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.”