They say “It takes a village to raise a child” and so it is for people with disabilities and other vulnerabilities, as Adhingapattu Village in Bahour Commune, Puducherry, demonstrated.
Satya Special School launched the Sustainable Inclusive Rural Development project in four villages in Bahour Commune, Puducherry with the support of United Way Chennai.
With frequent lockdown and COVID waves, the project had a few delays. However, the entire village rallied together to make the project a reality.
The following activities were part of the project:
• Participatory Rural Analysis, where villagers themselves mapped their homes
• Transact walk to find out how accessible the village is
• Door-to-door canvassing regarding the schemes available for the vulnerable populations, not restricted to disability, and connected them to the schemes
• Raising of awareness about disability through puppet shows, talks, and other sensitization
• Accessibility audit of public spaces and creation of two accessible spaces (anganwadi and community hall)
• Training of the youth to become paratherapists.
To top off the year’s activities, we inaugurated the anganwadi and organised a disability awareness exhibition at a primary school on March 29.