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AARTH-‐ASTHA Site Visit Report
Site Address : AARTH-‐ASTHA, Basti Bikas Kendra, Bal Mukund Khand, Giri Nagar, Kalkaji, New Delhi -‐ 110019
Site Visited by : Pranab Kumar
Date of Visit : 20th Feb 2014
Prepared by : Pranab Kumar (Friend of Asha volunteer, Padmanava Sen, contact at
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The AARTH-‐ASTHA works towards the social inclusion of person with disability. It runs resource centre at Girinagar, outreach programs in Lalkuan and Govindpuri area, and a nationwide disability helpline -‐ Abiline.
During my short visit, the AARTH-‐ASTHA NGO appeared as systematic and well-‐organized. The coordinator and staff were cordial, forthcoming and passionate about their work. The coordinator, Ms. Jayashree Ganapati, gave an impression of a manager with everything under control. The special educator seemed well trained and well received by the children. The disability helpline -‐ Abiline -‐ makes this organization national in scope and reach. The organization is also trying to recruit from within the disability group, which is another encouraging trend in the AARTH-‐ASTHA organization.
However, there are some concerns where, in my opinion, the organization should channelize some resources and address them properly. The vicinity of organization appeared disengaged and neutral to the organization's functioning and existence. Special care should be taken to sensitize the surrounding population towards the disabled. This would go a long way in keeping the faith of the disabled and their families in the institution. Another concern was that the classroom appeared very small for the intended class-‐size of 30. It requires special attention and innovative approach towards teaching those children. Even 10 students in that room with a mother and two siblings appeared crowded, and accommodating anymore in that small room would render the process inefficient.
Overall, the visit was heart-‐warming and a learning experience for me. AARTH-‐ASTHA came out as a serious effort towards the cause. In my opinion, Asha for Education should continue its engagement with the organization and help establish it as a major training and resource centre for the disabled.
DETAILED REPORT
On 20th February 2014, I reached the AARTH-‐ASTHA resource centre around 10 AM. Before entering the premise, I talked to couple of persons in the neighbourhood about the organization's workings, but it seemed they had limited knowledge of the institution. The locality was not maintained, and cleanliness of the area was below standard to say the least. Once I entered into the premise, the environment changed completely. There was a neat and tidy open space where some disabled youths of "Viklaang Ekta Manch" were sitting on the floor and preparing for their stage program. I was received by the coordinator Ms. Jayashree Ganapati. We had a detailed conversation in the office about the vision, mission, and goal of the organization.
At around 11 AM, I visited the classroom. Classroom-‐size was inadequate for the strength of 24 children. On the visit day 10 children were present and the room was full. So, if all the 24 children arrive, it would be difficult to arrange for all the students. Apart from its size, the classroom was well equipped with books, drawing utensils, blackboard, posters, games and a personal computer.
Almost all the children were suffering from cerebral palsy. Their basic communication skills were underdeveloped and clearly, they needed assistance in this regard. Ms. Kiran, special educator with the organization, was taking the class. She appeared as a motivated and caring tutor. The children were of different age group, and she was teaching them counting according to their age group and grasping level. She was using pictures, objects, and drawing board and looked methodological and experienced for the job. I tried to converse with all the children. Obviously they had difficulty in speaking, but the good thing was that they showed enthusiasm in communicating their thoughts to me.
All the children, I met, were coming from slum areas barring Sudip. All of the kids belonged to the economically backward section of the society. One encouraging thing about the class was that there was parity in Girl-‐boy ratio. It is heart-‐warming that female disabled children are not getting marginalized when it comes to getting proper support from families and society. As there were two special educator, teacher student ratio at 2 : 24 was optimum.
I had the opportunity to speak with the mother (not in picture) of Sudip(child on the left in the picture above). She accompanies her son to the resource centre. Her response was very positive towards the workings of the AASTHA. She explained at length about the progress Sudip achieved there. Suffering from cerebral palsy, he was unable to communicate his needs to others initially and that made him short tempered and repulsive. Her mother said he improved significantly in communication skills while attending the AARTH -‐ASTHA resource centre. Right now he can convey his thoughts and basic requirements through gestures. He seemed happy in the class.
Pushkar (in the cap) is still attending the resource centre classes. He is yet to get enrolled in the school. Ms. Ganapati was hopeful that he would get the admission in coming session.
During my visit, children at the resource centre were provided with a banana and approximately 100 ml of milk. Not sure whether it was a regular practice or not, I enquired with Sudip's mother and she said the center was quite regular in providing some of the nutritional needs of the kids attending to schools in the form of seasonal fruits, eggs and milk.
After the class-‐visit, I requested to visit their helpline facility. Appropriately called Abiline, it is a national disability helpline for counselling and disseminating information on various schemes, laws, policies or any other issues connected to person with disability. They had recruited Renuka Bhagat, a person with disability, as the counsellor in the organizational helpline. Despite being blind, she looked as a passionate and brilliant counsellor with great interpersonal skills.
Apart from the educator, I could talk to one helper of the group and she had all the good things to say about the organization. I also had conversations with 2-‐3 volunteers of the "Viklaang Ekta Manch" in the absence of the coordinator, and they were all happy with the functioning of the organization.
According to Ms. Jayashree Ganapati the account books were shared with Asha for Education before disbursement of the grant and hence I did not look into the financial aspects of the organization.
Organization prepares children to carry out their daily routine and learn basic communication skills, so that they could be absorbed in our mainstream schooling system without any prejudice. It puts effort in assisting these children to get admission in traditional schools. The organization aims to position itself as a major training and resource centre for person with disability. However, it should also work in generating source of employment for the disabled. That will take it long way in its mission and will truly mean the social inclusion for the disabled and their families.
