HELP EDUCATING 209 SPECIAL CHILDREN IN RURAL INDIA

Dear Friends

Greetings from Asha Ka Jharna !

COVID 19 caught all of us unprepared and magnitude of this kind of unprecedented pandemic threw up enormous challenge which is multifold given the nature of prevailing situation. To carry on relief measures coupled with physical distancing norms, we followed Government directives. As our project locations Jhunjhunu & Sikar at Rajasthan (India) fall into high risk zones with many cases of Corona patients’ present and fairly high chances of community spread, administration imposed total curfew in our operational areas. Under this constraint and Near Zero Mobility, we have been executing following relief activities:

1. We contacted every single family of our special children and counseled them about this disease and prevention steps. We also enquired of their needs. More than 30 families were linked to Government support & schemes. We followed up with authorities to ensure that all of them received Dry Ration Packs.

2. In association with another like - minded benefactors and supporters, Asha Ka Jharna provided 250 dry ration kits worth one hundred and fifty thousand rupees to most needy families. One ration kit was sufficient for one week food supply to one family.

3. We distributed more than 3000 face masks to persons manning front operations like Police personals, Health workers including ambulance teams, sanitation workers in municipal areas and CHILDLINE team.

4. 10 Ltr of sanitizer solution was also distributed to cleaners manning garbage pickup vans.

5. We also provided our manpower support to organize cooked food distribution.

6. Govt of India had issued the advisory for creating Single Point contact for persons with disabilities. We continuously followed up with Rajasthan state govt. and requested principal secretary, social justice department to activate the mechanism in our state. With our efforts, state and district level nodal officers were appointed to provide all COVID related support including food, medical, shelter, counseling etc. to PWDs in Rajasthan.

7. We distributed Ayurvedic immunity booster ‘Kadha’ recommended by Ministry of Ayush to 500 families.

8. Our CHILDLINE 1098 Team at Sikar is fully operational and active during these trying times responding to calls for children in need of care and protection. They managed to reunite missing children to their parents; provided milk, food and dry ration to desperate families and counseling support.

9. Our educators have initiated E-learning for their special needs children confined to homes. With the help of parents and siblings, they have been contacting children through video / voice calls and training them. Instructions are given to hearing impaired children through sign language and intellectual disabled children through work sheets and demonstrations. Regular home work is being given. Our physio therapists are also guiding parents to do simple exercises with their children. Recreational activities like art & craft, dance & drama movement, Yoga, assisting in household jobs, gardening, flowering plants and so on are also being practiced by children under the advice of our educators. Parents are much relieved accessing this crucial hand holding support by AKJ.

SUDEEP GOYAL

MAY 4^TH 2020