Project Report
| Apr 29, 2020
Adapting to change
By Karen Purdie | Project Leader
![Learning from others in changing times]()
Learning from others in changing times
As with people all over the world IRODA is facing challenges and changes brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. Recent restrictions have resulted in the ‘Dar Yak Zamin’ café and ‘iTavono’ design studio (IRODA’s two social enterprises) needing to close. The café and design studio have been providing employment for young people with disabilities as well as generating income to support IRODA’s work. Whilst caring for the community by following restrictions and physical distancing, IRODA is seeking to support the young employees and continue to generate income required to maintain the organisations important services. These are challenging times but IRODA remains committed to the community that it serves
IRODA’s programs supporting children and their families with their development and learning are currently not being provided face to face. Recently the Director of one of our partner organisations in Bangladesh provided online training for the IRODA staff on how to support children and families remotely. Much was learnt from the experience of the Hope Autism Centre who has been working remotely for longer than IRODA. In such challenging times it is so helpful to have partners and mentors to learn from and share experiences with. Not every family has consistent access to the internet and creativity is required to find alternative ways of offering support through these difficult times.
More than ever we are thankful for your on-going partnership as we adapt to the changing times that we are in. With creativity, care and compassion we will continue to support our community. Thank you for enabling us to do so in these challenging times.
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Training moves online
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Dec 30, 2019
Freedom
By Karen Purdie | Project Leader
![Freedom Training Apartment]()
Freedom Training Apartment
An exciting new venture for IRODA has been the opening of ‘Free-DOM’, an apartment in Tajikistan that will support young people in gaining independent living skills. Using the Russian word for house, ‘dom’, and the English word ‘free’ the name of this project describes what it is hoped will be created for young adults with disabilities in Tajikistan.
Prior to IRODA’s work in supporting and advocating for young adults with autism institutional care was assumed to be the most appropriate option for adults who were not able to live within their family’s home. In the creation of ‘Free-DOM’ IRODA is setting up a model for both training young people with everyday life skills and creating opportunities for supported accommodation within the community.
It is hoped that this recently equipped apartment will be the first of many places within neighbourhoods throughout Tajikistan that will provide young adults with supportive environments in which to learn new skills and experience independence within an inclusive community. Thank you for your on-going partnership that is changing the future for people with disabilities in Tajikistan.
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Oct 3, 2019
Right from the start
By Karen Purdie | Project Leader
![Early Childhood Supports]()
Early Childhood Supports
Central to IRODA’s work from the very beginning has been its endeavour to provide timely and meaningful supports to families of young children with autism. Currently IRODA supports around 100 families of young children through programs at its centre and home visits from staff. IRODA has led by example in providing supports that are family centred and relevant to the individual children and family in their unique home and community context. As IRODA has developed early childhood intervention for children with autism there has been demand for services following the same principles for children with cerebral palsy and down syndrome. Broadening its work IRODA is now offering group programs at the centre and home-based supports using a family centred approach for children with other disabilities. Recently IRODA has also started to mentor organisations in three regional areas of Tajikistan on early childhood intervention.
Increasing awareness of the importance of early childhood development amongst the general public is a priority. IRODA has been involved in the production of a documentary that shares stories and experiences of families and professionals, highlighting the importance of supporting children in the critical early years of their development. The documentary is currently being shown on national television in Tajikistan and providing an excellent means by which to increase understanding and awareness.
A commitment to supporting children and their families right from the start is having a long-term impact on individual lives and the development of social services in Tajikistan. Thank you for your partnership with IRODA that allows the work to grow and expand.
![Group programs for children and parents]()
Group programs for children and parents
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