IDRF partner since: 2009
- Focus Area: Education, Health and Eco-friendly Development
- Location: Gujarat
- Project Title: Samerth Talim Kendra- Day Care Center for Special Needs Children
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Details: Samerth Talim Kendra was started in 2006, in order to meet the community’s need for services and facilities for children with special needs. This day care center is operational from 11 am to 5pm, five days a week. Till date the center has been able to enroll more than 175 children, 80% of whom have disabilities of some sort. At present the center provides services to 55 children, 26 young girls and 29 young boys. With IDRF’s support the center has been able to increase the number of children enrolled, create better facilities, hire better trained staff, invest in better tools and equipment and overall improve the quality of services for the center.
These improved facilities at the center has ensured preparedness of special children for integration in the mainstream society, by helping them to be independent in activities of daily life, vocational training, and, equipping them with basic reading and writing skills, etc. The efforts of the Kendra has also been able to create awareness about needs of people with disabilities and factors contributing to incidences of disability at community level. Students at the center are provided Speech and Physical Therapy sessions, Yoga and Pranayam, along with diet changes to get appropriate nutrition. Proper diet, regular physical therapy sessions along with outdoor activities are showing positive results in most students. Some of the children have been associated with the center for the last 8- 10 years and are now looking forward to financial independence as they enter adulthood by making paper plates and bowls. The paper goods making enterprise started by the center also has a special marketing coordinator that is able to sell these products to certain establishments. IDRF and Samerth’s partnership is attempting to make these children self-reliant in as many ways as possible and striving to create for them a place in mainstream society. The process of ensuring personality development of such children needs to be extremely sensitive and customized for each child. Such special care can be imparted only in a center that is meant exclusively for such children and Samerth Taleem Kendra is in the process of doing the same.
