7200Rs/child
Site visit done by Mrs. Madhavi Kadakia (mother of niyati Kadakia).
I was received by the administrator Mr.Kamalbhai Gohil .After sometime Mr. Ramabhai -,founder of the institute came we sat for a while & than visited the center . We saw each & every room used by children in detail.I was under impression that it is a school for Blind children . BUT IT IS NOT . It is a centre for Blind children & blind adults . It can be called the hostel for blind . Over here the blind children come at any age & according to their literary level they are admitted in the nearby schools -which is a’Prathmic shala’ i.e.primary school run by the Govt. & after the 7th std. they are sent to secondary school I think run by the Municipal corporation. So the NAB is NOT the school but the CENTRE for blind .
Now over here the field worker like Mr. Kamalbhai Gohil who is now the administrator since 2-3 years goes in the field i.e. different places & ‘spot’ the children & talk to the parents & make them aware of the need for education & about the centre . the children come here stay here "without" any charges (they do not have to pay anything ) . Majority of the children are from the remotest area of the border of Gujarat -maharashtra like Dharampur & Kaparada (even I have not heard these names ) . The parents are completely illiterate . The children come here & are admitted in Govt. Primary school & than secondarybschool. Over here there are no fees in the Govt. schools . The children are provided food ,clothing (uniform) ,stationary ,medicines as well as there are play equipment’s too. These all the facilities are free of cost .
Now in food: at 6 in the morning milk & snacks is given than by 9 & 10 in the morning (according to the timing of the school the lunch is served consisting of staple Indian food of roti shak-dal-bhat & kachumber (salad) is given & than at 7 in the evening the dinner is served of khichadi -kadhi OR bhakarai-dal/shak is served (on asking why nothing is given in the afternoon I came to know that children are in the school the whole day, they return at 6 in the eveining ) 2-3 times in a month there is always some mithai . Every once in a while special meal is given by some donor . & 2-3 times in a week a packet of glucose biscuit or s’thing is given which children keep with themselves & eat as & when .
For clothing : uniform is given to the students as well as the linens are given too . the cloths are washed by maids.
For Stationary/education :: the books ,pencil ,Braille material as well as whatever is required for studies is provided by the centre . As well as they have a room i.e. resource room as they call it ,s’thing like library , where other educational materials are kept . also the material in Braille ,reference materials ,are kept there which children use . the centre has special teachers who are full time as well as part time people/helpers who come & help the students who have difficulties (like tuition teacher ) there is a fix time for this. All the students come in the resource room for this . they all go to Normal school & NOT the special school for blinds or handicapped -this is a remarkable point as the inrtergration is the best way to make these special people find their place in the world easier . In fact Now the govt. has also made integration ‘almost ‘compulsory .
For medicine :: they are provided medicine from the centre & a doctor attached to the centre too.
ROOMS::: 1. They have three rooms as boarding rooms :: separate for primary students ,secondary & college(who are few 3-4 ) students & students /people for vocational training (ranging from age 18 to 35 ) All the rooms had bunk beds .
2. there is a resource room where all the children gather at a fix time for the help in their studies . They get the 'reader' for them who reads for the children . there are different materials in this room , they also have Braille material here .
3. there is a music room -they have a full time teacher who is also blind . He is Vishrad in Music . the children are taught to sing ,play instruments like tabala & harmonium .I was told that the centre has its own orchestra & the group goes out to perform .Like in Navaratri they are invited to sing & they are also paid . (now over here the meaning of orchestra is a group, as I understood ) .few children are getting trained as a "Dayaro’ singers. The music teacher goes as professional in some of the programmes of "dayaro" (Dayaro is a type of folk singing of Gujarat where generally stories are told from history or mythological background ). I met Shailesh Jadhav who is a very good singer -he also sang a nice song for me . The same room is used for Dramatics . Before a fortnight the centre had organised All Gujarat Drama competition in which this centre won 2nd prize . (as I was told that judges told them that their centre was the best but as they were the host they could not be given the 1st prize . I met their Best Actor Bhikhu Rathor . Sandeep is also good actor . Bhikhu is a student of Vocational training .
4. the dinning room :: the food is served here . It was kept neat & clean . The care taker of the dinning area is actually their sports coach .
5. the vocational rooms /centre ::1)here I saw the boys/men making chair-knitting (cane) , mat making & telephone operator .
:: 2)the other room has the file making machine ; here people are trained to make files (the centre has the order from all the govt. dept. at valasd as well as few banks. they also have the ’loom’ for weaving & Ramabhai was frank in saying they have no taker for learning weaving - as boys/men are finding it too tedious .
I was told - they also have hearing-aids for some of the deaf children -right now they have one deaf student & one very small child who is normal but physically handicapped(his one leg is very very small) .
they also have the children who are partially blind but need special help. As soon as the child comes in the centre they are given the training of ‘mobility’ they are trained how to move around independently in the centre in the beginning & than outside while going to school or going to market or on bus. A lot of emphasis is given on being independent as I was told by Rambhai we do not want ‘pity’ of public. Children also do not like it . they want to be treated normally.
I was told they are very very good in sports Mainly in cricket …Their captain Sandeep(who was down with fever at the time of my visit) -is an excellent batsman & has scored 400 runs in one of the matches . one of their cricketer ,who was not there is the excellent baller ,I was told every body is scared of his balling . Kamalbhai Gohil told me that sometimes they have the match where one team is of the students & other is of sighted people & they won against sighted people !!!!! they also train students in athletics.
I was told that they also watch TV -while talking to them I asked the students what do they watch & I got the ans. News .When I asked them ‘but what do you watch when nobody is there, their teacher -they all started laughing & said the name of a gujarati serial . while talking to them I ask them what do they want to do once they finish studies all of them answered that they want to work. I asked them "do you like here ?"everybody said ‘yes’ They were waiting for my visit on that particular day as they all wanted to go home for Holi Break . Holi is the biggest festival of dharampur & kaprada. I asked them "would you like to come back "& all of them said ‘yes’ when I asked "why should you come here ,you do not get to play here all the time " & I was told "we want to study".
Conclusion ::: All the students looked very happy at the centre . They are taken good care . They are made independent . The place was neat & clean . People working looked happy & dedicated . I asked quite a few students ,individually if they want to come back to the centre & all of theirs answer was positive. Integration is the BEST THING THEY ARE DOING . I talked to Ramabhai & kamakbhai separately on this point .,highlighting of the negative aspects of integration . But they were very clear of their philosophy .(Rambhai was himself a sighted person till the age of 22 after his graduation he lost his sight -he founded /started this work from his home in 1989/86 I think & than they had a small different places as the no. of students increased for boarding -vocational & tutoring .They shifted in this building in 1998 . Rambhai is keen to include other handicapped children here too. Their Girls hostel building is ½ ready and are sure they will start by June this year . On asking where will they get girls than I was told that the survey is done & they have spotted around 25-30 girls to start with . On my apprehension of girl hostel as a BIG responsibility he mentioned as 'many people are criticising me for this but I will go ahead '. He already has a lady in mind who can be their care taker/administrator.
On asking (testing) what would he like the help in (–means for which department /on going work ) he was clear that this SAC project will be the best as The Education is the best Answer for these children . On asking of parents involvement ,he told me that most the parents are illiterate & do not know anything - Most of the students are coming from the tribal area which is really ‘pachat’/backward e.g. Shailesh has to go by boat to reach his house .
There are totally 83 students out of which 40 are of primary ;43 secondary school students .
35 -vocational students who are from the age 28-35
2-3 students are in college.
While talking to Rambhai i came to know that around 20-25 people are helped by centre to start STD-PCO centre .One of their students is the announcer at Borivali railway-station (b'bay) . Few of them are taught 'kheti' -farming & are independant . 6-7 students were absorbed by a pvt. company in packing dept.