Education India Project #20789

Help Educate 500 Deafblind Children in India

by Sense International (India)

Help Educate 500 Deafblind Children in India

Project Report | Jul 24, 2019
Not A Dream, Anymore

By Irbaaz Shaikh | Manager - Foundation and Corporate

Young Suraj (Name changed), belongs to Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh and has turned 15 this March 2019. Born with deafblindness due to Rubella Virus, Suraj was confined within four walls of his home and showed reluctance to move out. He lacked the exposure that the other kids of his age had. Suraj’s father, himself is a teacher in a government institution. Despite having taught thousands of students in his tenure, he felt helpless in front of his son. He could do nothing but rue the fact that he wasn’t able to teach Suraj, all that he wanted to.

But come, 26^th of September, 2015, Suraj’s life was set for a massive overhaul, the day when he was enrolled under ‘Sparsh’ programme implemented by Sense India’s partner organisation with support from Sense India. Post Suraj’s enrollment in the programme, a vast difference was seen in how he carries himself and his attitude towards life. He has made friends and can now be seen playing with his friends, which is a great leap for someone who didn’t step out of his home, at all. He likes dancing and playing with a ball and spends a significant part of his day playing. The training in the programme has allowed him to make use of his other senses, which his educator feels is the key to his development. He communicates with people using both sign language as well as verbal communication.

Suraj’s educator has laid constant emphasis on training him to use basic sign language as well as identifying body parts. She is also training Suraj to use a cane, hence supporting his outdoor mobility.

The rehabilitation team at the centre is trying to improve Suraj’s pre-vocational skills and make him independent in ‘Activities of Daily Living’ (ADL) so that he can lead his life of ease. Suraj’s family has also been supported by the team to attain ‘Disability Certificate’, ‘Disability Pension’ as well as Unique Disability Identification Card, to avail the benefit of various government schemes and services.

Suraj’s mother is quite proud of his development and in an emotional voice adds, “My son now eats his own food and communicates his needs to us. I’m quite happy to see that he is independent and can take care of himself”.

Attachments:

NOT_A_DREAM__Uploaded_on_23rd_July_2019.pdf (PDF)

1 Attachment

Permalink

Apr 29, 2019
Journey from Home to School

By Irbaaz Shaikh | Manager - Foundation and Corporate

From Home to School

Away from her family for a better future, 14 years old Prachi (Name Changed) resides at Lioness Karnavati hostel for girls with disabilities, Vastrapur, Ahmedabad. Prachi was born deafblind (Low vision with moderate to profound hearing impairment).

Challenges of co-parenting can increase the amount of stress on marriage especially when there is a child with a disability at home. Family dynamics are further affected if one of the parents are 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. This is what happened to Prachi’s parents. 6 over ago her parents separated because of Prachi’s father’s increasing alcohol addiction.

Been a single mother with no permanent source of income, it became difficult for Prachi’s mother to take proper care of her and provide for her needs. It was while visiting a civil hospital, one sensitized medical practitioner referred the concerned mother to Sense India’s partner organisation in Ahmedabad which runs a centre for children and young adults with deafblindness. Prachi was enrolled at the centre and started receiving the necessary services.

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

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

From living in isolation to a girl who now loves to explore the garden, visit restaurants and play games with her classmates Prachi’s mother is overwhelmed with her progress. She adds, “Prachi’s journey from her home to school is commendable. It is nothing short of a miracle for me that my daughter is learning.”

Attachments:

Journey from Home to School (DOCX)

1 Attachment

Permalink

Feb 5, 2019
Chandan, My Inspiration!

By Reflino Fernandes | Programme Manager

Chanden – Is My inspiration

(As narrated by his educator)

In my life I have met many children with disabilities but no one has inspired me the way Chanden did, when I began working with him in a home based programme I was confused from where to begin, as I was overwhelmed with grief when I got to know that he had lost his father and the mother was the only bread earner who had to take care of 3 children including Chanden Kanwar bai has raised her 3 children being the father and mother figure of the house, she says……… when my child Chanden was born to us, me and my husband were so happy to have him into our lives but then things did not remain the same, it was like our happiness was snatched away from us when we got to know that our son cannot see and hear.

Living in a village and having very little at our disposal as we were daily wage earners, we had very little knowledge about our son’s disability. Lot of people took advantage of this and made money from the very little that we had. Being uneducated we only knew to look forward to one person for my sons cure and that is God, but people took advantage of us in the name of God.

We visited doctors when we lost hope and to our despair the doctors said that there is no cure, we searched for school but did not find proper schooling for my son as he is totally blind and partially deaf, running from pillar to post in search of hope we were finally referred to Sense India's partner organisation, after what I experienced there it changed my entire approach towards my son. I feel now he can do a lot more and also be independent in his life.

Let me introduce myself I am Sandhya and as mentioned earlier, yes… Chanden is my inspiration as having dual disability his approach towards life is so positive. He loves to learn new things every time I visit his home, he is a fast learner, he is slowly getting into vocational trades and is slowly developing money concept, he is also getting better at functional activities. I see him improving by day and know for a fact that he will achieve a lot in life and I will strive harder to give my very best for Chanden….. And yes… Chanden is my inspiration.

*name has been changed to preserve identies

Attachments:

Chandan.docx (DOCX)

1 Attachment

Permalink

‹ 1 ... 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 ›

About Project Reports

Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.

If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.