One of the proudest achievements of Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled, just honoured with the National Award for Child Welfare, is its role in promoting cricket for the blind.
Founder and managing trustee Mahantesh G Kivadasannavar recalls how his, and Samarthanam's, journey began with cricket.
At
six months, Mahantesh came down with typhoid and lost his vision. He
loved cricket, and while he and his friend S P Nagesh were playing for
the state team in the 1990s, they often met fellow young adults with
visual impairment who had been unable to study beyond Class 10.
"Back
then, there were quite a few schools for the blind, but hardly any
opportunities for higher education. So, along with cricket, which made
us aware of the problems that youngsters faced, creating higher
education opportunities was one of our primary goals when we started off
in February '97," Mahantesh tells us from Delhi, where the trust was
conferred the award.
"We had to start from scratch. We had no
buildings or infrastructure," he says when asked about challenges, but
he prefers not to dwell on them. So Samarthanam helped raise funds for
the education of the physically challenged, and spoke to hostels and
colleges to get them admission.
Now, Samarthanam has a presence in
four other states — Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Jharkhand
— and in the US, it runs a hostel. In Bengaluru, it runs a residential
school for children with special needs. One of its students, 12-year-old
L Anjiniah, has won the National Child Award for Exceptional
Achievement for 2013.
Samarthanam has received several accolades earlier, 'But getting a national award is something else' entirely.
"It
feels great that the government has recognised our contributions. This
can only strengthen our conviction," Mahantesh adds. All in all, he
estimates, the trust has brightened the lives of 30,000-40,000 people.
Now, he has a 2020 vision. "By that year, we want to touch at least one
lakh lives," he says, adding that though the trust aims to help the
disabled study and find jobs, its ultimate mission is to empower each of
them. "We want all of them to become tax payers and lead dignified
lives. The idea is to bring them more into the mainstream," he says.
Varied jobs opportunities have opened up for the physically challenged over the past few years, according the Mahantesh.
"There's
been a shift in thinking, so it's no longer only music teacher or
telephone operator posts open to the disabled. We have HR managers who
have graduated from IIM-B, people in the IT-BT sector and banks.
Companies are becoming more disabled-friendly, so almost any back-end
job is open to us as well," he adds. But he and the rest of Cricket
Association for the Blind (CABI), Samarthanam's sports wing, would
appreciate more support from the BCCI.
"Now, for the Blind Cricket
World Cup, the central government is partially supporting us, but we
need more funds. There is some corporate support, but a little more
would be great," he adds.
However, he is confident that the Indian
blind team will return victorious and do the country proud. The team is
to leave for South Africa on November 25.
Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled, #11, Villa Suchita, 1st Cross, JP Nagar II Phase.
Phone: 080- 25721444.
Email :info@samarthanam.org
Source : The New Indian Express , 18th Nov 2014
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