|
1. The
Organization:
The National
Association for the Blind, Kerala State Branch is a non-
profit making organization working for the comprehensive
rehabilitation of the blind persons and the disabled
persons in the State of Kerala, India. The major
activities of NAB includes Community Based
Rehabilitation, Integrated Education of disabled
children, Prevention of Blindness and Disability, Low
Vision Centre, Deafblind project and Children with
Multiple Disabilities, etc. We are working steadily to
empower and to encourage the disabled persons to be
self- reliant and to enrich in the field of Human
Resource Development.
Registrations
The NAB Kerala Branch is registered under the
Travancore Cochin Literary Science and Charitable
Societies Act 1955 with registration number 28/1972
dated 30.03.1972.
Registered with State Government of Kerala under PWD Act vide no. 0100.
Registered with National Trust vide No. 1105/MD/2001
FCRA No. 052910249
Details of activities of NAB Kerala State Branch
The latest Annual
Report of the Organsiation is enclosed which highlights
all the activities of NAB Kerala. Other newsletters are
enclosed as annexure.
2. The Context:
The marco factors,
a general situational overview.
The area selected for implementation of this
project is the rural& urban parts of the Trivandrum
District. The Proposed project is for the rehabilitation
of the Children with Deafblindness & Multiple
Disabilities. At present there is no institution
carrying out rehabilitation for the deafblind/MD
children in the District or State. The only
rehabilitation is the home-based rehabilitation
programme by NAB Kerala.
The rural areas of
Trivandrum
are so remote that the chances of rehabilitation of the
disabled children are grim. Though the literacy rate is
high the disabled rehabilitation is still in it’s
infancy. People have no idea on what kind of
intervention can be given to such group of children.
Even now the deafblind/MD children are put in either
school for the deaf, blind or MR and later terminated
from there, due to their dual/multi
sensory loss.
Because of the ignorance even the professionals and the
clinicians are recommending these children to schools
for the mentally retarded. But the irony is these
children are not mentally retarded but need certain
training in communication skills using other residual
skills.
The income levels of the families of most of
these children are average and most people are dependent
on traditional, masonry or coolie work. Due to the time
wasted in shuttling their children to various
institutions thereby losing their time, these parents
are looking out for organizations which would provide
all services needed for their children under one roof.
3. The Background: the proposal related situation, giving the rationale
for the proposed intervention/ activity.
The NAB
Kerala branch, has
the experience of initiating and successfully running
home based or community based rehabilitation projects in
different districts of the State, through it’s
networking with Government, eye hospitals and agencies
working for other disabilities, health departments and
local agencies.
We are the only
organisation in the whole State of
Kerala
providing services to Deafblind children with the
support of Sense International
India
since 1999-2005. Over
the last eight years our programme has grown in
strength, both in terms of number of children receiving
services and the capacity of our organisation to provide
technical services to the children.
In these years of services some of the
children have shown significant change and development
functionally leading to greater independence. A child
with deaf blindness is a child who has a combination of
both visual and Hearing, which causes severe
communication and other development and learning needs.
Similarly a child with multiple disabilities is a child
who has a combination of more than one disability, which
causes severe communication and other development and
learning needs The needs and abilities of each of these
children are different. These children are educationally
isolated because impairments of sight and hearing or
physical require thoughtful and unique educational
approaches in order to ensure that they have the
opportunity to reach their full potential.
With our intervention we have
successfully integrated 02 deaf blind & 2 MD children
into normal schools thereby enabling them to get
educated along with other normal children. We have also
trained some of the mothers as caregivers and they in
turn have helped us in identifying more number of such
deafblind/Multiple disabled children.
Sense International India, had supported us from 1999 to
2005 but stopped the support due to their
expansion to
other areas of need in the country. They are
supporting our
program only in the technical aspect from 2006 onwards.
(To
know more about our association with Sense International
India
and the success of our project, you may contact Mr.
Akhil Paul, Director Sense International
India
at
akhil@senseintindia.org)
The
Sense International India is fighting at Central Level
to consider deafblindess/MD as a separate category and
unique disability by conducting various expert meetings
involving State Commissioners for Disabilities.
NAB is also working at State Level to sensitise
the Government to include deafblindess as a separate
category of Disability. The UN convention also has
recognised Deafblindness/MD
as a unique disability and campaigning for global
education for all.
Hence we cannot bring a stop to the rehabilitation
of these needy children as well as the other newly
identified children who have not had any kind of
intervention, until the Government makes a decision.
The intervention needs to be continuous and we will have
to continue the support for at least another two more
years before a full-fledged support is received from the
Government.
Presently we
have identified and are providing services to a total of
20 children who need services .
Since the needs of each of these
children are
different and complex in nature,
the number of children has to be limited to 20.
More over they also need one to one teaching.
4. Objectives
To continue offering services to
the 20 children belonging to economically poor category
in their day to day needs such as eating, toileting and
bathing, And also to focus in developing the
communication skills of these children.
5. Proposed Activity:
Ø
To
continue to develop the Child’s present level of
functioning in cognitive, speech and language,
psychological, motor and self help skills.
Ø
To
provide stimulation in the necessary areas and to
develop the various functional skills of the child and
make him/her independent to whatever capacity he can be.
Ø
To
train the mother as caregiver by providing her with
necessary skill training to be practiced on the child in
day-to-day activities.
Ø
To
develop a cadre of trained educators to identify and
develop functional curriculum skills of the children
with Deaf Blindness in the State of Kerala.
Ø
Protecting the rights of these children and their
parents by ensuring due process, and parental
involvement in educational planning.
Ø
The
overall goal of intervention is to eliminate or at least
reduce the obstacles that might keep these children from
full and active participation in school and society
Ø
Networking with other agencies working for deaf and
blind persons in the state to train their staff in
dealing with such kind of children.
Ø
To
include the programme in the State Govt. support
schemes.
6. What has been done till now?
The
initial infrastructure and services has already been
established with in the geographical region. A fair
degree of community sensitisation has been possible and
there is greater acceptance of the children and their
families by the community.
The proposed project will continue to provide
support to 20 children in the program .The services to
these children will be provided both at their homes and
our centre with the help of trained educators. The
educators would provide need-based training to these
children in
his/her day to day activities along with the help and
support of the parents and community. The educators will
also prepare the child to integrate into mainstream of
the society, wherever possible depending on the severity
of disability in the children.
As of now the Government is not
providing any support for these children. Efforts are
being made by NAB to sensitize Government and Medical
personnel to consider these children uniquely. NAB is
also networking with the SSA in providing need-based
interventions for these children. For this NAB has
agreed to provide training to the SSA educators in
identifying these dual sensory impaired children.
We will continue
to support each child until he reaches some kind of
independency and the mother becomes a full- fledged
caregiver.
5. Role of the Organization
The NAB will be providing services
at the doorstep as well as through our centre for these
children with the help of educators who will regularly
monitor the progress of the child through various need
based skill development services. Various resource
persons and experts of the Sense International India
office and abroad have very well trained the educators.
These educators have also attended a number of seminars
and trainings and are independently capable of handling
these children in any situation. They will also be
constantly assisted by the Project in Charge who will
also monitor the programmes at a holistic level. Though
Sense International India has stopped the funds, they
continue the relations in terms of manpower development,
evaluation, expert visits by their officials, etc.
The NAB has a
trained resource person in Low Vision rehabilitation and
a trained optometrist who helps in the functional
assessment of these children. This resource person is
also a mentor to Sense International India for mentoring
its Deafblind projects, hence the needs of the children
will be taken care by experts in this field.
Services offered in our Centre
The focus of the center will not only
be on the child but also the parents. The centre-based
training will not be provided in isolation, as is
usually done.
But in our project, the training is based on
expressed needs of the parents. Accordingly the
programme for any child will be planned in partnership
with the parents. The parents will observe and many
times work hand in hand with the educators.
In the process, the educators and other professionals
hand over the skills to the parents. Ultimately the
child is a part of the family and is looked after by the
parents. And in the true sense, the parents become the
equal partners in respect of imparting training to the
child. The centre will also provide
therapeutic and
clinical intervention., with the help of the services of
Ophthalmologist, Psychiatrist, Physiotherapist and
Speech Therapist.
7.
Expected outcome(s)
·
Each child in the project will be regularly reviewed to
ensure that the she/he is receiving appropriate care and
education.
·
Training will be given to the mothers and other family
members to communicate with these children as well as
advice on their care.
·
To
create awareness generation amongst parents of children
with disabilities, school teachers and professionals
working in the field.
·
Integration of children wherever possible into
mainstream education or into special schools
·
Forming a family network or support group among the
parents for over all well being of their child.
·
Advocacy and lobbying with the government, with Ministry
of education, health, social welfare etc.. in issuing
proper certification for such children, through
workshops and sensitization program.
·
The
health authorities are also being approached in making
mandatory rubella vaccination compulsory for girl child
which is one of the major causes of Deafbblindness/MD in
children.
8. Process/ Strategy
The Proposed
Project is a continuation of the work which we are
already doing hence the identification of the children
and the Educators is not required. The Educators will
help the children to diagnose properly with the help of
a clinician and also help the child and the parents to
obtain necessary services in Counselling, various
therapies, rehabilitation etc. They will visit the
respective houses of the children and help the child in
rehabilitation and also help the mother in becoming a
caregiver. The programme also provides opportunities for
the child and family to attend various training
programmes in and out of the State, which will enhance
their capacity to render adequate services. The Project
offers the services available at the Centre in
Trivandrum.
9. Location of the project
The project will continue to give
support in the same rural areas of Trivandrum district. Many
service institutions that provide interventions for
children in terms of behavior management, speech therapy
and other therapeutic interventions like NISH, ICCONS , Child Care centre etc..are all located in
the heart of the city. Hence if we cater to the needs of
children in and around the Trivandrum city it will be
easier for us to do referrals to the parents to these
institutions for any specialized need based
interventions, other than what we propose to do.
10. Budget
The estimated cost of the project
for two years amounts to Rs.5, 75,000/-
with detailed break-up is given below.
|
Sl.No
|
Particulars
|
2008-09
|
2009-10
|
|
Per Month
(Rs)
|
Year wise Amount (Rs)
|
Per Month
(Rs)
|
Year wise Amount (Rs)
|
|
1
|
Salary
a)
Educator
b)
Assistant Educator
|
5250
4000
|
63,000
48,000
|
5,500
4,250
|
66,000
51,000
|
|
2.
|
Travelling Allowance
a)
Educator
b)
Assistant Educator
|
750
750
|
9,000
9,000
|
850
850
|
10,200
10.200
|
|
3.
|
Clinical and Functional Assessment
|
|
10,000
|
|
10,000
|
|
4.
|
Aids
and appliances
|
|
15,000
|
|
15,000
|
|
5.
|
Family Meetings
|
|
10,000
|
|
10,000
|
|
6.
|
Medical Treatment
|
|
5,000
|
|
5,000
|
|
7.
|
Honorarium to Therapist( Speech & Physio)@Rs.300
per visit each in a month
|
2,400
|
28,800
|
2,400
|
28,800
|
|
8.
|
Capacity building of Educators & Parents
(Training/workshops/Seminars etc.
|
|
20,000
|
|
20,000
|
|
9.
|
Picnic to Children and Families
|
|
15,000
|
|
15,000
|
|
10
|
Educational Toys for developing functional
skills of the Children
|
|
10,000
|
|
10,000
|
|
11
|
Honorarium to the Project
in Charge
|
2,000
|
24,000
|
2,000
|
24,000
|
|
12
|
IEC Materials
|
|
1,500
|
|
1,500
|
|
13
|
Administration, Field visits for Honorary Staff,
etc.
|
|
15,000
|
|
15,000
|
|
|
Total
|
|
Rs. 2,83,300
|
|
Rs.2,91,700
|
Grand Total for two years: Rs. 5,75,000/-
Note:-
Care & Share is sponsoring only 20% (Rs. 1,20,000) of
the total project expenses. NAB Kerala is still looking
for a sponsor for the rest of the expenses. If you are
interested, please contact Brahada Shanker
(nabkeral@vsnl.com) or contact Care & Share
(contact@careandshare.com).
11. Rationale of the Budget
NAB’s Contribution
·
The
services of the experts working with NAB will be
utilized for this project.
·
Availing of assistive devices from Government bodies
like DDRC and Local Panchayats etc
·
Monitoring of the Project at all levels.
·
Availing various concessions, which the children and the
families are eligible for.
·
Celebrating birthdays of these children, which in turn
will be a motivating factor for other family members
towards the welfare of the children.
·
Celebrating religious festivals with the active
involvement of families of these children.
·
Conducting Family development meeting
·
Promoting family members to attend various
meetings/workshops across the country which will be
useful for their children.
·
Offering the Services of the Centre at Trivandrum
·
Include this topic also in all the awareness and
Sensitisation programmes of NAB.
12.
Sustainability of the Project
Services
provided during the past few years has shown tremendous
development in the children leading to greater
independence.
Our indicators of success are:
Anu Issac a child with total
Blindness and Mental retardation
is well integrated into her family . We have
supported her with a goat and kid for their socio
economic rehabilitation. We have also supported her
family in constructing a house with the help of on of
our donor.
·
Razik
who is 8 years old has learnt to sit, walk, eat
by self, play with other children in the
neighbourhood
·
Anziya & Amina 6 – 3
years
deafblind sisters
with sever communication and learning problems
can sit without support and is learning to eat by
herself and learning to communicate through gestures.
·
Abu, Ummu , Smitha
and Devika deafblind and MD children have been
integrated into normal school. The educators visit their
schools once in a week and the children visit the NAB
centre once in a week.
·
Six of our children
Adityan, Jithin, Akhil, Jeetu, Akash, Diljith have been
integrated into a special school from this year onwards.
·
The expertise and
knowledge of the educators have been disseminated among
the various programs of NAB, implemented in other
districts of our State
·
The Educators have
also been involved in equally sensitizing the resource
teachers of IED and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and other
NGO’s on Multiple disabilities.
·
Abu and Ummu the two
deafblind children, with a loss of 90 %vision and
profound deafness participated in the Helen Keller
Awards 2004 & 2006 at
Scotland and won accolades for the same.
All
these and many other children have demonstrated success
of this approach through their outstanding performance,
enhancement of skills, and improvement in quality of
life. We are confident that if
such an innovative approach, through this program
is adopted,
many more children can be brought in the
mainstream of social life – as a matter of their right.
Through this project our strategy is to develop our
Centre as “Centre of Excellence” by offering services to
Multi Sensory Impaired children and other categories of
disability in the whole State of
Kerala
through rehabilitation services and manpower development
13. Relevant annexure
sent by post.
Annexures giving details of
trustees—names, qualifications and address, the main
executive functionaries, managing committee, etc.
(Attached as Annexure – I )
Latest Annual report and audited
account with the auditors report (Attached as Annexure –
II )
Copy of the registration
certificate of the organization and other relevant
registrations/ exemptions like FCRA, 80G etc.(Attached
as Annexure- III)
|
