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Journalism of Courage
The playground of the Kamayani School for the Mentally Handicapped in Gokhale Nagar is alive with the sound of applause and laughter, with a cricket match on in full swing. Eight teams, comprising handicapped children from different schools for the handicapped, are participating in the cricket tournament, which started on January 6 and will continue till January 11. The children are rooting loudly for their home teams and the atmosphere is one of gaiety and fun.
Kamayani is the only special school which holds such a tournament for the handicapped. 8220;It was started 12 years ago, in the name of P.M. Joshi chairperson Sindhutai Joshi8217;s husband, who was a keen cricketer,8221; says principal Mrinalini Dharwadkar. 8220;The teams from different schools come and stay here for a week, we provide them lodging and food. And the winning team takes away the P.M. Joshi Trophy. Every year, we arrange a tournament during December-January and the children get really enthusiastic about it.8221;
The Kamayani premises holds a school building designed by architect Vaikunth Sardesai, a Udyog Kendra and a library. The school building, besides the classrooms, has project rooms, home science and craft centres and a speech therapy centre which is fully carpeted and well-equipped.
8220;The school building is structured in a definite way, no two doors stand face to face. And the building is designed for natural light and ventilation,8221; says Dharwadkar. The teachers are specially trained to instruct the kids. 8220;They are taught languages, mathematics, geography, art, singing, craft and basic self-help, like how to set their beds and stitch buttons,8221; she adds. The children are also given regular health check-ups.
Three buses one from PMT are assigned to pick up and drop the children, who attend school from 9.30 a.m. to 3.30 p.m. The bus service is free of cost. The children are well looked-after and are given lunch on the house. While the younger ones are engaged in learning the basics, the elder students have graduated to pre-vocational and vocational courses. Vocational training is the main thrust of this institution, the reason for its success.
Says K.N. Satpute, works manager, Kamayani Udyog Kendra, 8220;In the pre-vocational class, the children make phenyl, detergent, liquid soap and during Diwali, coloured rangolis. In the main workshop, the trained students above 18 years work in the binding section, the small printing press, the handloom section 8211; with some power looms and automatic looms, the screen printing, carpentry and sewing divisions.8221;
8220;The Udyog Kendra has a commercial outlet, where the items made in the workshops are sold at reasonable prices. The children are proficient in making notebooks, notepads, registers, files, greeting cards, colourful candles, bedsheets, towels, dusters, and even saris. We get many orders as these items have become popular,8221; says Satpute.
This institution has certainly come a long way to become one of the foremost institutions for the handicapped in the state.
