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ADARSH CHARITBALE TRUST
NEWSLETTER QE: SEPTEMBER 2009 VOL: 6
I. HAPPY TIDINGS to start with.
o What pepped up our spirits this quarter was the receipt of a Non-recurring grant of Rs.10 Lakhs from the Sate Govt. for procuring therapy and rehabilitation equipments. The grant was handed over at a function organized by the Govt. of Kerala on 9th of July at Trivandrum. A team of 5 members including the Principal and 4 teachers from Adarsh Rehabilitation centre attended the function. This fund has helped us to procure various Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Psychological and Speech therapy equipments and devices. Part of this grant will be utilised to install the solar power system in our new wing being added to the new building.
o Ms.Meera U Menon, daughter of one of our Trust members, Shri.K.G.Unnikrishnan was honoured for the release of her book, Oru Hridayathinte Yathra, collection of her poems. Earlier, she had been given a similar honour by getting her book released by Shri Chemmanam Chacko, a well known Malayalam poet, at a well attended function.
o As usual we have been receiving donations every month from Give India. This is in addition to the Rs 10 Lakhs from Think India Foundation, USA received specifically for constructing 5 additional class rooms. (Details included in the previous newsletter)
o Through AIESEC, a voluntary organization, we got a Psychology internee from Poland for 3 months of training/working in Adarsh, particularly in the field of Autism. This is a continuous programme we have been following for the last 2 years. Earlier, we had similar internees from Germany, Japan, Netherlands, & Portugal.
o A medical camp was organized on 4th August 2009 to issue Disability Certificates to 83 children of our Rehabilitation centre. These disability certificates help the children to avail of several benefits permitted by the government for scholarship, travel by road as well as rail and is thus a great help for the parents when it is arranged by us. Our Principal, Smt.Nitya Gopalakrishnan was instrumental in organizing the camp and deserves our grateful thanks.
o A seminar on Music Therapy was organized on 17th August at Welcare Hospital. Ms.Suvarna Nalapat, (Retd HOD, Dept. of Pathology, AIMS, Ernakulam) was the Chief Guest of the function. Dr.Sudhish Karunakaran, Neuro Surgeon Medical Trust, Ernakulam and Dr.G.Bhuvaneswary, Head of the Dep of Music , Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam presented papers on different aspects of Music Therapy.
o A Special quiz programme was organized, specially for parents, to create awareness about Disability and the activities of Adarsh. This will be conducted frequently, to generate and sustain interest among parents on their children’s problems and Adarsh’s role in rehabilitation.
o A new therapy equipment called Hippotherapy-IGallop”, which simulates the movements of a horse was introduced during July for children of Adarsh, courtesy Cognizant Foundation, who donated the equipment for us.
o We had the pleasure of recognizing in public at a function on 14/09/09, the sincere and dedicated service rendered by Ms. Kumari and Ms. Jalaja, Teacher Assistants, who have been with Adarsh for over 10 years. They are both very popular with teachers , parents and children alike for their pleasant and affectionate dealings with children
II. LATEST PROJECTS
o Construction work of construction of a new block in Adarsh Special School started.
When Adarsh shifted to its own premises in Kureekad in December 2005, it was envisaged that the building, of approximately 13000 sq ft, would meet the requirements of the Trust for a long time, maybe 10 years. At that time, the number of children was not even 80. But by 2008, the number of children getting trained increased to over 180. Sensing the need for provision of more space for more children as well as more therapy equipments, a project was formulated for providing 5 additional class rooms, particularly for Autism training. This was included on our website in June 2008. However, admission of new children could not be delayed till these rooms came up. Therefore, existing space was redeployed adding 10 class rooms, in addition to a large classroom for teachers and parents under the Satellite Education programme of the Govt. of India.
In addition , when the Govt. of Kerala included our Special school under its Noon meal Scheme , we had to put up a temporary kitchen , store room and a canteen. Accommodating all the current requirements, the plan is to provide 3 floors ,each floor with around 2000 sq.ft , in continuation of the present building.. The ground floor will accommodate 5 additional class rooms, a modern kitchen , storeroom and canteen with dining space. While the foundation is designed for 3 floors, for the present only ONE FLOOR is being contemplated. The funds available permit only that. In addition, as mentioned earlier, a separate office complex with office rooms for the Chairman, Secretary General and Principal, a Conference hall, Library and Reading Room are also included in this phase of work. When completed, this will add around 3500 sq ft of accommodation.
The cost of this phase of work has been estimated to be Rs.25-28 Lakhs. Out of this, Rs. 10,00,000/- has been received from Think India Foundation , Dallas ,Texas, USA, through Give India Foundation, Mumbai. We are deeply grateful to the members of both these foundations for this very generous help. The major part of the requirement of funds for the project, more than, two thirds, comes from our ever willing and ever reliable patron Shri. C.K. Menon. We have no words to express our thanks to him. The foundation stone for this phase of the work was laid by Smt. Jayasree Menon, wife of Shri C.K.Menon on the 14th of September 2009 at a simple function , participated in enthusiastically by all the members of the Adarsh family, the children, their mothers, teachers, Trustees of Adarsh and some members of the Chottanikkara panchayat in which Adarsh is situated. The work is expected to be completed in 6 to 8 months, before the school reopens after summer holidays in June 2010. Temporary structures have been put up for the kitchen and canteen.
From the trend of the developments in the last few years, we are definite that still more space will be required to improve the quality of training- to accommodate more equipments, to initiate newer therapy items like Neuro-visual therapy, music therapy etc.
o Modification to Physiotherapy Rehabilitation Aids/Orthosis.
Mention had been made earlier about setting up a unit for research on adaptive devices, commonly used for our children. The idea was to make each item useful to the user to the maximum extent, instead of using blindly what had been in use for long and in a general way. We are happy that such a scientific scrutiny of each item has resulted in minor adaptations to 3 devices- namely
1. FSEE (Forearm Supination Elbow Extension Orthosis)- It helps in keeping the elbow straight and forearm in supination. Existing arm gaitors keep the elbow in extension only.
2. Adductor separator to the special chair – It helps in children not sliding down the chair as well as in keeping the legs parted and not assuming the scissor like position).
3. A wall mounted standing frame which is economically viable compared to the standing frames available in the market and occupying only very less space
o Joy of Giving Week was observed with song on the lips and magic in the hands
The Joy of Giving , an idea conceptualized imaginatively by Give India Foundation, Mumbai and widely publicized by them with indefatigable energy and infectious enthusiasm , was observed for a week from the 27th of September. Give India Foundation (www.giveindia.org ) has been a sheet anchor of support for us ever since we got enlisted by them in August 2006. The idea behind observing a week of 7 days, starting on a Sunday in the last week of September but not earlier than the 26th and going on till next Saturday,(the idea is to ensure that the week definitely includes the 2nd of October, the birthday of the greatest Indian of recent centuries) is to focus attention on the aspect that there is a great degree of joy in giving- perhaps a timely reminder of a permanent truth, very relevant to the present acquisitive society. Give India had put forth a variety of ideas from which NGOs could pick up items suitable to them. They had also suggested a number of practical steps.
Adarsh picked up a few ideas out of these.
I. We arranged 2 dinner parties at 2 well known hotels in Ernakulam , the first one on 27/09/09 at The Mercy for about 300 people. Apart from a detailed presentation , generally on the problems faced by parents and NGOs working in the field of Disability in children and in particular about Adarsh , to make the programme lively, we had arranged the presence of Shri. Gopinath Muthukad, a reputed magician and his colleague Shri Chandrasenan Nair. Shri Gopinath , in a brief speech explained how everybody can GIVE , irrespective of his or her status or worldly possessions. The example he gave of a firefly undertaking to illumine the world when the Sun had set and the stars , moon and other planets could do nothing much, touched the hearts of the audience .They also presented a few items of magic which were highly appreciated by all, young and old alike.
The second dinner was at Abad Plaza, an even better known hotel for 250 people. At this dinner, Shri. G.Venugopal , a famous play back singer was the chief guest. In addition to a few songs, he gave a brief but moving speech on facing problems in life with courage. The audience were further entertained by Ms.Remya Nambeesan, a young Malayalam film actress and Kalabhavan Jinto & his team of mimicry artistes.
At both these dinners, we had given to all the guests a leaflet explaining the activities of Adarsh not only in the special school but also in the community. The participation would have been even more but for certain factors like Pooja Celebrations, bank account closing etc.
At both these dinners, as elite clientele were present, we feel that we have been able to widen our group of “Friends of Adarsh”, a group which has been helping us in many ways.
Yet another well known hotel in Ernakulam, Sarovaram has agreed to donate a portion of their collections during a whole month, starting sometime soon.
II. Shenoys, a cinema theatre in the city contributed a portion of their earnings, on one day. In addition, they arranged a free show for the children of Adarsh, their parents and teachers on Gandhi Jayanti day.
III. 2 mobile phone communication companies were contacted-Idea Cellular and Tata Indicom . Tata Indicom arranged for auction of 2 paintings of Anjan Satish, a former student of ours and now a teacher with us and donated the earnings to us. Also, greetings cards based on his paintings have been purchased by them for sale to their employees.
On the whole, organizing these programmes has been a rich (pun not intended) and rewarding experience. We are now confident that the experience gained and the new contacts established will stand us in good stead. In fact, from the people who attended the dinners, we have already received offers for sponsoring education of 3 children.
III. CELEBRATION & PICNICS
o “Vayana Varam” was celebrated on 30th July 2009. In that connection Reading, Elocution, story telling and recitation competitions were organized for children of Adarsh
o Ramayana month was celebrated with Smt.Laila Raveendran and team singing some Bhajans and hymns.
o Independence day was celebrated with various cultural programmes
o Onam too was celebrated, as usual, with song and dance with students and staff of NTTF, an engineering study institution, Mulanthuruthy, participating with gusto.
IV. OTHER ACTIVITIES
o Total number of children as on 30th September 2009 is 178 at Adarh Special School. (New Admissions: 7 Terminations: 10) Age wise students details are as follows:
0-5 : 42
6-10 : 70
11-15 : 53
16 & Above : 13
o One Occupational Therapist and a Speech Language Therapist were appointed to improve the quality of training in the school mainly for children with Autism.
o Application for Grant in Aid from Govt. of India was submitted to Kerala Govt through Deputy Director of Education, Ernakulam and Directorate of Public Instruction, Trivandrum. At least this year, we hope that it would be approved by the Govt. of India ( Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment).
o Child Developmental Evaluation Intervention & Research Centre (CDEIRC) was shifted to new building. The address is as follows: 33/1698, Rohini, Near New Bharat Tyres, Opp.NH Byepass, Vennala, Cochin-28. Ph: 0484-4043443
o At CDEIRC
at the end of Current Quarter Last Quarter
Number of children
Evaluated 90 87
Down Syndrome 10 12
Learning Disorders 18 17
o Risk Bay Unit and Newborn Hearing unit, which work under our Community Based Rehabilitation project evaluated 107 and 218 babies respectively. A good number of children are coming for follow up also, reflecting the increasing awareness of the importance of these units.
V. MAJOR DONORS OF THE QUARTER
o Shri.C.K.Menon, Cochin
o American Heriatge School, C/o Ms.Anna Joykutty, Florida
o Shri.Narayan Sankaran, Rhode Island, USA
o Shri.R.Balachandran, Cochin
o Ms.Sarla Balagopal,Bengalooru
o Shri.P.N.Kalra, New Delhi
o Shri.Rajesh Thampi, Cochin
o Shri.Pradish Haridas, Bengalooru
o Shri.V.Sivadas, Bengalooru
o Synergy Systems, Ernakulam
o Shri.Nithin Shaji, Ernakulam
o Shri.Midhun Shaji, Ernakulam
o Shri.Sabarinath, Alappuzha
o Shri.Thomas John, Cochin
o Dr.G.Bhuvaneswary, Cochin
o Shri.S Ramachandran, Cochin
o Shri.Pranav Kartha, Cochin
VI. REGULAR DONORS
o Teejan Food Pvt. Ltd
o High Court Staff Association, Cochin
o Shri.A.E.Lekshmanan, Chennai
A man is never as tall
as
when he kneels to help a child
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