A fresh perspective on helping skills:A course in Counseling (May 30, 2008)
Savita Thapliyal attended a course on basic counseling skills from 16th May- 30th May, 2008 at Bosco Psychological Services (BPS), Sumedha Centre for Psychology and Spirituality, Okhla, Delhi.

The course is an effort to respond to the growing need for more effective relational and helping skills. The emphasis of this intensive training programme is the theory and practice of counseling. Participants had to actively participate in the training exercise and labs.  The theoretical understanding and the practical skills gained deepened their interest and competence in counseling.

32 people from all over India attended. Savita had agreed to do the course but as the time approached, she did not feel very enthusiastic and even considered rethinking her decision to go.  In retrospect, however, she is very happy to have attended. She gained insight, knowledge and practical skills - all of which, she believes, will be of great benefit in her work.
                  
The BPS staff were extremely friendly and generous with their support and hospitality.  Savita particularly appreciated Fr Jose Parapully, the trainer, whose efforts throughout the course were amazing; starting from providing information and clarifying doubts before the course commenced, to his immense involvement and genuine interest in each participant during it. She was particularly impressed with the meticulous arrangements, the pre-planning and the impeccable care and systematic way in which the entire event was organized. She also liked the idea of starting every day’s session with 15-20 minutes of silent contemplation and turning inward to analyze one’s expectations from the course and plans for implementing what one had gained.

The training programme covered:

1. Personality of the counselor
2. Counseling process
3. Counseling techniques
4. Ethical issues in counseling
5. Process notes and record keeping
6. Challenges of beginning counseling

Basic counseling skills like attending, listening, rephrasing etc. to slightly more complex skills like interpretation and challenging were well explained; practical sessions were conducted for enabling participants to try out these skills in different roles (counselor, client and observer). The use of a tape recorder was also helpful for review and re-evaluation.

The three basic stages involved in counseling -exploration, insight and action -were very well elaborated and each stage was once again practiced using roleplays and other interactive group activities. Participants also had to use the Reader which had excerpts of carefully chosen articles that provided theoretical and practical understanding of the counseling process and then do response sheets on its basis.

Savita says that though she deals with young adults at the Centre for Vocational Training, besides the staff and parents, what she has learnt is how important it is to understand others’ perspective towards any issue. She says that a lot of patience and sensitivity is required in dealing with parents of children with disabilities since they face unique problems at every stage. To give suggestions and solutions is often the easiest thing to do, but to listen non-judgmentally to their problems and find ways to empower them is what is required. Often, it is someone to talk to without being judged that parents want. In this regard, it is valuable to use open ended questions which address the parents’ feelings and help them identify the main issues which they need to resolve before taking on other issues which might not be as important, yet time consuming. 

The entire training programme was both fruitful and practical and Savita has returned with effective and ingenious counseling methods which she is eager to start practicing with parents of the children in her centre and equally enthusiastic to share with the staff. We are sure that the skills and techniques she has learnt will be valuable to all of us - staff, kids and parents.

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Communicating without words: Course on Sign Language (May 23, 2008)
When an announcement was made on how many staff wanted to enroll themselves in a sign language course which would be held at the Training centre, most hands went up. The excitement and interest at learning a new language was evident.

Since there were so many people interested and the limit suggested was not more than 20 people per session, it was decided to split the staff into two groups. The first group had the course from the 19th-23rd May 2008. Resource persons were from “The Deaf Way” organization. This organization is composed of a group of committed young people working for the betterment of the hearing impaired in India for over a decade now. It was started by Arun and Christina Rao, parents of a girl with hearing impairment.

Uma and Uday, a couple, both hearing impaired were our instructors. On the first day of class, all of us were a bit skeptical about how they would teach us and how far we would be able to communicate with them. All our doubts were put at ease the moment they began; a true reminder of how it is often the words that are unspoken that are louder and clearer.

They used the white board for written language but made sure that whatever they wrote was translated into sign language as well. In addition, we had Nirmala Kukshal in our group. Since she already knew a bit of sign language, she played the role of interpreter whenever we had difficulties in conveying something to them.

Sign language (also signed language) is a language which uses finger and hand movements, body language, facial expressions and lip patterns instead of sound to convey meaning. Sign language grammar is markedly different from spoken language grammar.

Five days, twenty five hours of communication using sign language, eight units to complete, intensive and interactive practice sessions, but all of that was filled with so much fun, laughter and liveliness than none of us were complaining! Their method was simple; give each student enough practice, give them no option but to communicate using whatever little they are learning and maintain good humour throughout.



On the final day of the course, our instructors wanted us to say jokes using signing! Initially, most of us thought it would be impossible to express all those nuances that humour and jokes require, but with guidance and insistence on their part all of us managed to tickle the funny bones of everyone by signing the jokes.

As a token of appreciation for the efforts they put in, a skit was performed using sign language. Sign language uses the visual medium. A whole scene can be created at once. So in many ways sign language is a lot more expressive and creative way of communicating and we realised this even more clearly while enacting the skit. We knew we had learnt well when throughout the skit our instructors were smiling and at the end they applauded the performance!

Thank you Uma and Uday for teaching us the art of signing and helping us explore a whole new way of expressing ourselves.

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Amway free dental checkup camp (May 21, 2008)
A free dental checkup camp was organized by Amway on May 21st, 2008 for the Karuna Vihar school students and also for the staff kids. The venue for the camp was Amway Enterprises, 9EC Road, Opposite to S K memorial hospital, Dehradun.

The school bus took most of the children to the camp location and the remaining kids were escorted by their parents. Rama Bhandari, Monica Agarwal, Poonam, Raju and Mahavir accompanied the children who went by bus. Twenty three children including thirteen staff children went for the dental checkup. The dentist Dr. Nilish Kamboj examined the kids and found that fifteen out of twenty three were suffering from cavity problems. He recommended brushing twice a day and also suggested mouth wash for preventing further decay. Twenty bottles of mouth wash will be provided free of cost for the tooth decay problems.

Refreshments were also provided. Contrary to the usual fear and apprehension involved in a dental checkup, the kids had a ball of a time and the medical trip ended up as an enjoyable outing for the children!

We are very thankful to Mr. Prashant Panthari and Mr. Kamlesh Chaturvedi from Amway for organizing this free dental checkup camp not only because it helped identify dental problems in our children and gain valuable advise for the same, but also for showing us that medical checkups can be made fun!

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Aruna Roy delivers a thought-provoking and inspiring lecture
(May 18, 2008)

We were honoured to have Aruna Roy, a well-known political and social activist to deliver a lecture for our fifth lecture of the Sir Ratan Tata Distinguished lecture series. However, nothing prepared us for the fiery passion, intellectual wrath and extreme sensitivity that she brought to her lecture and subsequent discussions.

 
Jo talked briefly about the tragedy of the break-down of our community which is becoming the basis for exclusion and self-centeredness in people. She remarked that more and more people are thinking about themselves and less and less about society. However, the basis of life is co-operation and this is what we are aiming for. We are constantly being reminded to link with the larger “whole”, something that is bigger than ourselves. Jo emphasized that Aruna Roy is a wonderful example of how that works. She talked about how Aruna Roy left her seven years of service in the IAS to work for the Social Work and Research Centre in Tillonia, Rajasthan. Jo gave a brief background of the work she was involved in (NREGA, RTI act etc.). She remarked that all of us here and all around the country owe a tremendous debt to Aruna Roy and her team. Aruna Roy is known worldwide for the work she has done for the underprivileged but what she reminds us is that the lessons she has learnt about inclusion are the lessons she has learnt from people who are excluded.

The lecture was based on education and inclusion and was titled “Learning to change”. Manju Singhania gave a brief overview of the foundation, its philosophy and its various projects to the audience.

Aruna Roy was point blank when she talked about the educational system in India and particularly Dehradun, by expressing that she finds it is extremely skewed. She humourously talked about a saying: “Paise wale khoob padenge jake Dehradun, baki wale bhains chalao”.  She said that on one hand we have such privileged schools in Dehradun and on the other hand we have children who can’t even go to school, who can’t afford tuitions…

The illustrations she used during her lecture were very real, personal and thought-provoking. She talked about her experience at a work site in Rajasthan and her realization that never would she ever label the people who do this work as “unskilled”. She remarked that it is so heavy to even lift the tools used let alone actually use it in making a pit. She spoke of the whole experience as humbling.

Clippings from the movie “Taare Zameen Par” were shown to illustrate the callousness, lack of awareness and insensitivity among teachers and parents to real problems facing students. Aamir Khan plays a teacher who cared to make an effort to understand Ishaan and even make his parents realize that it’s the learning disability and not lethargy that is Ishaan’s problem at school. Though most of the audience must have seen the movie, it was a gentle reminder of the importance of helping children like Ishaan as being the first step towards making the world more inclusive.

Questions and comments followed. Some parents and students were called to the podium to ask questions to Aruna Roy. The doubts were varied and interesting. They ranged from incompetent teachers to health issues to mainstreaming a child with a disability.

Kaavya, a student at Ann Mary School asked about dealing with partiality shown by teachers. Aruna Roy replied that if there is no fairness there can be no learning. If a teacher goes to class and deviates from truth, then she can’t teach the child to be fair and truthful. She illustrated with an incident where students from a rural area in Ajmer district came up to her and expressed that they felt they were dull, and that they could never pass the IAS exams. This made Aruna Roy ask a friend who was in the Rajasthan administrative services to design a quiz. There were 5 groups. Four groups only formed of rural children and one group in which there was an ex- IAS, ex-Harvard and similar highly ‘intellectual’ people.  They were asked to answer a few questions like “How do you deal with a Khariff crop”, “What to do if the goat gets ill…”, “What to do if your buffalo get indigestion…” etc. The students from good/ elite universities scored one point and students from villages scored 20 points. This shows that it all depends on the kind of exposure a child has to knowledge in any form that determines how well he/she will do and what is important to learn is not fixed, it is circumstantial. So we must teach our students respect for others learning, for other kinds of interpretations. She drew parallels to the film clipping on Ishaan’s interpretation of the poem in a much more philosophical way than the teacher wants him to.

Replying to Jitender, a father of a child with cerebral palsy who asked why children with mild disabilities cannot be mainstreamed, she said that it’s not only children with handicaps who are not accepted in society but it begins with exclusion of girls, dark children and so on and so forth. But inclusion is good for building up compassion among teachers and children to accept children with disabilities. She expressed that we should have occasions for compassion. Inclusion of children with disabilities should not be taken as a problem, but as a fantastic opportunity to bring about positive qualities in children. To have a child with a disability in class would mean making adjustments, becoming more aware and sensitive, qualities that are often ignored but are significantly human!

Preeti voiced the problem of an intense competitive spirit (negative) in schools today. She said that if a child is good in drawing, or having good social skills, but does not fare very well in exams, the latter is what is highlighted and his/her positive qualities are overlooked. In short, what he/she can do is not as important as what he cannot do. This makes children loose confidence and lowers self-esteem. Roy remarked that we need to fight against irrational competition and that the talk about excellence as a gateway to heaven is questionable. She said that if we had not done well in exams there was space for us 10-15 years ago, but now it is shrinking. Competitiveness is good when it is controlled by ethics, but the kind we have today is destructive. She mentioned that awards fall in the same category. She questioned “What are they (awards) perpetuating?” and she voiced that they are perpetuating a myth that one person can change society, but one person cannot change society, ever. She remarked that maybe one mathematician can, maybe one physicist can. But even that one mathematician and that one physicist builds the knowledge from all those generations and generations of mathematicians and physicists who have led him to this point to discover something. Aruna Roy talks about the obsession with individuals to compete and how it goes against nature and equality. She spoke about schools which do not have any prizes or awards for coming first. Students are told that “its great you have come first, now help the others in class”. There are schools in Rajasthan in which class awards are given and not individual awards. This implicates that everyone has tried though someone may have done better in the class. All this helps in creating group bonding and discourages intense and unhealthy competition. She says that we have to fight competition and the way we applaud competition.  She quotes a famous Uruguayan writer, Eduardo Galeano who says that in what we call democracy of today one of the worst things is that we have put up this cardboard paste leader who excels either by competition or by vote gathering and when his turn is over we burn this and put up another cardboard and then we think democracy is to blame, voting pattern is to be blamed….She illustrated how the writer talks about a flock of birds in the sky. There is always a bird which leads the flock; this bird is the “super duck” who is at the head of the formation and the rest are “sub ducks”. However, after a while when the super duck gets tired, he goes behind and it is one from the sub ducks to lead the flock. This cycle goes on. This is the ideal concept of leadership and equality; everyone should have a turn. Roy then concluded that the child who will do very well can paint very well, the child who will do well, can sing very well and communicate, child who will do well could have fantastic ethics etc.

The point is that the child who does very well is not judged solely by marks in exams.

Aruna Roy’s team's sustained effforts were instrumental in the passage of the Right to Information Act (RIA), and the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) in 2005.

She elaborated on the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), which is a rights-based employment programme. She explained that it guarantees 100 days of paid work. More importantly, it is when a person needs work not when government wants work from him/her. The program entitles the worker crèche facilities, shade at the worksite and transparency. She said that for the first time high level committees have been set up looking at real issues. For the first time, tools used 10,000 years ago have been looked at. She articulated that we have developed so many high tech gadgets, people are exploring outer space, softwares are being created everyday to make life easier…but tools used by the poor farmers and labourers are never looked at.

However, everything now concentrates on a large group of Indians who were never taken seriously. For the first time, voices from the unorganized sector are being heard, of those people who were never on the map of India. She emphasized that this will make a huge change in the way India will run. She talks of them as being a practical, wise group of Indians whose wisdom will make a huge difference to Indian economy. She said that we should realize the importance and power of these people and says that this is the first step towards an inclusive society!

Aruna Roy, a true activist. In 2000, Ms Roy was awarded the Ramon Magsasay Award for Community leadership which she insisted belongs to the entire Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan and which she accepted on their behalf. What could have been a better gesture of inclusiveness and genuine leadership!

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Orthosis workshop at EIC (May 14, 2008)
As part of the continuing Parents empowerment workshop, we invited Mr Gulati a Prosthetic, Orthotic Engineer from AADI, New Delhi, to EIC. This was to assess the children who require new orthosis. All our physiotherapists had assessed the children at various centres before hand and informed the parents to bring their children to EIC on the 14th of May for his advise and also for measurements of the orthosis.

More than 15 children were assessed that day, a few others had heard of his 35 years of experience and were eager to meet him anyway .The last time he came was a year ago. He did a re check of the children for whom he had already provided orthosis. The parents were satisfied and there were no complaints. The children were using the orthosis given to them. Mr Gulati was also happy with the results.

Mr Gulati’s speciality lies in his considerate nature and looking at things from the children’s and parents point of view by not giving any bulky or extra aids. For some children where no change was required he did not advise it and stressed the importance of exercises.

He will visit again in July 2008 with the new orthosis.

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Workshop on dental care at Early Intervention Centre (April 29, 2008)
In children, good oral care is important every day. In case of children with special needs, it becomes critical, since they face slightly more dental problems than typical children. It is often said that dental care is the most prevalent unmet health need among children. Oral problems can impact self-esteem for children and lead to problems in eating, speaking and attending to learning. When these problems are not caught early and treated, they can develop into more severe problems and cause unnecessary suffering. However, much of the time, oral problems are avoidable problems.

To create awareness on the importance of dental hygiene and the ways to deal with related problems, a dental care workshop was held at the Early Intervention Centre on the 29th April, 2008. Around fifty parents and the staff at EIC attended it. Nirmala Kuksal gave a brief introduction about the organization to those present.
Dr. Mrinalini, a root canal specialist was the resource person for the workshop. She talked about the different types of dental diseases prevalent in children with special needs. A discussion followed, where parents talked about the dental problems faced by their children and Dr Mrinalini suggested possible solutions and ways to deal with the same. Details on general dental hygiene and how to take care of teeth, so as to avoid carries and decay were also discussed.

The parents had a number of questions on when to start brushing their child’s teeth. Some were anxious about how to go to the dentist as their child cannot sit on or hold his head. Dr. Mrinalini elaborated on the situations in which it becomes important to take the child immediately to a dentist. She explained the need to speak to the dentist about the child’s difficulty or a specific disability that the child has so as help the dentist device the treatment accordingly. She also stressed on the need for brushing the child’s teeth twice a day.

With all those valuable inputs, we can be sure that we shall see children with brighter smiles and stronger teeth!

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Workshop on Story book reading (April 26, 2008)
Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, 'and what is the use of a book,' thought Alice 'without pictures or conversation?' (Excerpt from Alice in Wonderland)

I don’t remember the exact number of times that my dad has read me this book when I was a little girl, but every time he started with this first line from the book, I used to prepare myself for another journey through the fascinating pages filled with adventure, myrid and captivating characters, magical potions and hilarious dialogues. As a young girl, no matter how many ever times he read it to me, I still felt the same level of eagerness to listen to him. And this book was just one example amongst the scores of books he used for his story telling sessions.

I often wondered why I used to be so entralled, so absorbed and why I wanted him to repeat the same story for the hundreth time without getting a bit bored. I found the answers to my questions in Anne’s workshop on the 26th April, 2008.

Anne started the workshop very cleverly by asking us to form pairs and choose one book from the bundle of books she brought with her. Each pair had to take turns to narrate the story in the book. Many of us were skeptical whether the cramped space in the school hall would be ideal for story telling and we suggested if we could spread out to other rooms. Anne felt it would not make a difference…
And so we began the story telling. It was only when Anne reminded that time was up that we realised that we had been so engrossed in the activity that neither the noise nor the cramped space had curbed our delight and enthusiasm in story telling!!
Anne asked us why we read stories to kids. Her view was that reading stories develops concentration and attention span in the child. It encourages imitation, labelling, expansion of vocabulary and language structure. It helps the child to take turns and by rereading, to reinforce newly learned words. Lastly, but most importantly it helps in enjoying and sharing experiences, any time, any place!

Anne emphasised on the importance of story telling to widen experience and encouraging imagination in the child. She gave some very useful tips for making the experience of story telling more pleasurable and effective:

• Emphasise the rhythm, the rhymes and the words
• Be enthusiastic about the story
• Take on different voices for different characters
• If the story uses repetition, make the most of it
• Pause in familiar places, and wait for the children to join
• Take your time; don't rush
• Be a Performer!

Anne suggested that we should let the child choose the book of his/her choice. Using own experiences and simple props helps a lot. Stopping and wondering aloud what will happen next adds mystery and intrigue to the story. If the child is familiar with the story, encourage him/her to join in. Simple things like being aware of the child’s reactions and making up the story if the pictures are good but text is high level are often forgotten but Anne reminded us of the same. More importantly, she also stressed on making sure that non-verbal children get a chance to answer even though in our enthusiasm its possible to focus on the more verbal and energetic kids in the group.

Often disregarded is the seating position of the adult and kids to whom the story is told to; it does make a huge difference. Anne shows us just how to do it using teddy bears!. According to Anne, the most important thing about reading any story is “To Enjoy It Yourself” and not to worry about reading the child’s favourite story over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, again! We could not agree more!
“I believe that the easiest thing in the world is to tell a story and the hardest to be a fine story-teller”
– Ruth Swayer (in The Way of the Storyteller).

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THE LORD GIVETH AND THE LORD TAKETH AWAY  (April 16, 2008)
It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of Shubham Topwal, a student of Karuna Vihar and a dearly loved son and brother in the Topwal family. Shubham had Cerebral Palsy and had been ill for some time. He died on April 16th at the CMI hospital in Dehradun.
Shubham was a bright and talkative child and a lively participant in Morning Assembly at KV. He always had  interesting comments and questions and was eager to learn new things at school each day. Many of the staff went to Shubham's home to pay their condolences to the family. His two sisters were devastated at the loss and his mother could barely speak. Shubham's father spoke movingly of his son's love for him: "Shubham was so attached to me. Till the day he passed away, he would refuse to eat his dinner until I came home. Even when I was late, he would wait stubbornly for me to arrive before eating."
The entire Foundation family joins the Topwals in their grief at the loss of this lovely child. Karuna Vihar remained closed on April 17th as a mark of respect.

Pediatric rehabilitation course(April 11, 2008)

The orientation for the course was held on the 31st March 2008 at the Training Centre. Participants were mostly students from different Para-medical colleges and a couple of lecturers in such institutions. Prem and Rajnish the two new physiotherapists from our own organization were also enrolled in the course.

About the Course: It is very hard to find good therapists for children with special needs. The progress of most of these children is very gradual and requires unique skills, considerable patience and determination on the part of the therapist

Our main aim for doing this course was to improve these very important yet often over-looked skills of the therapists, thereby contributing to successful therapy. A good therapist will tailor to the child’s interests and unique skills. By skillful use of therapy one can restore, maintain and improve the mental, physical and emotional health of the child.

The topics covered were:

1. Providing experience in handling, assessment and management of children with neurological problems.
2. Neurological assessment of children with a focus on getting a complete picture of the child.
3. Introduction to speech and language therapy as well as addressing difficulties in feeding and eating in children
4. Autism spectrum disorders and the role of sensory processing. Activity ideas for dealing with sensory processing issues.
5. Bobath approach to treatment was also discussed and how to help the child unlearn the reflex pattern which set in.
6. Case discussions with a focus on various types of disabilities and how to handle them therapeutically. Discussion also involved measures to improve coordination, strength, balance and thereby function. Sensory problems which also lead to delayed milestones were emphasized and techniques to counter them were discussed.

The course stressed on the need for cooperation and active participation of the child. The applicability of traditional methods of improving range of motion (ROM), increasing strength and building endurance maybe limited in infants and pre-school aged children. Therefore, therapy needs to be activity based. This was the point that all the speakers stressed on and we hope that they take put the same to practice at their respective workplaces. Farewell for the participants was held on the 11th April, 2008; a tea party was arranged for the same. A highly interactive and fun game towards the end made it memorable and enjoyable for both the trainers and trainees alike!

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Training program for caregivers(April 11, 2008)
Trained care-givers are hard to find, in spite of being needed in so many different situations. Often people with physical disabilities can work and maintain independent lives provided they receive certain basic services – for some it might be help with bathing or dressing, for others it could be mobility related issues.
 In addition to people with disability, they are also required for newborns, stroke victims, elderly people, and people who have had accidents or operations. Usually what happens is a person is found and trained for the care of one specific individual. While this is acceptable, it is neither the best nor the most efficient method.

Keeping all the above things in mind, the Latika Roy Foundation Training centre came up with a 6 week intensive training program for people who are presently caregivers or would like to take up jobs involving care giving.

The orientation program was held on 22nd February, 2008. A basic overview was provided to the audience about the different projects of the foundation as well as what they can expect from the course. It was a lucky day for us as Jo got Maj. Gen.(Retd.) Ian Cardozo to make an appearance at the orientation. He provided the audience with a very inspiring story of his struggle through life and how he toiled hard for the education he got. This coming from the Chairman of RCI (Rehabilitation Council of India) made everyone sit up and take notice. A couple of them who had not confirmed their participation, did so after hearing him speak. This shows how sharing personal experiences and advice at the right times encourage people to give it their best shot!

Time surely flies, now it has been 6 successful weeks and 11th April, 2008 was the farewell of these enthusiastic participants. They have gained a lot! The course covered:

• Qualities and traits of an efficient and good caregiver
• Normal Development
• An understanding of all the basic disabilities and how to provide basic support in each case (Cerebral Palsy, Autism, ADHD, Visual Impairment, Speech and Language Impairment, Downs Syndrome, Mental Retardation, Polio and Spina Bifida)
• Behaviour Management
• Overview of the different therapies (Occupational therapy, Physiotherapy, Speech Therapy)
• Hands-on, practical lessons on positioning, lifting and transfer techniques
• Emergency and First-aid care
• Taking vitals.
• Care for paralytic/stroke patients and those undergoing bed-rest
• Nutritional needs
• Things to keep in mind about medications and their administration
• Providing heat and cold compresses
• Family Dynamics, problem-solving and emotional management
• Helping with ADLs (Activities of Daily Living)
• Care for fractures
• Fulfilling the educational needs of the child/adult
• Speech difficulties and their management. Use of alternative and augmentative communication systems.
• Eating, feeding and drinking difficulties and management of the same

Besides all this we also screened a couple of movies, short films and video clippings to make learning fun. The participants were involved in group activities, practical sessions, games and presentations throughout the course. All this benefited them greatly as they were learning BY DOING!

A visit to Cheshire home made the participants aware of the immense and irreplaceable role of a caregiver, especially when it comes to adults with mental and physical disabilities. This lady was a true “model”, willing to give smiles and poses for the camera. She guided us along with Ms Mamta Gupta, the superintendent to the different rooms of the institution.

 This photograph shows Naina, winning the affection of a few kids at Cheshire home, with her animated song session.

All good things come to an end and so did this course. A warm farewell was organized for the participants at the Training Centre. Music, dance and good food were the highlights. Most participants unanimously wanted an extension in the course duration. As for us, we could not have asked for a better compliment!

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Our stall at the health mela(April 6, 2008)

A Health Mela was organized by the Indian Medical Association on April 6, 2008 at Ranger’s College ground. Our awareness team put up a stall of the foundation at the mela.

Dr. Alok Semwal, one of the organizers of the mela had sent an invitation letter to our Early Intervention Centre (EIC). He wanted our organization to disseminate information on disability, importance of early intervention and our work in general. The organizers offered us the stall for free and we counted it as a blessing to be approached to spread the word about the work we are doing and that too without having to entail any expenses! It was a golden opportunity for us to reach out to hundreds of people.

His letter was forwarded to the awareness staff as this falls under the domain of awareness generation. So the team started working towards its coordination. Staff from all the projects was approached to man the stall in different slots of time from 10 am to 5 pm. Everyone agreed to volunteer enthusiastically despite it being on a sunday.

The awareness team reached there early morning and set up the stall with the entire publicity material well in place. Lots of materials developed at the foundation over the years were displayed at the stall. Pamphlets, handouts and other information booklets were kept as take away for people.

 It was a fabulous job! The passion and efficiency shown by the staff in dealing with the queries coming up at the stall was palpable.  It was great to see the representatives from all the projects of the foundation coming under one roof  and making a genuine effort at explaining about the work we do and any other specific doubts.
 
This picture shows Hema Thapa with a man who has no use of his legs. His girth was formidable and he made an effort to go to each stall at the mela by dragging himself on the ground. He wanted to know about how to procure a disability certificate. Hema, explained the procedure to him very clearly and very patiently clarified all his doubts. We knew we had made a difference then and there!
The Mela also gave us an opportunity to know about the latest developments in the medical sector in Dehradun. We also got to interact with few more NGOs working in the field of disability and learn something new from them.

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Think or sink - Inaccessible India (March 11, 2008)
India is a rapidly developing nation growing at break-neck speed and if you’ve managed to save your neck so far and are tired of keeping pace then you have the option of slowing down with a broken arm or leg. India will of course race on right past you spearheading a revolutionary new concept where infrastructure and agriculture have been strategically merged. A brilliant, eco-friendly and sustainable alliance – sure to get us top marks in the global economy rat race. Our country’s infrastructure giants are busy innovating new forms of intensive agriculture for her teaming majority – the farmer population. The latest cash-crop is the mushroom and the holy cash-cows are the jungles. Mushrooming high-rises in concrete jungles – jaago and reap on!

How many times have you crossed a busy street with your heart in your mouth? Can you go jogging on the newly made pavement in your neighbourhood? Have you ever traveled by train from a big station like New Delhi, did you enjoy going up and down stairs carrying your new state-of-art baggage with user friendly wheels? And were you one of those lucky ones to reach the platform only to find out that there’s been a last minute change and the new platform is at the other end of the station? I’m sure you’ve felt relieved the last time you used a public toilet – relieved that God gave you two feet to be able to balance in a claustrophobic space and make a swift exit.

So what’s the point here? Should we not develop infrastructure? Should there be no roads? Should we have no railways, no transport? Should we have no public utilities? Do we have a choice? The answer is yes we do have a choice. We can have it all, if only we follow a simple rule – when you plan a new building, a new road, a new train coach, a new bus, a new facility or your new home –make it accessible. Plan for children, plan for old people, plan for the disabled and you automatically plan for everyone.

Today Subhash Vashishth, program coordinator and Kavita Agrawal, assistant manager  Svayam,  conducted a full-day workshop on accessibility for us here in Dehradun. The awareness and advocacy team did a marvelous job of organizing it and the most satisfying part by far was the active participation of the invitees. A group of 21 eminent professionals from the government including Mrs. Snehlata Agarwal (Additional Secretary, Social Welfare and Commissioner Disabilities, Government of Uttarakhand) an architect, a high court lawyer and other eminent persons from the civil and public works sector were present along with our dearest friend Divya who added both charm and meaning to the workshop. Divya is physically challenged from birth and refuses to be confined to a wheelchair. A true woman of substance – she has a great job at the ONGC; is fully mobile inside any building (she uses her arms to get around); rides her own scooter around town and very recently has adopted a beautiful baby girl – all on her own.

The discussion succinctly covered all aspects of access – from sensitization, to policy framework and finally strategies for implementation. Subhash and Kavita used the activity based approach and drove home the importance of accessibility auditing by actually making participants sit in a wheel chair and enter the narrow door to the conference hall and attempt to use the toilet. The simulation exercise drove home a very clear message – a disability does not disable a person; the inaccessible environment does.

The policy frame-work covered all the various legal provisions related to disability laws and the strategy component gave us an insight into what we can achieve in Uttarakhand if all present work together as a group. The focus was on forming a Core Group comprising of the participants to enable the NGO sector to join hands with the government in the implementation of policies. The common purpose being to make our state ‘accessible’ using the simple guiding principle of - Every citizen must be able to Reach all places, Enter all places and Use all facilities.

Svayam you did get through to us! A truly heartening message from the government at the end Mrs. Snehlata Agarwal said, “Give us a specific design and we will ensure it!”

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Concessions Mela- different strokes(February 29, 2008)

How difficult can this be? The Awareness and Advocacy team organized a Concessions Mela at Latika Vihar for parents on the 29th of February. The stalls had delicacies of a different kind – a rare combination of very hard-to-get doctors and officials from the government; a willing lawyer; a helpful bank officer and very easy-to-get physician, counselor, volunteers and awareness staff from the Foundation.The parents were served generous portions of information regarding legal matters and financial schemes for people with disabilities. The bitter game of standing in long queues for months playing ‘patience’ to fill in forms was sweetened by swift hands-on assistance at the games stall. The main course consisted of on the spot check-ups and verification by various specialists and finally the dessert was served– a delectable disability certificate.

A very satisfying and scrumptious meal indeed! Thank you chefs.

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Pitara- The Fun Mela (February 17, 2008)
The wait finally over, it was time for the ‘Pitara’ to reveal all! ‘Pitara’ – the magical box of mystique and wonder was here at last, and on the 17th of February 2008, promises were delivered. Latika Vihar was up and buzzing at 9 a.m. the staff worked super-fast; stalls installed, eats and seats organized and the stage was set. Opening time at noon heralded the first lot of sparkling eyes – children tugging at restraining arms of parents who seemed to stroll in too slowly – a skip here, a prance there, laughter and giggles; so many happy children what a treat! The peak hours were definitely 2.30 to 5 pm when 31 bright and chirpy girls from the Hopetown School came in and swamped the compound.

The game stalls were packed with children eagerly trying their luck at winning a prize. I couldn’t help but notice that the games were so creative and the sheer simplicity of the concept was very impressive. There were no video games, no bumper cars, no giant wheels – no electronic or electrical gadgetry at all; an unthinkable setting for our modern jet-set whiz kids to enjoy – but guess what? Not only did the kids enjoy themselves thoroughly, adults joined in too and that really made it special for the kids. Reverse inclusion! Games like digging into a rice filled jar to find all 20 of the hidden chick peas within a minute and eating every last morsel of popcorn doggy-bowl style from a paper plate within 30 seconds were super-hits.

The puppet show and the young Rajasthani lad swirling around the crowd on his steed added colour and vibrancy to the buzz. Homemade cakes, jal jeera, bhel puri, chaat, Pakoras and Chai stalls staffed by volunteers from each of our projects were a big draw. Nothing cost more than 5 rupees a plate and everything was served in style – Nalin, our physiotherapist made a great channa walla and had so much fun that he is thinking of putting up a channa stall outside the EIC in the evenings!

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Fundraising -sharing knowledge and building relationships(Feb 9, 2008)

We played host to a fundraising workshop over the 9th and 10th of February. Jo had just finished attending a 10 weekend long fundraising course run by the Resource Alliance in Delhi (with Tara and I joining her for a few sessions) when Rati from Resource Alliance asked us to organize a two day condensed version here in Doon. The aim was to bring together non-profit organizations from in and around Dehradun to discuss issues that impact their development, effectiveness and ability to generate sufficient funds.

The positive response we got from the NGOs we invited was encouraging and our excitement soared. Invitations were sent out, acceptances received, hotels booked, food ordered and by ‘D’ day we were all set and ready to roll!

Day one – 22 participants trooped in eager to learn what fundraising is all about and figure out how it’s done. Jerry Almeida from ICONGO was our speaker that day. His six-foot-something frame and great sense of humor instantly captured the attention of all the participants. He began by defining the concept and ethics of fundraising and shared his experiences with us while elaborating on some tried and tested fundraising methods. Jerry taught us to think big and even showed us some advertisements and a short movie clip that he and his team at ICONGO have made. Amazing stuff this ‘Fundraising’! Who would have believed at the start of this workshop that one could even sell the concept of God? At the end of the day we learnt that fundraising isn’t only about money, it is much more than that and as Ken McCrae from the Doon Youth Centre  put it; it’s all about building relationships and getting like minded people to work together for a cause they believe in.

Day two –Rati briefly re-capped Jerry’s presentation and gave us a general overview of fundraising with particular emphasis on the fundraising cycle and donor attitudes. She stressed the importance of saying ‘thank you’ and maintaining a constant rapport with the donors. Cultivating long term relationships and safeguarding donor investments are key factors which must be built into any fundraising strategy.

Our 2nd speaker for the day was Amita from Child Rights and You. She is the main strategist and developer of the fundraising program for CRY and we were looking forward to getting some insight and tips on fundraising from her; she certainly gave us plenty and in very useful detail. She focused on fundraising from individuals and the corporate sector - the different approaches, methods, techniques and tools that can be used effectively. Plenty of food for thought for us!

Last but not the least Jo, Tara and I made a presentation on ‘communication skills’ post lunch. After a brief overview by me about the importance of good communication, Jo made a thought provoking presentation on improving presentation skills (it goes without saying that hers was the perfect example of a good presentation!) She also gave us some useful and interesting tips on writing skills and photography, suggesting that we could always use volunteers to do some of these things.
Tara analyzed communication materials like pamphlets, brochures and websites. She focused on paying attention to small details which are often ignored while producing print materials and putting up websites. Something as small as using the wrong font sizes, colour schemes and visuals reduces impact. ‘Know your target audience before printing’, was the message.

Speaking of messages; a penny saved is a penny earned. Check out Ken leaving the workshop to go home to Dalanwala halfway across town – surely one of us got this one right!

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Fun on the Streets!(February 8, 2008)

Life seemed to be normal at Anurag Chowk, Vasant Vihar on Friday the 8th of February. It’s a fairly busy cross-road and people were hurrying around as usual to get to someplace else. Some of the shopkeepers around the corner were either busy with customers or socializing with neighbours. Others looked bored or were simply relaxing – I couldn’t figure out the difference.

The scene changed dramatically at 4 p.m. A bright yellow school bus had driven up and parked near the row of shops. A couple of shopkeepers glanced up. The bus door opened and out streamed our gaily dressed children from Latika Vihar holding banners and wearing paper sashes with messages on them followed by Hema and Rizwan carrying a mike and a ‘Dholak’. All the shopkeepers stopped whatever they were doing and looked really curious. Passers by stopped to ask what was going on. Then the drum began to roll, Hema’s expertise with the Dholak coupled with rhythmic chants of “Natak Dekho, Natak Dekho, Natak Dekho Bhai” by Rizwan and our other Hema, drew a fair sized crowd.

The children happily pranced around and settled down in small circles creatively portraying the activities at Latika Vihar. They looked totally absorbing with little Saumya softly drumming the dholak in the ‘music class’ with amazing confidence, while both the Hemas play-acted a short skit about the importance of play encouraging people to send their kids to Latika Vihar. All this time our staff was busy distributing flyers.

The grand finale was a song sung by the children and then they hopped swiftly back into the bus and were gone. The ‘Nukkad Natak’ had ended – the message had gone out.

Wonderful people, wonderful ways(January 24, 2008)

Neerja and Priti from Lady Irwin College, Delhi visited us along with 10 young aspiring graduates to be. They were here for two days and we put the girls up in the CVT while the teachers stayed with Jo. Besides being a senior staff person and adviser to Lady Irwin, Neerja is also an adviser to our Karuna Vihar Early Intervention Centre. The girls are pursuing Master's degrees in  child development. Their trip to Karuna Vihar School, Early Intervention Centre and Centre for Vocational Training was essentially an enhancement of their theoretical knowledge. While it was an educational trip for the students, we also wanted to take advantage of Neerja and Preeti being here and so we requested them to conduct a workshop for our teaching staff. It was amazing how at such short notice, they put together a great workshop on ‘attitudes’.

That afternoon, our staff got together at the Centre for Vocational Training. The Lady Irwin students performed a few skits portraying attitudes of people towards disability. In one, they showed a visually impaired child in his school bus being helped by the conductor and the driver but the teachers behaved in a restless manner commenting “ because of them, others should not be delayed”. After the skit, they asked us as to identify the problems and a lively discussion followed. Similarly, they enacted the attitude of teachers, parents and relatives of people with difficulties in various situations. We couldn’t help but applaud the finesse with which the girls played their parts and really gained a lot from Neeja and Priti’s inputs.

The best part was that their performance was so motivating that our teachers felt that they just had to do something for the guests – so they did! Natural talent sprang forth and our teachers prepared a brilliant short play emulating the attitude of some parents of children with difficulties. Manju Subedi’s performance as a kid is worth mentioning. The play was about how parents often underestimate their children because of their difficulties and end up not sending them to school. However, once they go to a special school and see their child being dealt with using simple techniques, they get persuaded and encouraged to send the child to school.

There are many ways to end a workshop; some end with high tea or dinner and others simply end - but have you ever attended workshop which ended with a Bhangra? The music and dancing went on forever; till we took pity on our neighbours! (For all those who think that this was the end of the show, wait till you see what we did on Republic Day.)
The best compliment ever came from some of the lovely young ladies who said that they would like to work with us after they graduate. We are waiting!

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Christmas at Latika Vihar(December 20, 2007)

December is always a slow month at Latika Vihar. Exams, the cold and the very short days mean fewer kids at the centre. We were averaging only 25 when we started making plans for this year’s Christmas program.

But rumors of Santa’s arrival have a way of spreading throughout the neighborhood and children we have never met before always mysteriously turn up for the Christmas party.

So instead of 25, we planned for fifty.

Fifty presents, all wrapped up in festive colored papers, were packed in Santa’s big sack. Fifty plates of food were prepared – cakes, namkeen, toffees. There were fifty cups of juice and 100 cups of tea for all the parents and staff.

And wouldn’t you know it? Instead of fifty, there were 100 children, all lined up, eyes wide and wondering, amazed at the sight of the fat man in a red suit, walking through the crowd ringing a bell and handing out presents.

Luckily, Santa’s elves did some fancy footwork and managed to divide the fifty gifts into 100 and to stretch the food so that no one left disappointed.
Abundance. There is always enough to go around as long as everyone is willing to share. And what were we sharing? The Joy of Christmas is truly about making children happy. It takes so little. Next year, try and make it to Latika Vihar for the Christmas program. It’s a wonderful experience that makes you want to change the world. And next year, we’ll plan for 150!

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Christmas at St Joseph's Academy (December 15, 2007)

Every year, St Joseph’s celebrates Christmas by inviting all of the area schools to participate in a Festival of Carols – and for five years, Karuna Vihar has been an active participant. Our problem, however, has always been the choir bit. All the other schools have proper choirs which practice for weeks in preparation, but our kids prefer to do their own thing. Some years we’ve been lucky enough to have volunteers who could sing and one year the teachers came up with a nice Hindi song, but this year we were in a quandary.

St Joseph’s saved the day.

We went to Kitsy Ince, SJA’s wonderful music teacher, and asked if the choir could sing the song which our kids would act out. She was more than willing and the result was superb.

The song we chose was The Friendly Beasts, because we loved its inclusive message – honoring each one’s contribution, no matter how big or how small.The SJA choir outdid itself, the KV children, as friendly beasts, were adorable and the crowd, predictably, loved it.

After the performance, Jo Chopra spoke about the wonderful supportive environment St Joseph’s has provided Karuna Vihar for its Early Intervention Centre on the campus. As a small token of thanks, and in celebration of our five years at St Joseph’s, we presented calendars to all of the teachers and support staff of the school.

The rest of the evening was delightful – an amazing assortment of songs and plays presented by the children of area Dehradun schools. The final set – a medley of well-known carols by the entire Combined Choirs – was both moving and inspiring.Merry Christmas!

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We Love A Parade!(December 3rd, 2007)

The Foundation celebrated World Disability Day on December 3rd with a parade through Vasant Vihar. In a wonderful display of energy and enthusiasm, nearly 300 children, parents, teachers and staff marched through the streets, carrying balloons, streamers and colorful banners proclaiming the three themes of the Foundation’s advocacy efforts: Access, Transport and Jobs.

The day began with a small and vibrant flag off at Latika Vihar where we all gathered along with Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand Surjit K Das, Principal Secretary Mrs Vibha Puri, the president of the Foundation, Dr B K Joshi and many friends and well-wishers. After brief remarks and some very amusing exchanges with the children (“What day is it today?” they were asked. “Chutti!” one shouted back. “Somwar!” another volunteered. “Monday,” said a third. Clearly, World Disability Day isn’t about them!), the Chief Secretary officially launched the 2008 Karuna Vihar calendar.

Then he flagged off the march and the fun began. Imagine 300 people, all dressed in colorful clothes and carrying beautiful banners. Imagine the leaders of the procession are young children in wheelchairs and strollers. Imagine their teachers on either side of the road, handing out leaflets printed on neon green and fluorescent orange paper. Imagine a whole troop of volunteers from the People’s Science Institute, holding a long rope, decorated, of course!, alongside the march, to keep the children from wandering into traffic. And then imagine the three Karuna Vihar vans and the one big yellow bus – all decorated with streamers and balloons – following slowly behind the parade, for added color and fun and to give rides to anyone unable to walk.

What a day! We thought the little ones wouldn’t be able to walk too far, but midway down the road, when we realized that their excitement would probably carry them several miles further than we had imagined, we changed the route to a longer one – though even that was too short for their taste.

The speed with which we were able to pull this event off gave us confidence in our organizing abilities. We are now seriously considering a much larger event for December 3rd, 2008.

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Trash Detail (September 20, 2007)

We all know that cars cause pollution, but did you know they can inspire environmental consciousness too?

That’s what happened here at the Foundation.

We recently rented a new building for our Resource Centre for People with Special Needs. It’s in a residential neighborhood on a narrow lane. Because so many of us who work here come in cars, parking quickly became a major problem, and our neighbors began to get annoyed with us.
Our first solution was to try and park in front of one of our other buildings and walk to the office. This helped, but didn’t solve the issue. We have a Core Group meeting every Tuesday, for example. Most of us come to it from our own centres and typically screech in just at the last moment – so parking somewhere else would just make us later. And visitors don’t know to do that anyway.

We needed a better plan.

The president of the neighborhood association made a suggestion which seemed perfect: There is a vacant lot adjacent to our office. Why not clean it up, he said, and use it as a parking lot, at least until its owner decides to build on it?So we hired a couple of guys to clear the overgrowth. They cut down the weeds and the bushes and left us with a . . . no! Not a nice clear lot! Underneath all that greenery was a hideous collection of garbage.

It seemed too much to ask the guys to clean that mess up for us, so we decided to do it ourselves. Donning plastic gloves and armed with rakes and dustbins, we marched bravely across the street and set to. One hour later, we had filled both bins of the garbage man’s truck with plastic, broken glass, old bottles, newspapers and other muck. Yuck!But the lot was clear. Now we need to level it and then figure out a way to stop people from going right back to throwing their garbage there again. Because there’s nothing like a nice clean plot to toss trash on!

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Angie's Solutions (August 17, 2007)

“Look straight at your computer screens and say I’m the boss! So you’d better do what you are told, I know I’m not perfect and I may make mistakes too – but I still am the boss!” This is how Angela Lee our very young and dynamic volunteer from Boston began the in-house training workshop on Computer Applications. About twenty pairs of eyes, ranging from very senior to very junior, looked at her smiling benignly but mostly, uncomprehendingly. “Go on – let’s hear you talk to your computers now! – repeat after me…” asserted Angie Lee – and so we did!

During her seven weeks with us, Angie had been to all the projects and centers and her sharp eyes had observed that many of us were taking too long to do simple things (being clumsy!) on the computer. We were laboriously using programs not designed for what we wanted them to do (we all use MS Word for everything - from graphics to tables to charts to labels: NO!!!).  We were also all in awe of our machines, as if they had minds and personalities of their own. So she offered to do us a workshop  to teach us behaviour management for comuputers , help us to use the right program for the work at hand (no lists in Word!) teach us shortcuts, tips and tricks and force us to accept that we are the ones who run the machine, not the other way around.

Having thus empowered us she began a very interesting and activity based session on the use of MS Word. With the projector hooked up to her laptop she demonstrated the use of certain time saving short cuts and taught us some very useful tricks. We were then asked to go back to our designated computers in the other rooms and practice what we had learned. The entire workshop was conducted as a series of short modules followed by practical sessions on the computers. Hand outs were given to all participants to reinforce and guide them through the steps. There were printed modules on MS Excel too, which unfortunately could not be demonstrated because we ran out of time.

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Training Centre Officially Launched! (July 26, 2007)

Having a training centre of our own has long been a dream for the Latika Roy Foundation family. But to actually see the centre come alive and feel the pulse of the first batch of trainees was a feast for our eyes and soul…

Our first course, which began in August, is for Classroom Assistants. We were overwhelmed with applications from eager, would-be assistant teachers and a bit at a loss since our class size was limited to 20. In order to get to know them before deciding whom to select, we held our first official program - an orientation for all the applicants which was held on 26th July at the sparkling, newly painted and furnished training centre (the former LRMF office).

The staff were feeling like jittery teenagers, moments before their first dates! The applicants (who were also probably quite nervous too!) were greeted with a warm welcome speech and we all introduced ourselves. Mrs. Manju Singhania, director of the training centre, addressed the audience and gave a multi-media presentation on the Latika Roy Foundation, its various projects, the mission of inclusion and the important role of a teacher assistant in a mainstream classroom in making inclusion a reality. The audience was also briefed about the duration of the course, the topics to be covered and the methods and strategies to be employed.

After the briefing, we asked those attending why they wanted to do the course. Answers ranged from the commonsensical to the hilarious! For instance, one lady felt that she would learn self-grooming and etiquette skills and another was really concerned if she needed to follow a dress code once the program commenced!

However, the majority had come with sincere expectations that the course would give them insight into the field of disability and would enable them in the future to assist in the care and education of children with disabilities. There were some in the group who asked if we could guarantee that they would get jobs after completing the course and this gave us the chance to explain that getting a job depends on individual aptitude and commitment – no degree and no diploma can ever guarantee anything. We did assure them, however, that the training they would receive could equip them to be excellent assistant teachers. It was up to them to make sure that it happened!

After the orientation, our office coordinator, Nileshwari was swamped by people from the audience with individual personal problems and issues since they took Manju Singhania’s words for introducing her (“This is Nileshwari, the one at the training centre to whom we all run to with our problems”) seriously and literally!

A second orientation was held on 30th July, 2007, this time conducted by Sreedevi Nair. The short-list was complete on 31st July after personal interviews with each of the applicants.

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Look Ma - New Shoes!

In our continuing effort to provide good and efficient services to our children, we invited a highly experienced orthotist from Delhi to come to Karuna Vihar. Mr Vijay Gulati, a Prosthetic Orthotic Engineer who has been associated with the Spastic Society of Northern India for the last 25 years, is both skilled and creative in the way he makes aids and orthotics for children and adults with disabilities. His friendly and calm demeanour put parents and kids right at ease and the interesting task of finding the perfect fit began.

Mr Gulati first visited our organization in April. That day, he assessed nearly 20 children with inputs from our team of physician and therapists who advised him of the functional difficulties each child faced and described our plan for their mobility or hand function.

He then devised appropriate orthotic aids for the children and returned in July – like Santa Claus - with a bag full of the finished products. Almost all the appliances were a perfect fit and the children were thrilled with their “new shoes!” The best part is that the aids are light-weight and comfortable and they look good, too!

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Parents Workshop at EIC (July 20, 2007)

Dr. Reena Ahuja, a gynecologist from Jan Kalyan Hospital, Dehradun, held an interactive workshop with Early Intervention Centre parents on July 20, 2007. 11 mothers and 2 fathers along with the entire EIC staff participated in the session.
Pregnancy, child-birth and post-natal care were all discussed in detail. Dr. Ahuja stressed the importance of a healthy, balanced diet and regular check-ups during pregnancy. She also spoke at length about the importance of maintaining good health practices beyond the child-bearing years. The physical and the emotional changes experienced during menopause were also explained and discussed.
The mothers attending had many specific questions about their own health issues and were particularly curious about the conditions and circumstances which may have contributed to their child’s disability. Many also had apprehensions about planning for another baby. Dr. Ahuja answered each question at length and also recommended tests for some of the mothers before they considered another pregnancy.
Dr Ahuja’s warmth and concern for each one of the parents attending was appreciated by all.

Latika Vihar Picnic (July 15, 2007)
Unforgettable fun, food and magic on Kalhan Farm

“The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round…” This popular children’s tune was especially significant for the children enrolled in the Latika Vihar after school program on Sunday, 15 July 2007. Approximately 100 boys and girls boarded a yellow school bus and sat with anticipation as they headed for a special destination – Kalhan Farm! Jo Chopra, answering affirmatively to the children’s chants of “PICNIC! PICNIC! PICNIC!” at an after school assembly earlier in the week, had effectively secured a day of fun for these children, thanks to the kindness and generosity of the farm’s owners, doctors Indu and Jitender. Kalhan Farm is situated on Haridwar Road, near Lacchiwala.

As the bus pulled into the lushly green and relatively undisturbed oasis, children with beaming smiles could be seen from the windows. Everyone felt the excitement when the driver pulled to a stop and the kids flooded off the bus. Those who had been on this same field trip last year had obviously spread the stories of fun to the other children.

The expectations of a day of carefree joy were fulfilled. Two pools, one shallow and the other five-feet deep, provided a safe environment and a welcome treat for both the kids and the accompanying chaperones. The luxury of swimming in clean well water, pumped through a pipe that fed both pools, was refreshing in the summer humidity. Upon arrival, the girls quickly shed their outer layers in favor of swimming clothes. Most then jumped into the shallow end and splish-splashed with their friends. A few children with more advanced water skills were eased into the deeper pool where they practiced the swim kicking technique as they clung bravely to the sides of the pool. Playful squirts of water were exchanged all around.

The girls must’ve felt that negligible amounts of time had passed before they were ushered out and into the blossoming grassy area to play. They did not realize they had easily spent 20 minutes in the water! Most reluctantly left the pool, as it was time for the boys to take their turn. It seemed that just as quickly as the girls left, an overflow of boys swarmed the pools and jumped exuberantly like water bugs. They quickly found the water noodles, long oblong-shaped foam devices used for floating, and mounted them, two or three small boys on one. Others donned water wings in preparation for half submersion of their bodies. As mostly all of the boys found themselves in the shallow pool, the abundant water gushed beyond the pool’s boundaries. Even the surrounding grass and fertile land benefited from this day of amusement.

This year, the children got an extra treat: A Magic Show! As the children swam, two performers of wizardry busily prepared for their show. Eager to get started, the boys vacated the pool, clutched their towels and everyone congregated under the shaded building on the farm. Kids ranging from ages 2 to 14 sat quietly and watched with wonder as Mr. Sabharwal and his assistant Surbhi, set up their mystical wares. Although lunch was yet to come, kids and adults alike were so spellbound by all sorts of magic tricks that everyone forgot about the approaching feelings of hunger. As promised, Surbhi and Mr. Sabharwal delivered a great show. Kernels of corn were mysteriously turned into edible popcorn in an enigmatic black bag, and much to everyone’s delight, toffees appeared out of a hat after a waving of the hand and delightful chants of “Gilli gilli! Gilli gilli!” Entertaining and delicious – what a combo! In addition, rings were made to disappear and magically reappear in another location and separate orange, white and green swatches of cloth were reconstituted to create the flag of India in practically no time at all!

After such great entertainment, lunch consisting of chowmein, sandwiches, cake and nimbu pani followed. All the kids patiently queued and awaited generous portions of delicious food. Sitting circularly in small groups, faint sounds of tittering and a low hum of chatter could be heard as the children were briefly occupied by the food in front of them. After lunch, all were eager to splash, laugh and jump up and down in the pools again. This time, armed with more confidence, all the kids excitedly re-entered the watery refuge. Not even the most timid child felt deterred by overcast skies and a slight drizzle. Much to everyone’s satisfaction, boisterous shouting and innocent smiles radiated from Latika Vihar kids. All knew the day had to end eventually but we feel sustained by the relaxed amusement and are looking forward to another special field trip next year!

Latika Roy Foundation Help Desk Inaugurated (May 29,2007)
Dr. H.S. Bhatt, the Chief Medical Superintendent of the Doon Hospital formally inaugurated the ‘Help Desk’ on May 29, 2007. The Administrative Officer (Dr.) Col. Ramamurthy, the matron and other hospital staff members also graced the occasion, which was organized by the Foundation’s Awareness Team.

The Help Desk is an initiative of the Foundation and is the only one of its kind in Dehradun. Its primary function is to provide support and special information on disability as well as general information to OPD patients. Working from a rights-based perspective, the desk aims to help people with disability access the many services the government provides and to empower them to become agents for change at both personal and community levels.

The Help Desk has been operating on a weekly basis since June 2006 but now, starting June 6, 2007 it will function six days a week; Monday to Saturday (9 AM to 1 PM) and will be operated by two permanent staff members along with a graduate of the Center for Vocational Training.

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Staff Orientation Program (May 17th 2007)
An orientation program for new staff was conducted on May 17, 2007. Manju Singhania (Director Training and Development) and Shipra Pande (Awareness Coordinator) conducted this program at Latika Vihar - our Centre for Creativity and Fun. The venue was aptly chosen and set the theme for the event. The participants savored their first taste of activity-based learning through a simple yet creatively designed and unique introduction to the raison de etre of the LRF; the concept; the history; the values and the ethos of the foundation.

To set the ball rolling the participants were paired up using a random chit system. Everyone had to spend a few minutes getting to know their partners and then each had to introduce the other. It was interesting to experience how much one can learn about a stranger if one concentrates for just a few minutes!

Personal introductions over, it was time to introduce the Foundation. Shipra took everyone on a journey back in time. She began with the story of Moy Moy and walked us through the various stages of growth of the Foundation, making  special mention about special people (past and present) like Latika Roy, Dr.Linda Upadhyaya and her husband Dr. Prashant, Paula Hughes, Kamini Sabharwal, Yasmine Billimoria, Vina and Saroj Srivastava and many more whose contributions and continued support have been invaluable to the organization. Shipra also familiarized the staff with the structure and legalities of the organization, particularly the Executive Committee, the Core Group, the NGO status of the Foundation and how the AGM functions.

Next on the agenda was an interactive verbal tour of the various projects of the Foundation by Manju. She conducted this tour using an informal question-answer approach, drawing enthusiastic responses from the participants. She very deftly and subtly added-to, refined and packaged the inputs in a manner which stimulated collective grey-matter and is hard for even the dodgiest memory-cells to ignore!

Phase three of the program was definitely the most exciting. The participants were divided randomly into 5 groups and each group was given a particular situation to discuss and enact. The role-play situations were related to the field of disability and the theme was centered on our individual projects. The interesting thing about these little skits was that each episode was a portrayal of what we don’t want people to learn! The observers had to point-out what was wrong in terms of behavior, conduct and values. There were different voices and different perceptions which were noted on the white board and then summed-up by Manju and Shipra under two broad categories- that which is never done in the organization and that which is the correct way to do things in the organization. The aim was to sensitize new staff about inclusion, disability and the values of the Foundation and what better way to achieve it than through activity-based learning? Tea, snacks and another fun-game later the program ended with feed-back forms being filled-in by the newly initiated and enlightened staff!

Welcome to the Foundation!

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Paula Hughes, one of the original Gang of Five who started Karuna Vihar, is retiring and returning to England after twelve years with the Foundation. Paula came to us in 1995 as a VSO volunteer, meaning to stay for two years. Those two years came and went and Paula stayed on, first as principal of the school and later as coordinator for training.

Her energy and imagination are legendary and the training she provided is all the more impressive because she embodies the very qualities she seeks to develop in others.

Her departure is a painful wrench for each one of us for she has touched all of our lives in profound and lasting ways. We recognize her need to be with her family in the UK, but it doesn’t make letting go any easier.

At Paula’s retirement party, Jo said in her speech:

"I am about to embark on yet another fund-raising trip, this time to raise money for our building construction. In preparation, we have designed a brochure and on the last page, there is something called “Naming Opportunities”. For a particularly large donation, a person can have a room named after him, or a building, or even the entire center. As I was thinking about Paula’s contributions to our organization over the past dozen years, I asked myself: what is money? It’s only one small part of what goes into building an institution, one small part of creating a dream here on earth.

Paula’s contributions to the Latika Roy Foundation cannot be quantified, but they can be honored and recognized for what they are: her legacy to the world. I propose, with your approval, that we call our training centre the Paula Hughes Center for Rehabilitation Training and that we call her back from England for the inauguration ceremony.”