Commune, paving path for emotionally healthy adulthood

Hyderabad: Despite the growing awareness about mental health, there is little to no support available for underprivileged adolescent children who suffer from mental illnesses. Aiming to change the status quo is a Hyderabad-based initiative, Commune. Sneha Kulukuru and Archana Prabhakhar, former Teach for India (TFI) fellows, taught in a low-income private school in Ramnagar. And […]

Hyderabad: Despite the growing awareness about mental health, there is little to no support available for underprivileged adolescent children who suffer from mental illnesses. Aiming to change the status quo is a Hyderabad-based initiative, Commune.

Sneha Kulukuru and Archana Prabhakhar, former Teach for India (TFI) fellows, taught in a low-income private school in Ramnagar. And this is where they observed how children from troubled households were emotionally disquieted.

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Sneha says the students they interacted with came from marginalized backgrounds with no emotional support at home. “As someone who has dealt with mental health issues, I understood the pressing need for these students to have credible and sustainable support,” she says.

Archana too was also affected by a troubled student in her class and together they decided to do something about it and come up with a platform, says Sneha.

The duo raised money on Milaap, a crowdfunding platform, and experimented with various models of intervention that helped adolescent and pre-adolescent children receive emotional support. During the pandemic, Commune also ran a toll-free helpline that students could contact when they needed support.

In 2020, they connected with Pause for Perspective, a wellness center in the city that helped them expand their horizon. Inspired by their work, Vaishnavi Aravalli, an intern they met at TFI stepped in and now together the three of them play the role of a much-need bridge that connects counselors to children.

“We are currently working with 300 children spread across six government and low-income private schools in Hyderabad. Counsellors from Pause for Perspective visit them twice a week and sensitise them on various issues that affect their emotional well-being. All of this is done through creative vehicles like storytelling,” says Vaishnavi.

Through these sessions, the team hopes to give children a safe space where they can be emotionally vulnerable. They also learn gender relationships, emotional intelligence, types of violence, and how to react to them.

Commune is normalising conversations around mental health for children and is equipping them with the vocabulary to express their emotions, both of which will pave a path for their emotionally healthy adulthood.