. In many homes, pregnant women continue to be domestically abused by their partners, with no support system. That is where The Saved Pearl Foundation comes in. Our mission is to shield and protect every baby to see the light of day and to give the mother the hope to look forward to a new beginning, no matter the past; our vision is to enable all women to enjoy motherhood without regret. TSPF aims at achieving overall empowerment of the girl child and women in our society.
We began in 2015 from the couch of my living room with a handful of volunteers who believed in the cause. I remember our first saved pearl. Her mother had run away from home after suffering abuse at the hands of her husband. We supported her and were filled with joy the day she delivered her baby. This joy and happiness continue when our beneficiaries visit us, with their children – our precious saved pearls. Our foundation provides boarding and lodging, nutritious food and supplements, counselling and emotional support, medical expenses, legal aid and prevention and awareness-building workshops.
This is incredible work, Arlene. Perhaps without the support of TSPF, these babies would not have seen the light of day. So to date, how many lives have been saved by TSPF and how do you go about creating awareness about the work being done?
I am happy to share that to date we have been able to save the lives of 36 babies – and who knows what these babies will grow up to be, and the lives they will in turn touch. But apart from the babies, it is also the mothers that we work closely with to empower, via counselling, nutrition and healthcare, medical aid, and accommodation during the nine months. When they are ready to go back home, we also partner with a legal team to ensure that they do not return to a home with domestic violence. Our small team consists of gynaecologists (Dr Susan Sodder), professional counsellors, digital marketers and volunteers who dedicate their time and skills to help support our beneficiaries and their babies.
To your question on creating awareness, well we conduct several education workshops with schools, and colleges like Sophia College, and St. Andrews College and have also held a few awareness sessions for sex workers at Kamathipura etc.
Well, that’s wonderful to hear this is such great work Arlene and we hope that this interview in the Bandra Buzz will help to further the cause. I understand that you are also a professional psychologist. How does this skill tie in with the work your foundation does?
Well, I have worked as a professional Psychologist for over a decade and this has enabled me to touch the lives of people from diverse backgrounds. They first come in a state of pain, depression, and anger and they leave feeling happier and hopeful. Apart from one-on-one counselling, I also intend to conduct corporate workshops on Employee Wellness, Stress & Anxiety Management and Motivation. This helps me to support the Foundation financially since we do not have any corporate backing yet.
Arlene, this has been a very interesting evening getting to know the inspiring work that is being done by TSPF. My last question to you is this – if any of our readers would like to come forward and support the Foundation, how do they connect?
If you are touched by the work we do and would like to support us, you can connect via our website to make your contribution or volunteer your time/services. All donations are eligible for 50% tax exemption under section 80G of the Income Tax Act 1961.
Website: https://thesavedpearlfoundation.org/
