Dear friends,
I have personally visited Nivant & have found it a great institution. I hope
that it continues to grow & spread the light of education.
Regards
Mr. Sameer Latey
Mumbai, India
----- Original Message -----
From: "Shivaji Londhe" <shivajilondh...@gmail.com>
To: "accessindia" <accessindia@accessindia.org.in>
Cc: <rshobha1...@gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, October 16, 2013 12:02 AM
Subject: [AI] Please read an article about an NGO in Pune.
Dear list members,
humbley request you to take time and read this article on an NGO
called Niwant in Pune.
Chak De Niwant!
In the past seventeen years I have travelled on a unique path. It is
very difficult to express in words the intensity of my experiences.
Hundreds of visually challenged students walked into my life and with
the help of ‘Niwant’ they now settled in life. Everyone knows about a
blind school, but ‘Niwant Andh Mukta Vikasalaya’ was established for
students pursuing higher education, i.e. after Standard X. The journey
of the making of Niwant was never a bed of roses. It was a war against
negation, superstition and lack of faith in human abilities.
A small but significant incident changed my whole perspective to life.
In 1996, I visited a blind school in Pune to give a donation on the
eve of my husband Anand’s birthday. There I saw a big line up of small
helpless kids struggling to climb up the stairs and one of the
homesick children hugged me because he thought I was his mother. Tears
rolled down my eyes. I decided to give a slice of my life for the
upliftment of these children and thought against the idea of taking up
the job as an English teacher at the college level. The journey that
followed saw the complete assimilation of ‘Meera Badve’, i.e. myself
in the world of the specially sighted.
The blind students had to discontinue their education after they
completed their schooling. Not a single word was available in Braille
beyond Standard X. Students with a rich family background could get
support from their family members and continue education, but what
about the others? They were children of rickshaw drivers, house
helpers and farm workers. They came from strata of society that was
beyond our definition of poverty and some were orphans. The syllabus
for the blind students was the same as that for the sighted students
and educational facilities were practically non-existent. “Is this
social justice?” Niwant was like creating a universe out of void.
On completion of the age of 18, the Social Welfare Department leaves
differently-abled students to fend for themselves. Generally they are
treated as non-productive elements by their family members who leave
them in the school and sometimes they abandon them permanently. What
could these children do? They were left on the street and used by
society for malpractices; boys and girls for different reasons.
Unfortunately these children had no sense of hygiene, culture and were
struck by an inferiority complex as they thought that they could not
cope with the challenges of the sighted world. They believed in
charity and had not experienced the joy of earning money through self
respect. They had no knowledge of the English language. Educational
institutes had no faith in their potential. Eye-brows were raised and
critical questions had to be answered.
I had to sort out all these problems one by one. The students who
walked into my life were directionless and confused about their
future. They wanted to lead abetter life but did not know how to
achieve their goals in life. In short, they needed a mother – teacher.
I painstakingly had to give them lessons in culture, hygiene, which
also included toilet training, cleanliness, feed them and academics
followed later. Subject-based dictionaries with meanings in Marathi
had to be created to encourage them to opt for English medium.
Technology had to be brought in by replacing magnetic tapes by MP3
players, number of simple and less expensive educational tools had to
be devised. Tonnes and tonnes ofcounseling went into helping them feel
very positive about themselves and the world around them. Occasionally
I had to use strict measures to discipline them.The social system had
to be influenced to overlook superstitious beliefs that these children
are the outcome of sins committed in a previous life. Educational
institutes had to be convinced about giving them access to education
and have faith in their abilities. Education is indeed the birth right
of every child and as a society we have no right to give them begging
bowls instead of Braille books. Publishers had to be convinced about
making soft copies available for Braille conversion and copyright
issues had to be tackled. It was a race against time. There were
moments of retreat and defeat, but the willpower of my students gave
me the strength to fight. A huge chain of selfless volunteers
supported Niwant.Individual cause became the communal cause. Chak De
Niwant!
As a result, in the last seventeen years ‘Niwant’ tried to change the
social picture including discarded and unwanted members of the society
in the social fold. It has helped in a holistic development of the
children, one of ‘body, mind and soul’,successfully channelized their
energy through a Braille library which has over 3000 Braille books
(curricular and extracurricular), 17 branches of ‘Vision Unlimited’
all over Maharashtra and core teaching of all subjects through both
the mediums. There is a printing press that prints more than 2 lakh
papers annually and both the books and services are rendered free of
charge.
The children are incredibly talented. They are trained by the Shiamak
Group for dance. They also draw, paint, sing, plant trees, imitate
bird calls, do yoga, judo, play cricket and organize state level
tournaments, donate blood, do Mallakhamb.The students also learn
anatomy, various subjects in Science, Commerce, Arts,and Law, and
Library Science, foreign languages like German, Japanese and French.
MSW, FCI courses produce 100% results and these students top their
respective career branches. They raise funds through their efforts by
pursuing activities like chocolate making, Braille card writing,
making paper bags andorgandy flowers.
The achievements of the children are exceptional. Some of them write
software and have formed ‘Techvision’, a software writing firm. They
are paid in dollars by their US based client Boardwalk Tech. They are
able to use Java, UBA, Google,App script, SQL servers. Josh Software
being their Indian client, they are working on technologies like Ruby,
Rails, Html, and Coffee script being the latest technology. They are
keen to learn and evolve. To spread computer literacy amongst the
visually impaired and to reveal to them the vast world of knowledge
spread through the internet, we started a computer training academy
called 'Insight'. Hardware training has enabled the students to
dismantle the computer and reboot it! They know the inner story of the
computer.
More than 1500 students walked out of Niwant and are currently earning
anywhere from Rs.5000 to Rs.35,000 per month. They are employed, some
are married and have children but they have not forgotten their Mother
institution. They have formed a club, ‘So can we’ to support their
friends in need from Niwant. They donate around Rs.20,000 every year
to help younger members get education. 1% club helps other needy
organizations like the Autism Centre and Schizophrenia Centre. In
short, they are indeed very much a productive part of the society,
just like you and me!
Dear friends, there are problems, hindrances, difficulties and
questions in life but still ‘life is beautiful’! We can certainly
create heaven around us by forming a human chain. All of us can
contribute to the beauty of human existence. Let us believe that we
cannot let people crawl when they can soar high in the sky. Any
handicap is always at the psychological level and never at the
physical level.
Real effective change is brought about by doing and not just thinking.
Come fill the cup with the fire of Spring. Let's work together towards
a better world!
Meera Badve
Director
Niwant Andh Mukta Vikasalaya
Regards,
Shiva
--
Shivaji Laxman Londhe
Contact no: +918888804460
Skype name: shivajilondhe87
Pune Maharashtra.
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