QualityEducation Matters to the Most Vulnerable

It’s 1 year! We complete 1 year of our project, Send 1000 Kids with Disability to School in India. Thanks to all of you who have been a part of it through your kind donations! We have been able to raise $7066 so far, and the change we seek has initiated. Through your kind donations aaina has been able to,

• Send 300 children with disability using  local transportation
• Conduct 3 inclusive events for 1000 children
• Provide study materials to 300 children
• Provide honorarium to 25 volunteers for implementing the project
• Add games and books in the library that can be used by children with disability
• Provide Capacity Building Training to teachers and volunteers

The biggest change however is that going to school is not a dream anymore for children with disability in many villages of Odisha. By experiencing quality education, timely transportation facilities, aids and appliances, and above all understanding among teachers, parents of children with disability are encouraged to send their children to school. They have started gaining the much needed trust that their child will be benefited and will progress through regular attendance to school. Teachers too, through counseling and capacity development trainings are more willing and confident to accept children with disability in schools. Is not that a breakthrough! Congratulations to all of us for that!

It should be noted however that there has been a gradual decline in donations for the Inclusive Education project.  In this quarter, we received $195 which is much below the average donations we receive every quarter. Nonetheless, the money was well spent. It was utilized towards conducting Assistive Devices Training to make aids and appliances for children with disability using resources available at home or within community. Three parallel bars and 1 set of special shoes were prepared. A 3 years old girl Karishma was excited to use parallel bars as she could walk independently. “She has been practicing using these bars to move around. With time, it seems much easier and she will be able to  go to  school using them”, says Karishma’s mother.    The money was also utilized towards organizing physic therapy for children with Cerebral Palsy. The therapy is helping children in improving their motor skills.

Dear friends, thank you so much for being a part of this journey. We have been able to make the initial impact well. To make this project a complete success however, we need to meet few basic requirements. Still 175 children with disability need to be provided with aids and appliances and travel allowance needs to be paid to more than 100 children.  Though many children receive the same through government programs, unfortunately few are left behind as they are not able to meet the criterion. It is for those children now that we need to take initiative and make school going process easier. Along with your monitory support, we welcome your ideas to make school going process an achievable one for children with disability. We enthusiastically look forward for your inputs in that regard

10 Students with disability get transportation assistance to go to school

One of the objectives of the Inclusive education project is to provide transportation assistance to school for children with disability. This quarter 10 children with disabilities in 2 blocks of Dhenkanal district-Kamakshyanagar and Kankadahad were able to get transpiration assistance from the funds raised through Global Giving..

Many of the children with disability needed special assistance from their friends and peers to reach school. Absence of these children was noted at the time of unavailability of such help.  Due to the advocacy with the SSA (Sarva Sikhya Abhiyan) authority 55 children were covered under transportation allowance.  However, 10 students could not be covered under the scheme due to legibility criterion and limited funds.  As a result, these children were not able to continue their school regularly. It was likely for them to drop out from school eventually. Aaina took advantage of the funds raised through Global Giving and extended transportation assistance to the 10 children.

Children were happy to get the assistance and the parents are also showing their commitment towards their studies. “Now I do not have to worry about who will drop off my son to school everyday and can concentrate on other household work” says the mother of an 8 year old boy with Cerebral Palsy. A 12 year girl with speech and hearing impartment comments “My performance in school was deteriorating as I was missing out on studies due to irregular attendance. Also, at times I missed attending festivals and cultural programs at school. This frustrated me. But now I am so relived and hope my performance in school will also improve gradually”

The support provided by Aaina through Global giving is appreciated by SSA authorities. The parents of these children are also humbled and motivated to continue sending their children to school. We truly thank donors for supporting us in the cause. However, there was deterioration in donations  this quarter  which limited aaina to extend best possible help for children with disability. We humbly encourage the donors to spread the word among their family and friends and help 1000 kids become a part of Inclusive Education.