Every
parent’s main worry is what will happen to their child after they are there no
more. The siblings have a life of their own and it becomes difficult for them to
take care of their intellectually challenged persons. There is dire need for
residential homes.
I
had privilege to visit one such home at Pune called Arvind Saurabh, also known
as Umed Pariwar. Founded in 1990, Arvind
Saurabh is Pune based Parent’s organisation that works for the specialised
needs and betterment of Mentally Challenged and Cerebral Palsy persons. This
home is located at Wadaki Nala, on Hadapsar Saswad Road on the foothills of
Kanifnath temple. It is located at 25kms from Pune.
We
drove through barren land, through the mud path to arrive at beautiful 10-acres
wide campus in the midst of large open landscape.
We
were greeted by Jyoti Nahar, one of the parents, who is the resident at the
campus. She took us around showing us the facilities at the home.
At
the vocational room, lots of activities are carried out such as paper bag making,
making office files, envelops, handmade paper articles, gift articles and many
such activities.
The
building is very neat with a large courtyard in the centre where children can
play outdoor activities, surrounded on all sides with large bright rooms. The
dormitory had 6-8 beds in a room, fairly distant with beds and cupboards. The
bathrooms are large enough to accommodate a wheelchair and designed to cater
to their special needs. There are smaller private rooms upstairs for children
who are independent or wish to stay with their live-in parents.
We
were then invited for lunch. The campus has in-house vegetable gardening and
diary facility. The food was nutritious and very tasty.
I
was quite impressed with the facilities at this place. There was solar and
windmill energy, a swimming pool with hydrotherapy, modern kitchen facility
with dinning hall, polyclinic facility for health check up, gymnasium
facilities and guest house for parents, so that they can come and stay with
their children.
The
intellectually challenged adults looked quite content and cheerful and were
quite happy to meet us and click pictures with us.
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