Embracing the disabled with community integration

Anyone who seeks to make a positive difference today can choose from an array of concerns in our society. From education to equality to the environment, there is no shortage of causes for those looking to make a difference. While philanthropic activities in Mumbai are certainly strong enough to rekindle faith in humanity, there is still one particular cause that seems to be somewhat shrouded in neglect. Working with the intellectually disabled (ID) is weighed with the feeling of it being an uphill task. The dreams we dream for the ID are not just made up of simple pleasures and moments of joy we can bring to their life – but of dreaming a bigger dream, if we can dare ourselves to go there.  

At The Research Society for the care, treatment & training of children in need of special care (aka Jai Vakeel) a 70-year-old institute for the ID, there are currently up to 700 students. Archana Chandra, the Administrative Director at Jai Vakeel, proudly acknowledges the excellent work that the institute does with its students. Yet she is also forced to acknowledge a vacuum in this work - that of a lack of awareness at multiple levels as well as very low community acceptance and inclusion.

The school and all the teachers there, do dare to dream of community acceptance and inclusion for their students. However the resistance they face from the outside is daunting. “The space of mental retardation is not something many are naturally inclined towards, unless they have been personally affected by it. It is very important for the community as a whole to step up, accept and embrace the intellectually disabled," says Chandra

One way to overcome such a mindset is quite simply, spreading awareness. As a part of the school program, there are various community integration programs. People are invited for a tour of the campus and interaction with the children. The annual World Disability Week is taken as an opportunity to showcase the various abilities of the students like displaying their projects. This year however, Chandra sought to do something different that would directly address the issue of community integration. 

It was while musing over the problem that Chandra met Akanksha school leader Mandira Purohit. Chandra had engaged students from regular schools with the students at Jai Vakeel and the response left her feeling very encouraged. Now she was looking at municipal schools. It was decided to bring together the children at Akanksha and the students of Jai Vakeel. The result of this partnership shed some extraordinary light on matters of integration and acceptance. Both sets of children had their own challenges. Both suffer from being marginalised in a society that has become accustomed to expect very little of them.

After some thought, it was decided that the children of Akanksha would host a fun fair for the children of Jai Vakeel. First, the Akanksha teachers went on a tour of the school. Purohit found herself close to tears and had to go out of the school grounds. She realised her students would need some initiation into the world of the disabled before they interacted with the students of Jai Vakeel. In the weeks leading up to the fair, she had her students do various exercises to understand what the disabled experience everyday. In one exercise, the children had to choose an ability like sight, speech or the use of a limb, that would artificially be inhibited for a short time. During the activity, the children did their best to function with a bandage over their mouth or a scarf over their eyes or an arm tied back. The children then wrote down their thoughts.

“I am feeling miserable to see myself. What will I do? When Vivek wanted to go to the toilet he found it so difficult that he could not go. Thank God for giving me a wonderful, normal life”, wrote one child. One of the many results this activity yielded was to contribute to the child’s perspective of what constituted a fortunate life. The child who wrote this would have gone back home after school to the cramped and difficult conditions of the slum dwellers. 

In another exercise, the Akanksha students were taken to the Jai Vakeel School for a visit. After the tour they interacted with the students. Once again, they wrote down their experience. 

“When I was there I felt very emotional and felt like crying, but I didn’t. I thank God because he has given me an intelligent brain and I pray to God that the children become proper.”

“Everyone was working as a team. By watching this, I think why did God make such wonderful people disabled or handicapped? By watching this I realised that we are so lucky to have all sensory organs working properly.”

Soon after, World Disability Week was upon the children and the fun fair was set up on the Jai Vakeel school grounds. On December 18, some 220 Akanksha students hosted 600 students from Jai Vakeel in three batches over the course of the day. The games were designed to be simple, bearing in mind the severity of the disabilities. Purohit described all she witnessed that day. The Akanksha students went out of their way to befriend and help the Jai Vakeel students. Much affection was demonstrated. The hosts did not simply stand behind the table, but came out in front and held the hands of the players. “I didn’t realise how compassionate our children were,” said Purohit. 

Later one of the students wrote; “Can you guess where we had gone? Yes, we had gone to Jai Vakeel School. There were disabled and special children in that school. I felt emotional on seeing them. Today was their fun-fair. They were enjoying it, so I felt thrilled. I was so glad to see them happy. I will pray to God so that they can work hard and achieve what they want in their life.”

The fun fair was simple and set up in a minimalistic style with very basic resources. But the air was filled with happiness. The reception the two groups extended towards one another was heartening and a testament of how simply true community integration can be brought about. Chandra reflects upon the significance of the partnership between Akanksha and Jai Vakeel. At the heart of this experience lies a valuable thought of sensitising, not just adults, but children to the trials of the disabled. To bring about true integration, perhaps the interaction must begin during one's childhood. Children will make that authentic connection that transcends such circumstances and the younger they are the bigger the impression, making this early initiation vital to the integration of the disabled into society. 

As a final part of the experience, the idea of inclusive education was explained to the Akanksha children and once again, they penned down their thoughts. “According to me, inclusive education is the best way because all disabled and abled children can be friends”

The author Abha Raja is a marketing associate at the Akanksha Foundation. With inputs from Archana Chandra (Administrative Director at Jai Vakeel School) and Mandira Purohit who provided the written samples of students of the Sitaram Mill Mumbai Public School