A staff from the Family Treatment Program is expanding her reach by exploring new horizons.

Erica Gray is currently studying, working, and living in New Delhi, India completing her Masters of Social Work (MSW) practicum. She arrived in the eastern country in April and will stay until the end of June.

Erica is working with Udayan Care, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) that works to empower vulnerable children, women, and youth. While Udayan Care offers a variety of programs, Erica is specifically working with the Udayan Ghar Program. The goal of the Udayan Ghar Program is to nurture orphaned, vulnerable, and at-risk children by giving them a loving home, family bonding, and a sense of belonging.

“I have been working with two of the Ghar Homes completing therapeutic group work using creative arts based methods, most specifically dance and movement interventions,” Erica said from her temporary home in India. “I have been working with 24 girls (age six to 17), completing four group sessions per week.”

The Udayan Ghar Program facilitates group learning and interaction to increase attachment relationships and bonding, support emotional expression and responsiveness, to foster the development of attunement and empathy, to build confidence, and to provide stress relief, explained Erica.

“The children come from backgrounds of trauma, neglect, abuse, and great amounts of poverty,” said Erica. “But I have witnessed resilience and the capacity for great personal growth in each of the children. They are filled with hope and expectancy for their futures.”

“It has been an honour to work alongside them and to see the growth that they have achieved as individuals, and as a group,” she continued.

Before returning home to Canada, and to her work at Ranch Ehrlo, Erica will travel to Nepal to trek the Himalayas and will make her way to Goa to enjoy the sun, sand, and surf.

“In the midst of this MSW journey, I have made the time for exploration and adventure.”

Erica said with 22 million people, India is a place that cannot be explained and must be experienced.

“It is always busy, always loud, and there are always people,” she said. “However life in India gives you an opportunity to reflect on who you are and how you interact with the world.”

For more about Udayan Care visit www.udayancare.org/#.