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