4th March,2024, Mumbai: As she dedicates her life to saving and rehabilitating victims of rape and domestic abuse, Somy says her NGO has contributed to her personal development.
Somi Ali shares why she started the NGO
“My philosophy in life has been that, instead of wallowing in self-pity, I choose to utilise my anger to perform good deeds when someone tells me, as someone who should love and care for me, on a regular basis. I promise you that it didn’t help at all for me to wallow. With my NGO, though, I came to understand that rescuing lives also meant rescuing myself from my terrible experiences and suffering. Because what I do makes me happy and joyful, I consider it to be incredibly selfish. In social work, one must possess a certain kind of compassion in order to be able to face and experience the worst aspects of humanity on a daily basis. I am by no means a saint. It’s my responsibility to heal wounded people and children. I wouldn’t exchange it for anything in the world, yet it is incredibly rewarding even if it is exhausting,” she says.
Somi Ali shares experience of working with victims of rape and domestic abuse
Although working with victims of rape and domestic abuse can be psychologically taxing, Somy maintains her mental health. If I claimed that what I see has no psychological effect on me, I would have to be a robot because what I see would unnerve anyone, trained or not. But because of the work I perform and how it affects my mental health, we have therapists. Twice a week, I have online chats with a psychologist about anything and everything, which has really helped me deal with the work I perform on a daily basis. I’ve been doing what I do for the past 17 years by using the anger and fury inside of me as fuel. She claims that’s the only way to survive and that everyone else would give up
The Story Of First Victim In The NGO
Speaking of the biggest turning points or milestones she has experienced since founding No More Tears, she states, “The first one was in 2011 when the very first victim obtained her Ph.D. with NMT’s assistance.” A mother always values her firstborn child the most, even when there are a lot of other benefits to our labour. So, in my opinion, the first victim who we helped become a survivor is the one that matters the most to us as an NGO. It is really difficult to express the feelings one has when they rescue children who are being trafficked or who have already been trafficked and witness their success. When we saved our 100th victim, I recall that a local channel ran a news piece about our NGO and the victim, who had by then graduated from law school thanks to NMT’s assistance. It’s all very precious and undoubtedly a less-traveled path. However, I am happiest when I am travelling along that path and am certain it will lead to a rewarding end.
By-Sapna Meena