“The vote is precious. It is the most powerful non-violent tool we have in a democratic society, and we must use it.” – John Lewis

The elections bombarded people with political speeches and ads, trying to convince voters who would be the best candidate to represent them. However, disabled people have often not found themselves or their needs prioritized in political pandering. People with disabilities have lifetimes’ worth of experience navigating the Indian systems of health care, social services, and employment—systems that have been very slow to evolve to meet their needs. With such a vast disability population in India, politicians should be looking to this section of society to help determine what a future India should look like, including bringing disabled people into more conversations on key issues.

In this issue, we give you a small round-up on activities over the past month, including what happened at the polling booth. We hope you enjoy it :)

Giving thanks for the gift of each other!

“A grateful heart is a magnet for miracles,” goes the saying, and we at Sri Arunodayam held thanksgiving ceremonies at both our homes, to honor our staff for their commitment and tireless service to the children during these times of the pandemic. Every staff member was honored – from a caregiver and special educator to a security guard. They were given special mementos by our Administrative Head, Mrs. Jayachitra Deepakraj. The program was conducted by our Social Workers. Some of the staff broke into tears when they were felicitated.

Sumitomo Corporation sponsors sensory equipment for a digital classroom

A range of cutting-edge sensory equipment was sponsored by Sumitomo Corporation India Private Limited for a digital classroom for our children. The classroom was virtually inaugurated by senior members from Sumitomo Corporation and Sri Arunodayam, including our staff and children. Two of our boys, Mento and Madhavan, inaugurated the function by cutting the ribbon and our senior physiotherapist and special educator demonstrated the new equipment to all present. A sensory room provides physical and mental stimuli for children with physical disabilities, developmental delays, and sensory impairments. The use of such equipment can help our children develop and practice a range of skills, including hand-eye coordination, and fine and gross motor skills.

Our children win scholarships!

Out of 33 children vying for a scholarship under the categories of Intellectual Disability (ID) and Cerebral Palsy (CP), two of our children – Pooja (CP) and Prabath (ID) – had participated in the Online Quizabled 2020-2021 competition held in January 2021. They won scholarships of Rs. 5000/- each on April 8th. The competition was sponsored by SPASTN in coordination with L&T InfoTech.

COVID-19 outreach activities continue!

We are not living in fear. We are living in faith. We do all we can to stay safe and help others stay safe as well. Online mediation classes were held for a week at our Girls’ Home by Uma, the yoga teacher, and a Corona awareness class was conducted by our social worker Seena Thomas concerning actions to take during the second wave. All staff, including our Founder and Managing Trustee, have registered for the vaccine against the deadly virus. The Zonal Corporation staff disinfected our boys' and girls' homes on April 30th. We also distributed cloth face masks for free to the District Child Protection Unit, Royapuram, and they in turn are distributing the same to the needy. Our Prayatna youth still continue to stitch face masks and an article on this activity was published in The Hindu on April 17th. You can read the article here.

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Sri Arunodayam is a secular organization with zero tolerance for discrimination against children regardless of religion, caste, race, ethnicity, disability or gender.