Disabled and the Church

This is a guest post by Ms. Sheron Mathew, Physiotherapist at NJH. She gives a brief description of an initiative we had with a local Catholic church in mobilizing support for parents of children with intellectual disabilities. 

Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) project, has been working in Barwadih block, Latehar district for more than 2 years. CBR project mainly works on improving the quality of life of the Person with Disabilties (PWD), also with the stakeholders of the PWDs, which inlcudes family, local community and otherother people who are related to the PWDs.

Our networking with the Catholic Church at Barwadih helped the project to reach out to the community in many ways.  Catholic Church has been ministering among the people there for a really long time, by providing spiritual counselling, education and basic medical facilities and these had ultimately ended up with the church developing a good rapport with the local community they serve. 

With the help of Fr. Siby, CMF, vicar of the Catholic Church, Barwadih, we was able to do programme for children with intellectual disability in Gandhi Ashram, Barwadih on 11^th October, 2014. When such programmes are organized, there are always major issues such as the lack of interest of the caregivers and the lack of the reach of information to those who need it. In this programme, the church played its vital role in mobilising the community as well as opening it’s doors for the children and their parents.

The turnout was really amazing. Screening was supposed to start by 8:30 in the Gandhi Ashram premises, but there were people who had already been waiting since early morning.  The project provided them with our services for free consultation for the children with disability. A total of 17 children and parents had come for the programme. Most of the children were having Cerebral Palsy or some other development delay.   Along with the screening, information was also provided to the parents on some basic exercise for their development and other necessary tips on how to take care of their child. There was also a discussion with parents on the possible levels to which their children can develop. Most of the children were below 8 years. It was really sad to see that few of them had spent a lot of money for  treatment and diagnosis, and most of the parents weren't informed about the nature of the disability in their child and their condition and what they should do and what they can expect their children to do. There were also parents who had started some therapy for their child in the beginning but later they had had stopped because they couldn't see much improvement instantly. 

After the screening of all children, the CBR team had a small discussion with the caregivers on how the project could intervene with the caregivers and their children. By proper facilitation, it was suggested by the caregiver that if the project could facilitate the availability of physiotherapist once a month, they could come together and learn from each other and ensure that they can do the maximum possible for their child in the available circumstances.

Our Co-ordinator, Satyaprakash interacting with the parents

It was encouraging to see that though the parents were sad about the condition of their children they had a smile on their face when they left. We are encouraged by the kindness of the priests and sisters at Catholic Ashram, especially Fr. Siby, the vicar of the local parish. He arranged lunch for all the people who came as well as expressed willingness to open the parish hall for use by these children with intellectual disabilities as well as their parents whenever they need it.

This program was a great learning for each of us as we learnt of a major avenue through which the church can reach out to an unreached group in the local community – children with intellectual disabilities and their parents. This is all the more significant in places such as ours where there are no facilities where such children and their caregivers can get help or support. I’m sure there are quite a number of churches who can learn from our experience.

Maybe, you can very well do things similar to what the Community Based Rehabilitation team at NJH are doing through the local churches. The next meeting at Catholic Ashram, Barwadih is on Saturday, the 15^th November, 2014. 

Recognition - CBR

We started off this week with an invitation from the District Disability Rehabilitation Centre (DDRC), Palamu District for leadership in a 3 day workshop for the disabled. Our team had done quite a lot of work along with the DDRC to facilitate the disabled to organize themselves and be self-reliant. 

Our partnership with the DDRC is in it's early phases. However, it was quite a honor to be recognized at the district level for work among the disabled. 

The DDRO was quite kind enough to allot us a stall in the workshop. Staff from the CH department put up a good display about our work among the disabled and also about finger-millet cultivation. 

Our team was enthralled when the Deputy Commissioner, Mr. Manoj Kumar visited the stall. He was quite appreciative about our work and also inquired with officers with him about looking at the option of promoting millets in the district level as well as including it under the ICDS (Integrated Child Development Services) Scheme. 

All glory and praise to the Lord and kudos to the CBR team of NJH who has made quite a lot of inroads into the remote villages of Palamu for standing along with the disabled and facilitating their upliftment . . . 

Snaps from the 3 day workshop . . .

Addressing the inaugural session. On the dais, from the left - Dr. RPG Singh, the Civil Surgeon, Mr. Manoj Kumar, the District Collector, Dr. RP Sinha, the Red Cross Chairman, Mr. Rajesh Kumar Sahu, District Social Welfare Officer, Mr. Vikas, Secretary, Palamu Vikalang Sangh

Chief guest on the final day program . . .

Taking session for the disabled . . .

Newspaper clipping about the 3 day workshop . .. ...

Disability Day Celebrations - NJH

December 3rd is celebrated as International Day of People with Disability. 

Snaps from the program we arranged in the hospital . . .

Registration of participants

The venue

Students from the Carmel Asha Kendra, Latehar who presented cultural programs

Disabled friendly . . . overcoming barriers

The chief guest, the Block Development Officer, Mr. Jha

Honoring the Pradhan family . . . for their commitment to tackle blindness in the community. Dr. Pradhan was operating and could not make it. Mrs. Pradhan accepted the memento.

 

 

 

Scenes from dance presented by the Carmel Ashakendra students . . .

The program ended with a sumptuous lunch for participants and hospital staff and students

Disabled in rural India

Last week’svisits to the villages have been to look at the work that has been going on as part of our Community Based Rehabilitation of the Disabled.

Below are few of the major aspects about the disabled in rural India which sets them apart from their counterparts in towns and cities.

1.       The hardworking villagers in the rural parts of the country do not have much time to think about the disabled in their communities. The classic story is that of our enquiry about the number of disabled in our nearby villages and our staff replying that it would be a surprise if we cross a single digit number. Now, after the end of a survey, the number stands at over 800. I still have reasons to believe that we’ve still some more numbers to count.

2.       The disabled are thought of as being an aberration in the community. Therefore, no thought is given about any of their welfare. Many of the villages we visited, the villagers were quite inquisitive about the reason why we were interested in the disabled. According to them, the normal people in the village had so much of issues with poverty and under-development that the disabled who are of no apparent use was of not much of a value.

3.       The worst group of sufferers are the mentally challenged. There are lot of beliefs and myths associated with psychiatric illness. One wretched practice is that of marrying off the mentally challenged with the belief that it would make them well. It was heart-wrenching to see them being made to perform like jokers in few of the villagers.

4.       In impoverished communities as ours, the very thought of getting some money in the form of a disability pension is quite music to the ears of many a family. However, the benefit hardly reaches the beneficiary. Rather it is used off by the other members of the family.

5.       The mortality rates of the disabled are quite high. The village headman (mukhiya) who took us around had a child who died few years back. And death within the disabled populations is well accepted. It’s rather seen as grace for their lives.

6.       One major cause of disability is birth asphyxia caused by home deliveries. In fact the mukhiya’s child appeared to have cerebral palsy as a result of birth asphyxia. I wonder if someone can do a study on the burden of birth asphyxia caused by home deliveries in the community. When birth asphyxia happens and the baby dies, nobody bothers as it is deemed that the baby was weak (kamjor) and therefore it was good that the baby did not live and suffer for the rest of his/her life.

7.       In the midst of all these, there are isolated amazing stories of the disabled being able to stand on their own feet. There was this young man in the village we visited last week, who was disabled because of polio. But, he was quite motivated, hard-working and was into dairy business. He had his own vehicle which he used to ferry milk from the village to the nearby town.

The final word – The disabled in rural India hardly finds any acceptance, leave alone any sort of support from their fellow human beings. There is a lot to be done to mainstream them into the society. Considering into fact the healthcare issues in rural areas which are yet to be well taken care of, it may seem quite a tough and humongous task.

However, I’m encouraged by the efforts that our team has been able to put through in reaching this marginalized group. We value your prayers, support and advice.