The Hindu Business Line : Enabled Day

Ankur and the Rotary School for Blind and Deaf, Korba, have illuminated the lives of several disabled youngsters in Korba District of Chhattisgarh, a region where there is scant awareness about the problems of disabled children and even less facilities to help cope with the challenges. Set up by Arundhati Kulkarni and Rita Kshetrapal respectively, the schools have reached out to many disabled children belonging to needy sections of society.

Arundhati received the President's Medal in 2003 for outstanding achievement in the field of disability, while her students did the school proud by winning gold and silver medals at last year's National Olympics for Special children. Rita's students too have consistently won tournaments at the state, national and international levels in the field of Special Skills, that is, assembling puzzles and Lego in record time. At the International Abilympics 2003 in New Delhi, where 32 countries participated, Rita's students won two of the seven golds won by India! The youngsters were awarded Rs 1 lakh each by the Ministry of Social Welfare and invited to lunch with President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

In September this year, both organisations completed a decade of commitment towards children in whom even the parents had often given up all hope. Arundhati, a former Rotarian, started Ankur Special School along with her husband and nine other likeminded people. Neither skilled for the job nor financially equipped, Arundhati was however determined in her efforts. As luck would have it, two youngsters with a Bachelor's degree from the National Institute for the Mentally Handicapped, Secunderabad, were living in Korba at that time and offered their services.

The school was initially set up at the Kulkarnis' home with 25 children. Today it has over 80 students aged 3-40 years and functions from a slightly bigger premises. Arundhati also underwent training in Special Education at Bhopal.

Ankur today admits children with cerebral palsy, autism, multiple disability and mental retardation though its principal focus is on mental retardation. The curriculum is child-based with an accent on functional academics and arithmetic to aid vocational training. In addition yoga, cultural activities, physical education and dance have been incorporated to help improve eye-hand co-ordination.

Besides public performances, Ankur students perform at the cultural programmes organised on Republic Day and Independence Day by the Korba Collectorate.

Rotary School for Blind and Deaf, Korba

Rotary School for Blind and Deaf was born out of Rita and her husband Pradeep's desire to bring greater meaning into their lives. Promoted by the Rotary Club of Korba and managed by the Inner Wheel Education Society of Korba, the institute began with two students and now has 60 students on its rolls. The school also reaches out to students who are visually challenged and those with mental retardation.

Say Pradeep and Rita, "A child's learning is best developed between the ages of three and four; but we are unable to catch them that young because of the stigma attached to such children by the parents in this region. Parents do not want to talk about their child's inability. Finally when they do bring the child to us, it is already too late to do much for them."

The school follows the Chhattisgarh State Board syllabus and is aided by the State, which provides the children free books. Besides training for speech and hearing, the students are trained in vocational skills which include drawing, painting, rangoli making, floral decorations, stitching, puzzle solving, Lego assembly, photography, screen printing and computer training. Proudly beaming at her students, Rita says, "Cut a picture into 300 pieces and and see how our children can put it together in a matter of minutes!" Several of her students are now equipped to lead, economically independent lives, at least to a certain extent.

Inner Wheel Korba initiated a programme for skills development among disabled persons, thus giving birth to the Chhattisgarh Abilympics, a three-day meet covering competitions in 17 skills, which has now become an annual event. When held for the first time in Korba in January 2003, it was a big jamboree where children who had never stepped out of their villages, travelled to the event and interacted with similar children in a spirit of camaraderie.

Rita, in association with Inner Wheel, has established a hostel for visually impaired and destitute girls. Besides seeking admission for the students in regular schools, Inner Wheel has also appointed a Braille teacher at the hostel premises.

"Technically, this is a branch of disability that needs a lot of equipment, which immensely enable the children to overcome their disability. And equipments don't come cheap. But money or no money, we are undeterred in our vision and confident that people will continue to pitch in their contributions as they have been doing in the past," says Rita.

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