Help Educate 500 Deafblind Children in India

Challenges of co-parenting can increase the amount of stress on a marriage especially when there is child with disability at home. Family dynamics are further affected if one the parents is addicted to alcohol or other drugs. There have been several cases wherein due to alcoholism, the addicted partner is not able to play their role and resort to aggression and physical abuse when drunk.

Away from her family for better future, 14 years old Dhruvi resides at Lioness Karnavati hostel for girls with disabilities, Vastrapur, Ahmedabad. Dhruvi was born deafblind (Low vision with moderate to profound hearing impairment). Appx. 6 years back her parents got separated. Been a single parent with no permanent source of income, it became difficult for Druvi’s mother to take proper care of her and provide for her needs. It was while visiting a civil hospital, one sensitized medical practitioner refereed the concerned mother to Blind People’s Association (BPA). After enrolment in BPA, Dhruvi was enrolled for the necessary services.

Before joining the programme though Dhruvi was independent in her daily living activities but remained confined within home and excluded from other children in the neighbourhood. Due to her deafblindness she was not enrolled in any school and her mother was also apprehensive to enrol her. Her only friends were papers and crayons colour.

Over the years Dhruvi has learnt to stay in hostel and adjust with other girls. She now socializes with fellow hoteliers. On academic front Dhruvi has learnt counting, identification of colours, shapes, animals and vegetables. At BPA she is getting regular training in sign language. Seeing her progress, she has been enrolled in an inclusive school, where she is following 4th grade curriculum and has started to read to write work. Her mother was given guidance in making applying for Dhruvi’s disability certificate, school health card, bus pass and Aadhar card.

From been excluded to the girls who loves to explore garden, visit restaurants and play games with her classmates Dhruvi’s mother is overwhelmed. Dhruvi’s journey from her home to school is commendable.

In Dhruvi’s mother’s words “I was not very confident that Dhruvi will learn so fast in the school, now I know how important is to learn sign language”.

• From Home to School (PDF)
  

4 years old Lucy (name changed) comes across as a cheerful and adorable girl. Lucy’s lives with her family in a small village of South West Khasi Hills, Meghalaya. Her family includes her parents, three sisters and one brother. Her parents work as daily wage labourers to earn living and meet their family’s needs. Unlike her other siblings, Lucy is unable to run around, play and go to school. Born at home her parents noticed that she is not able to crawl and missed several developmental milestones. At the age of two Lucy was diagnosed with deafblindness along with cerebral palsy. She also has epilepsy. Her diagnosis as a child with multiple disabilities was a huge emotional setback for the parents. They wished that their daughter could walk, play and live life like her other siblings. Coming from a small village, financial constraints and unawareness made it a struggle for them to access necessary help for their daughter.

In Oct. 2019, Lucy was identified by Sense International India project team members during fieldwork. Before enrolling at the centre, Lucy was very weak and would fall even while seating. She used to have frequent epilepsy episodes because of which her mother was scared to engage her in any activities. Where on one side cerebral palsy affected Lucy’s muscles tone, on the other side deafblindness resulted in severe communication gap in her life and frequent epilepsy episodes drained her of energy.

Our team is working to improve Lucy’s health so that she can be more actively engaged in other activities. There is a noticeable improvement in her health as she is receiving nutritional support in the form of oats, cerelac, health drinks and other nutritional support from the project. Lucy has gained both strength and weight as compared to earlier. Her parents have received support for medicines too which ensured regular medication and reduced epilepsy episodes. Through the regular home visit of community-based rehabilitation worker as per the schedule fixed, Lucy’s mother is learning to involve her in activities such as identifying common vegetables, fruits as well give attention to her hygiene. Parents have received training from rehabilitation professionals incorrect positioning of Lucy while sitting as well as basic exercises to develop the habit of sitting and improve their daughter balance. Her parents have been guided to apply for disability certificate as soon she turns five this year.

Lucy’s mother says, "We give our hearty thanks and gratitude to Sense India and we are filled with joy and happiness for their kind helping hands in distribution of medicines and supplement foods for our daughter. We cannot repay back for the good things that they have done to our child including the whole family, Thank you."

• On_Path_of_Progress.pdf (PDF)