Asha Kira Ashram Centre for Disabled Children

Early in 2009, we were approached by Pastor Santhosh Kumar, who has a severely disabled son. This alerted him to the fact that there are many other disabled children in the area around AP Nadaroor, the village where he lives. Often Indian families tend to regard a disabled child as a cause for shame, and so they hide them away, depriving them of the stimuli that they need to develop. Pastor Santhosh had a vision for a centre where disabled children could be helped as far as possible trained to overcome their disabilities. It would be the first of its kind in the area.

Newport and Strathaven Scouts were both interested in helping us at HHI, and together they raised more than enough money to build a purpose-designed and built facility. We continue to help fund the running costs, with Pastor Santhosh raising some of the running costs and HHI providing the rest. The vision is that Pastor Santhosh will gradually assume responsibility for more and more of the running costs, but for the time being we need to raise about £600 a month.

The centre opened officially in August 2009, having been running on a small scale in the church building before then. It has already obtained government recognition, and is attracting a lot of attention as a model of excellence.

Physiotherapy for Ramkumar

Currently up to 32 children are brought to the centre by autorickshaws (small taxis) each morning. They have a varied programme of academic teaching which is tailored to their various abilities and games designed to develop their physical abilities. They also receive mid-morning milk and a nourishing lunch. The staff includes two teachers, a rehabilitation scientist, three classroom assistants, a part-time physiotherapist and a cook. At the end of the day autorickshaws take them all back home.

Assessing a new pupil

Each child is carefully assessed when they join, and a structured programme of three-month targets is set to make sure they develop in a balanced way. Children who need physiotherapy receive it. Parents have reported that their children are developing beyond their wildest dreams, and already some have been able to join mainstream schools.

Disabled children at Asha Kiran Ashram

When we visited India our host, Pastor Santosh, took us to the local village - a couple of miles from Asha Kiran Ashram.

We were joined by a number of young people who provided some entertainment - singing what we would call nursery rhymes. It was a great time of sharing because after they sang we taught them 'I'm a little teapot'.

Click on the image below to see the film clip