SANKALP-IN AID OF DEVELOPMENTALLY DISABLE CHILDREN

Dear Kind Hearts

Greetings from team SANKALP.

Sankalp children went out for three educational field trips during Jan-April. First was a City Ride in a Double Decker Bus showing them various landmarks of the town, then to Ajwa Garden in the outskirts of the city which has a beautiful musical fountain besides water reservoir catering to the water supply of the town and the last one to a bakery where they witnessed the manufacturing process of breads, cakes etc..

Fourth time in a row this year also on 22^nd March Sankalp organized, an“INTER SCHOOL DRAWING COMPETITION FOR DIFFERENTLY ABLED CHILDREN”from different schools of Vadodara as a part of its practice to provide an opportunity to these children to demonstrate their capabilities. The competition was held in two groups of up-to 15 years & above 15 years.

20 different schools of Vadodara were invited to participate in the event. 125 children from 11 schools participated. Prizes consisting of Gold, Silver & bronze medals were awarded to the selected top three winners from each group. All participating children were also given participation certificate along with a gift hamper, snacks and cool Milk. While the results were being compiled by the judges, children were treated with a magic show.

This being the last quarter of the session 2016-17, annual progress report for each child at SANKALP during the year has been compiled to assess the progress made by children. As reported earlier Sankalp had introduced an E-Learning program in collaboration with a US based company. 30 children were covered under this program. The progress of this program was being recorded by the company directly on their servers and was being shared by them with Sankalp every quarter. This was an independent assessment of the progress made by the children by another organization which made our assessment more authentic. More over during this session, parental involvement wherever felt necessary was also considered as a factor for child’s improvement. The parents were given guidelines to be follow at home and were checked for their compliance every quarter.

We are happy to inform all our donors that as a result of getting properly planned & appropriate child specific program through carefully crafted methodology under professional guidance, all children have demonstrated progress in self-help, cognitive, communication, behavioral, gross motor skills and socialization in varying degree as per the observations made by special educators/therapists/parents besides the independent assessment made by a third party. This is certainly empowering them towards leading significantly independent & a better quality life.

The summary of progress is as follows:

Result Summary for 16-17 at a glance

Total No of Children

45

4   Children have secured        

>90% of the target fixed

23 Children have secured   

75-89% of the target fixed

9   Children have secured      

60-74% of the target fixed

2   Children have secured   

50-59% of the target fixed

7   Children have secured        

<50% of the target fixed

Final parent meet of this session was held on 9^th April to share the yearly progress of each child with their parent besides providing professional guidance through our experts to them, informing them about how to take care of children at home and also to get feedback from them about their child’s progress & Sankalp. This meet also had a guest speaker Dr. chetan Buch a senior neuro-physician who gave an overview on epilepsy and it’s management which was followed by a Q & A session. Parents were also given free individual consultation about their specific needs after the meet. The meet was very well appreciated by all parents who attended it.

Sankalp has also partnered with the US based Rangam Infotec which is starting an academy for providing necessary training that will lead to employment solutions for adults with autism. Some of the children, who could be trained in certain skills that would help them get employed, are the main aim of this academy. This is being planned for the next session starting in June, 2017.

One of the students, Irfan who's progress was 91.25% against the targets fixed in various activities this year, his father wrote following remarks about Sankalp in his feedback form:

“It is very good in his facilities & they take personal care for each and every student. The staff members are very skilled & perfect in their work.”

Sankalp would like to thank the parent. Indeed, such feedback from parents encourages our staff to do their best.

Baroda has become very hot since last month end with afternoon temperature touching 44°C (111.2°F) Our current session is closing for summer vacation on 22^nd April and we will reopen on 8^th June for the new session.

Once again a BIG THANK YOU for your continued support to our project. YOU will keep getting regular updates about the progress made by this project with the help of YOUR donation.

I once again invite YOU ALL to suggest us how WE can work together more closely as a proactive partner and attract wider participation on this project to bring smiles on the faces of intellectually & physically challenged children and their families and make this world a better place to live for everyone? This PROJECT CONTINUOUSLY NEED YOUR support. We’ll be keenly looking forward to your valued suggestions.

Gratefully yours

Dear Kind Hearts,

Greetings for the New Year 2017 from SANKALP team! Hope you all must have had a wonderful New Year Celebrations. Sankalp wishes that the New Year brings good health, peace and prosperity for you and your family!

During the last quarter, besides undergoing their normal in-house regular training/therapy program as per their Individual Education Plan (IEP), many children participated in various other outdoor activities also. These were:

• “World Disabled Day Rally in the city on 3^rd December that was organized by the committee jointly formed by 12 different institutions working for disabled persons in Vadodara.
• Drawing competition organized by Urmi school on 5^th December.
• Sports organized by Bal Bhawan Society, L&T Ladies welfare association and “Friends Society”. One of our children Bhavin Solanki won 2^nd prize in “Sack Race” at L&T Ladies welfare association games and 3^rd prize in “Running” at Bal Bhawan Society. Two children Pruthvesh and Mahekbanu won 2^nd & 3^rd prizes respectively in “Aim the Pyramid” at the sports organized by Friends Society.

Trust also organized on 24^th December, its biennial fund raising event a musical night of Gujarati Songs in support of SANKALP. Mayor of Vadodara was the chief guest of the function which was witnessed by 900 guests. Before start of musical night Sankalp’s children gave two performances on dance and song items which was very well liked and appreciated by the entire audience. They received tremendous applause for both performances from each of the nine hundred guests. After seeing their performance, the mayor was highly impressed. He very much appreciated the work being done by Sankalp and lauded the sincere efforts of its educators/therapists for making a positive contribution in the lives of children facing multiple challenges. There was considerable satisfaction on the faces of parents of all the participating children on seeing them performing on stage and getting all round appreciation.

We at Sankalp believe that encouraging these children for outdoor activities and performing before large gathering essentially serves three important purposes. One, it enhances the self-confidence and self-esteem of the children which in turn motivates them to learn and do better. Secondly, it raises the morale of parents and family members of the child when they see that their child is not only able to perform on stage but is receiving tremendous appreciation from entire audience. It develops hope in them that their child is improving and has potential to become independent to a reasonable extent. Thirdly, it sensitizes the general public towards differently abled members of our society, generates much needed empathy towards them and leads to their acceptance and integration into the mainstream of society thereby improving the overall happiness index of the society.

While a pair of summer uniform was given at the beginning of the term in July to all the children, they were also given a Woolen jacket, a cap and a pair of socks with shoes on 2^nd December. Girl Children were also given Sanitary napkins for the next 3 months.

Festival of Kite Flying (Uttrayan) is celebrated every year in Gujarat by everyone with lot of enthusiasm and fervor. Sankalp children also celebrated the same in the nearby Akota garden on 13^th January. All the children enjoyed kite flying and dancing for two hours and had lot of fun. The celebration was followed by lunch.

Until the next report a big THANK YOU for your support to our project. We will be updating YOU as this project progresses & what impact YOUR donation is making in the lives of mentally/ developmentally challenged children at Sankalp.

Links:

• "Aashayen"-Hopes of Children @ Sankalp