NEWSLETTER QE MARCH 2009

 

   I. ACHIEVEMENTS & ACCOLADES

  1. A development that gladdened all of us at Adarsh immensely was the Chief patron of Adarsh Charitable Trust, Shri.C.K Menon being honoured with the  Padmashree award for his selfless social service. Apart from his contribution in the Middle East for the Indian Community and for several projects for the betterment of the down trodden in Kerala, his contribution to Adarsh cannot be overstated. At a time when we were putting up the present building, it had come to pass that whenever we were in difficulties, we immediately thought of Shri Menon and he was always there to help us. On the 5th February, a welcome was arranged at the school, with the children waving placards of congratulations. Smt. Menon who also spent over an hour in the school distributed sweets to the children.  Shri Menon was given the award on the 31st of March at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. All of us at Aadrsh hope that this award is only the fore runner of many more awards which he richly deserves.

 

  1. We were the Runners Up in BHAVANA 2009- a cultural competition organized by Rotary International, Cochin.

 

  1. Our children won prizes in many items in the Annual Sports competition organized by Lions Club.

 

 

 

  1. Our feedback report to Give India has been rated as “5 star” for proper utilization of donations. A steady income is coming every month from Give India. We have given 4 more donation options like salary of a special educator, stipend to Bus in charge, stipend to Parent support staff and transportation fee for a child month to Give India. All 4 donation options have been  uploaded in their website
  2. Cognizant Foundation, Chennai has sanctioned our project proposal (cost $ 3800) to procure an EMG Biofeedback machine, modified computer assistive devices and some sensory integration devices.
  3. Based on the recommendation of the Deputy Director of Education, Ernakulam, Govt of Kerala, our proposal under the project- “non recurring help to all special school to purchase therapy and other general equipments”  has been sanctioned by the  Directorate of Public Instruction, Trivandrum . The amount sanctioned had not been officially intimated but could be about Rs. 10 lakhs, specifically for purchase of equipments for therapy.
  4. Kumari.Divya Dinesan, a former student of Adarsh now studying in Govt. Palace High School , Tripunithura was declared as the “Best Outgoing Student” of the school.

 

II. LATEST PROJECTS

 

  1. Extension to the school building- “Building up  further on our dream building at Kureekad”

When the present school building was completed in 3 floors and with a covered area of about 13000 sq ft, it was anticipated that the space provided would be adequate for many years. But, due to the unexpected increase in the number of children from less than 80 in December 05 to 181 in March 09 and the increased/improved facilities for many activities like visual stimulation, post surgical physio therapy, speech therapy, music therapy & occupational therapy we are left with no other option than going for an expansion. Other than this, a very prominent occupant of space has been the provision of class rooms under the EDUSAT SYSTEM – a system in which 8 special schools –one of them Adarsh-are connected for lecture classes.  With the promise of help for the additional building space, by Shri.C.K.Menon , Shri.Sudhir Gopi, of Dubai and “Think India” Foundation, Dallas, Texas, we have had a plan drawn up, again through Shri. PKR Menon, the Architect  who designed and helped us immensely in putting up the present beautiful building. The idea is to extend the building at the back, in 3 floors, with a total covered area of 8670 (2890x3) sq ft. Cost of construction has gone up substantially since 2005 and therefore,  we need CONSIDERABLE SUPPORT for this.

 

  1. A tentative step in training for leading an  "independent life "

 

Our new project “Nammude Veedu”- “Our Home”- was initiated on an experimental basis on 23rd January for 3 days with 5 children, 2 staff, 1 mother and a helper. The idea  behind the scheme, as mentioned earlier, was to give the children a little more training in attending to their daily needs independently, something which they may not be doing at home either due to fear or over protection by the parents. The experience gained during the first camp in January has led to a demand for one such camp every month and consequently one such was held in February and another in March   . A total of 15 children have thus been exposed to this idea. From June, we will plan to make a hostel type arrangement for children, supervised by trained teachers and one or two parents of  children who are able to attend to many things independently  and can do more with some encouragement and training. The experience gained so far is very encouraging. 

 

III. CELEBRATIONS, PICNICS ETC.

 

  1. We took our children for a movie on New year day 2009.
  2. Kochi FM broadcast various programmes of our children like Group song, solo song, story telling etc. in their regular programme called “Vidarunna Mottukal”. The response from the public was encouraging.
  3. Our children from academic section were taken to High Court to see the activities there
  4. Children with Autism were taken to Hill Palace as a part of their outstation play therapy

 

IV. OTHER ACTIVITIES

 

  1. During the quarter 10 children joined while 11 left for personal reasons. The age profile of the present  student population (184) is as follows:

Age Range                 No. of children

0-5                                                                                   47

6-10                                                                               70

11-15                                                                            54

16 & Above                            13

 

  1. During the quarter we have recruited 2 special educators at CDEIRC, Vyttila in the section for Learning Disability.
  2. TRAINING THROUGH EDUSAT-

Our staff took 5 classes mainly on: Educational Aspects of Cerebral Palsy, Educating Children with Cerebral Palsy, Computer Education & NIOS, Educational aspects of Autism etc., during this quarter

  1. At CDEIRC, end of         Current Quarter                Last Quarter Total Number of childre Evaluated     101                           92

In the section forDown syndrome                 15                             13

                         Learning Disorder        26                            19  

 

  1. We had also associated with a Workshop organized by Indian Academy of Pediatrics-Childhood Disability group and Sunrise Hospital on 22nd February 2009. The highlight of the programme was the presentation by Smt.Jalaja Narayanan, mother of an Autistic son. Ms. Narayanan, has been able to conquer her son’s Autism to such an   extent that he has been able to write  books- one of them  on a romantic theme. A good number of parents from Adarsh participated in the Workshop.
  2. 87 children have written examinations under Open Basic Education system through our School, out of which  only 20 were from Adarsh.

           

V. COMMUNITY BASED REHABILITATION PROJECTS

 

  1. Home Based Rehabilitation project (A project to administer training and therapy to children who are not able to attend even a special school) is going on well.  Started in October 08, with 4 children, there are now 9 children, who get special training and therapy from our team visiting their homes twice a week. A very welcome development in this field has been the offer from Dr.U.K. Shyam, a neurologist based at Chirayinkizh, near Trivandrum to associate with this programme spending 2 days every month, visiting all the 9 homes, interacting with the children and their mothers and teachers and therapists.
  2. Dr.Deepak Sharan visited Cochin in January, the 16th visit since October 04. With the 5 surgeries done during this visit, the total number of surgeries done so far is now 62. Dr. Sharan also reviewed 20 children who had been operated on earlier and he was very happy with the progress of the children. He lays a lot of stress on post surgical physiotherapy for which we have very special arrangements-separate therapist and advanced equipments.
  3. Our Risk Baby unit examined 139 babies during this quarter
  4. New Born hearing screening unit could examine 91 babies

 

I. We were pleased to meet the following visitors during this quarter:

 

  1. Smt. & Shri. Sudheer Gopi, a Dubai based entrepreneur.
  2. Ms.& Mr.Sudheer Menon
  3. 10 members from Y’s Men’s Club of Chottanikkra
  4. Shri.Mamman Abraham , Cochin
  5. Shri.T.S.Ramanathan, Cochin
  6. Dr.Roy Thomas, Physiatrician, Port Hospital , Cochin
  7. Randi Aanand & Kirsty Daran from Autralia
  8. Shri. Varadharajan, Mumbai

 

VII. Y’s Men’s Club of Chottanikkara visted Adarsh

Y’s Men’s Club of Chottanikkara donated a Sum of Rs. 5000/-to Adarsh at a  small function organized at Adarsh.  They have promised to help a project in the next academic year

 

VIII. Major Donors of the Quarter

 

Shri.B.Radhakrishnan, Chennai, M/s Synergy Social Fund, Kochi, Shri,N. Gopalakrishnan, Chennai, Shri.Madhukumar K.S, Cochin, Shri.M.V.Srinivasan, Secunderabad, Shri.C.G Reghunath, Cochin, Shri.C.Raju, Palakkad, Shri.Ramji, Chennai, Shri.Jayakumar, Tripunithura, M/s Vibrant Designs, Chennai, Shri.Pius T Joseph, Chennai, Shri.Sudheer Menon, Cochin, Y’s Men’s Club of Chottanikkara, Shri.K.Neelakantan, Cochin,  Shri.Manoharan I.T, Chennai, Shri.S.K.Nair, Shri.K.V.Balakrishnan, Chennai, Shri.N.V.Subramanian, Chennai, Shri.KJM Jacob, Bangalore, Shri.S.Ravi, Chennai.

 

IX. Regular Donors

Teejan Food Aluva, High Court Staff Association, Ernakulam, Ms.Annie Alosius, Cochin

 

We hope that Our Motto

 

“A MAN IS NEVER

AS TALL AS

WHEN HE KNEELS TO HELP A CHILD”

 

-will continue to inspire all of us and spare no effort to help a section of children who need special help.