Annual Report 2019

Greetings from Sisters Living Works!

2019 has been a significant year for us at Sisters Living Works and our vision for suicide prevention in India. It’s been a year of numerous learnings, wonderful collaborations, connections with the community while also being a year of revelations around the current suicide situation in India.

Across 12 months, our team conducted over 30 workshops and touched close to 5700 people in our efforts to raise awareness on suicide prevention. These awareness sessions took place at various educational institutes, organizations, and NGOs, such as, SIES College, Akanksha Foundation, Center for Social and Behaviour Change Communication, Valia College of Arts and Commerce, Sathe College, Maniben Nanavati College in Mumbai, to name a few. We expanded our audience to include not only children and teenagers, but also parents and therapists in becoming effective first responders to anyone who may be experiencing suicidal thoughts or ideations.

The workshops were the highlight of the year for the team due to the large audience we reached and the strong community we were able to build. The workshops were successful in bringing about attitudinal changes in the participants, where they felt more confident and equipped to hold conversations around suicide and loss.

This year was also the incipient to the expansion of our dream project, The Support Group for Survivors, which was launched in 2018. We have always felt a need and hoped to create a safe space where survivors of suicide loss can gather, share their stories of loss, and find comfort in the knowledge that they are not alone. These were attended by parents, spouses, and children who have lost loved ones to suicide. The group provided them with a nonjudgmental environment to openly speak about their experience sans the stigma and shame that often accompanies death by suicide. Emotions such as grief, anger, confusion, and emptiness were brought to the fore as the survivors stood with each other in solidarity and exchanged stories of loss, hope and healing.

The Support group was conducted by our project manager, Shweta Srinivasan who is a psychologist and counsellor. She is co-founder of The Mindclan, a mental health platform dedicated to giving individuals access to a curated list of tools for mental health care. 

This year, in addition to the many workshops and support groups we also organised and held two events with the goal of reaching a wider audience and sharing knowledge. Our Fifth Annual International Suicide Prevention Day Conference on September 14th, saw a panel of renowned professionals and advocates in the mental health field addressing a large number of attendees. The conference provided a much-needed platform for discussions on suicide and the importance of mental health.

Some of the Panelists include Dr. Harish Shetty, Dr. Anjali Chhabria, Mr. Ashish Thakur, Mr. Tarun Vohra and Ms. Tanuja Babre. They shared their research work and observations on the current state of mental health and suicide prevention in India. Many of our panelists even shared their own personal journey to better mental health.

The International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day, held on 23rd November offered a ‘Safe Space to Heal’. The event was an intimate gathering of individuals and families who had lost a loved one to suicide. We organized relaxing art activities, body movement therapy, and insightful talks on coping after a loss.

The event was lead by Shweta Srinivasan guiding the participants through the various activities. Ms. Nyana Sabharwal founder of We Hear You : a support group for survivors of suicide loss and Ms. Devika Kapoor a mental health professional and therapist, led a panel discussion on coping after loss by sharing their own personal experiences and creating a safe space for the participants to share their own. 

2019 was also the year of personal growth for the team with four new team members joining our mission of suicide free India. Our newest member Ms Raksha Bhatti will be assisting Mrs. Ketki Doshi in organizing and conducting workshops, spreading knowledge and awareness. Ms. Devika Kapoor, a mental health practitioner and therapist will oversee the Support Groups within our community and Ms. Priyadarshni is our new social media manager.

We have been able to continue our endeavors towards a suicide-free India because of your continued support and generosity! We hope to reach further and explore more possibilities for Sisters Living Works in the upcoming year. This 2020, we hope to further expand and diversify our events and activities to educate, impact, and sensitize many more individuals about suicide prevention and encourage help seeking.

Your help and contribution can go a long way in supporting our efforts. You can volunteer with us, donate to our organization, or simply spread the word about our work in your circles. After all, one more aware person is one more life saved.

If you would like to volunteer or donate, you can contact us at: info@sisterslivingworks.org.

Sisters Living Works wishes you a very happy, healthy and prosperous new year! Stay tuned to receive updates on our workshops, conferences, and discussion forums this year!

We thank you for being a part of this incredible journey with us and hope to build a bigger stronger community in this new decade!