Though the focus of the organization is primarily on individuals with cerebral palsy (for more information in Cerebral Palsy in India visit http://www.cerebralpalsyindia.com/), it also provides services to people with other neurological impairments such as autism, mental retardation and learning disabilities. In their own words, “No one issue of disability can be tackled in isolation”, and hence the emphasis is on an all-inclusive approach to provide holistic development for the disabled. These services include both educational and vocational training, access to transport, computers, and physical therapy.

The school:

Infrastructure and facilities: The main school building is housed in a three storied, approx 34, 000 square foot facility, built on 1431 square foot worth of land leased to Vidya Sagar by the Tamil Nadu state government in kotturpuram. The main and most notable feature of this facility is that it is completely accessible to people with physical handicaps. Housed within this facility is a 1000 odd square feet play area, computer room, occupational therapy room (for children with sensory issues), physiotherapy room, resource library for staff, toy library, children's library, auditorium, activity rooms and hostel facilities comprised of 11 rooms including a dining hall and kitchen. The school also comprises of a vocational training center at T-Nagar, built on another rented premises of about 3000 square feet. The building here is partitioned into smaller units to house the various activities.

Vidya Sagar	One of the facilities available to students at Vidya Sagar; a toy library.

Personnel: The school is comprised of a total staff and student body totaling over 300 people. This includes a staff of about 123 personnel, including teachers, senior management staff, special educators, therapists, administrative staff, ancillary staff and visiting consultants, and a student body of about 200 split between a facility in kotturpuram and a vocational training centre in T-Nagar. The students display broad demographics in terms of age, level of education and socio-economic background.

Services provided: One of Vidya Sagar's core beliefs is in the right to equality of opportunity, which starts with tackling disability as a fundamental human rights issue. This is especially relevant in light of that fact that cerebral palsy is reported to affect a staggering 2.5 million children in India approximately (2004 report-The Tribune-Chandigarh). Since the disease primarily affects motor coordination (speech, gaze, gait and movement) leading to a wheelchair bound existence, an important part of their assimilation into mainstream society is the availability of both adequate transportation and communication and services/facilities. Vidya Sagar provides for both.

Occupational and physical therapy is part of the school’s program for holistic development of the disabled. The therapists are full time employees of the school, and also provide services to students at their homes, the cost of which in incurred by the school. Additionally the school provides for special computers and keyboards that can be used fairly easily by students with such disabilities. In many instances, students who could not write conventionally using pen and paper are able to communicate effectively, even pass state level board exams through the use of such technology. As, such the staff at Vidyasagar believes computers are going to be an indispensible part of the process of integration and self reliance for these students.

Nothing like a good game of volleyball! Activity rooms at Vidya Sagar provide some much needed action.	Occupational and physical therapy sessions

The other major hurdle to be overcome is mobility. A primary barricade to self reliance amongst the disabled in India is the lack of adequate facilities and infrastructure that supports the use of wheelchairs. This poses a challenge not just for the afflicted individuals but also for their families and Vidya Sagar rightly sees this as a fundamental human resources issue. If the disabled in the developed parts of the world can lead a relatively independent life, it is thanks to the many handicap accesses and wheelchair ramps one encounters at every hospital, restaurant, public restroom, grocery store, and bus stop. Vidya Sagar envisions such a mainstream existence for disabled in India, and is working with various public and private organizations to introduce legislation that mandates such handicap accesses on a state wide and eventually nationwide level. In the meanwhile Vidya Sagar continues to provide transportation support and facilities for its students on a daily basis, the cost of which is largely incurred by the school.

Disability legislation unit “access for all” workshop	Class in progress

Education at Vidya Sagar: The school focuses on both formal basic education (reading, writing and math) and vocational training for the students. Painting, making papier mache, and leather products and bead work are some of the basic arts and crafts taught at Vidya Sagar. This training and their crafts go a long way in instilling a sense of confidence and independence in the students as the products are often saleable commodities.

Students work ing on their “Railways” project on project day.	Community based rehab care givers training program.

True to their stance of wholesome education, Vidya Sagar also holds training programs for the teachers, peers and parents. These are directed by special consultants, special educators or specialists who help assess individual children’s needs and create general awareness about their disabilities. These sessions are aimed at making integration a two-way process, with family, friends and peers also getting involved as any effort in integration is incomplete without the support and understanding of those around the afflicted individual, his/her family, friends, peers and society itself.

In this regard Vidya Sagar also works with the government run and funded “Sarva Siksha Abhiyan” (SSA) program to provide this kind of special education and training to children with special needs in regular schools. Vidya Sagar appointed special educators work with SSA in 6 zones in Chennai city covering about 300 government schools to facilitate inclusion of these children and to monitor their progress. Indeed the incorporation of these special educators in their curriculum is testimony to Vidya Sagar’s commitment and vision towards holistic development.

From the “Inclusion Cell” to the mainstream life: Vidya Sagar alumni at Loyola College.	Vidya Sagar student at the Kalakshetra School of Music and Dance

Another program of note and of particular interest to our chapter is the “Inclusion cell” unit at Vidya Sagar. This unit works actively towards creating & strengthening relations with regular schools and colleges and assists students in gaining admission into these schools. Once a child is admitted, Vidya Sagar continues to provide therapy, moral support and emotional counseling. The program has met with considerable success with several students having gained admission into mainstream schools and colleges such as Loyola College, Nungambakkam, Stella Maris College, Gopalapuram, Madras Christian College, Tambaram, Kalakshetra College, Thiruvanmayur, SIEVT college, Velachary, Lady Andal School, Chetpet, Campus School Tambaram, Shantiniketan Mat. School, Shenpakkam, ICF School asnd Permabur.

Funding: Vidya Sagar is largely supported by the community itself with about 55% of its total budgetary expenses met through annual fundraisers and donations from individuals and charities. Only about 16% of its total budget is supported by the central government, another 15% from the Children’s Christian Fund of Canada and the rest through sales of its own greeting cards, student fees, and miscellaneous contributions.

Supporting Vidya Sagar to bring hope and self reliance for the disabled.

Asha’s involvement in Vidyasagar:

A chance visit to Washington DC by Vidya Sagar employee and teacher Mrs Radha Basu in the fall of 2006 triggered off interest in adopting the project. Mrs Basu was keen on obtaining funding for her institute and was familiar with Asha’s work in the field of education in India. She obligingly attended a general body meeting and provided a comprehensive summary of the school, her work, and the lack of funding for certain special needs and facilities. Beaming with pride at the achievement of “her children” at having secured admission in mainstream schools, Mrs Basu came equipped with newspaper clippings about her school, the mission and the success stories stemming from the inclusion unit. It touched our hearts and minds.

An additional factor that propelled our interest in this project was that it would be the first time that we at Asha DC have undertaken a project of this nature that involves children with physical handicaps. However keeping in mind the larger picture and our final aim, which is to bring hope, self reliance and independence through education, nothing could have served the cause of cerebral palsy and the like better than a direct financial support of an Institute like Vidya Sagar.

Mrs. Radha Basu

Thus started our initiative and the correspondence with the institute personnel to garner basic information about the school mission and programs, the finances, budget and funding. Vidya Sagar provided us with a prioritized list of items and the annual costs incurred for each. We were able to fund the one component of the requested funds that they needed the most-the computers. Currently, a total of about 17 desktop computers and 1 laptop are shared between approximately 125 students, many of whom are almost exclusively dependent on these computers for their basic communication. Under these circumstances the need for better technology and easier access to these systems cannot be emphasized enough.

We also highlighted Vidya Sagar this year during our annual fundraiser, the classical music concert-Notes of Hope (see “Highlights” section of this issue) and received several donations from audience members. The crowning glory proved to be single generous contribution of $10,000 from the Prasad family. We are touched by the generosity of all those who contributed that night, and extend our heartfelt gratitude to them. We hope our readers and donors will continue to support this initiative and help Vidya Sagar in their mission.