Providing lifespan services to individuals with special needs...
Strides Newsletter - Mar 2023 - Issue 201
Counseling & Assessments
From Radhika Sasankh's Desk
....
Early Intervention and V-Excel Remedial Centre
From the staff of Early Intervention and V-Excel Remedial Centre
Greetings from Early Intervention and the Remedial Unit!
5th March – As part of the Employee skill enhancement activities, EI staff members were given opportunity to be part of AUTCON conference conducted by NICE Rehabilitation centre. The topic was about Best Practices in Early Intervention. Mr. Mujbur Rahman, Ms. Nasrath Banu & Ms. Lavanya Ashok attended the sessions.
8th March – As part of the Women's day Celebration, two of our parents ( Master. Agastya Guhan's mother & Master. Sai Tharun's mother) were recognised for their Confidence, Consistency and Continuity they exhibited towards the development of their child and the way the child has blossomed. In order to motivate these Super moms, Early Intervention Team recognised their efforts and they were felicitated by our founder Dr. Vasudha Prakash.
9th to 10th Mar – We started the Free Screening campaign in Korattur Corporation High School, Korattur with the support of Anandam Illam for the students in the age group 2 to 7yrs. 70 students participated in this Free Screening Camp that was aimed at identifying children who are "at risk" for learning difficulties and other disabilities. School Teachers were trained on the home programs and the techniques to handle these children in class.
11th March – As part of Employee engagement program, a surprise Women's Day was organised by the male members of the team. It was a fun filled gala time with music, snacks and sweets. Every woman of the team was appreciated and acknowledged as a mark of tribute for balancing their Personal & Professional life beautifully.
17th & 18th March – The EI staff members were given an opportunity to be part of Vasantham conference conducted by Vasantham Special School. The topic was about Best Practices in Early Intervention. Mr. ArunKumar, Ms. Stella, Ms. Sasikala, Ms. Shobana & Ms. Lavanya Ashok attended the sessions.
Ms. Lavanya Ashok, our coordinator for Early Intervention services in Chennai, authored a poster presentation entitled "Runway to Take off - An Odyssey of a Special Mother" at the conference on 'Best Practices in the Rehabilitation for Individuals with Special Needs', organized by Vasantham Residential Special School. The conference was held on 17th & 18th of March 2023 at Mogappair, Chennai. The program was conducted in Tamil (predominantly) and English. Ms. Ashok traced the journey, thus far, of her son Arpith, who is a trainee at our Mylapore center.
20th to 23rd Mar – We started the Free Screening campaign in CPS Corporation High School, Velachery for the students, age group 2 to 7yrs. 80 students participated in this Free Screening Camp, children who are "at risk" were identified. School Teachers were trained on the home programs and the techniques to handle these children in class.
25th March – Staff Training Conducted by Ms. Lavanya Ashok on the topic: Power of Play. Over members attended the training program.
27th to 30th March – The Quarterly Observation & Review was conducted for all the students. Parents were given an opportunity to observe the sessions and the child's improvements and goals were discussed.
Kaleidoscope Learning Centre
From Shashikala Subramaniam's Desk
The school, children and teachers acted as a research / feedback medium to a young girl of 16 who had taken upon herself, to work on a working model of a toy for special children, who would travel by plane, to keep them entertained and occupied during the journey. She met with us about 4 months back, took notes on what worked and what would not work with these children, KLC style and worked on it. She brought out this environmentally friendly box (made from smooth mango wood, coloured with natural colours). The lid could be used as a rattle – had a pleasing mild sound, inside were wooden squares – each one different to touch, see and feel. Textures, shapes, small pieces of glass, beads to form shapes under an acrylic glass, spring between 2 squares to play, magnets at the bottom of the squares which attracted and repelled. Joanna from KC High. She took back more suggestions that could be done on this prototype and promised to get a few of the toys for our students in school.
Friday afternoon along with the time for meetings, we make time for Text Study with the teachers. Groups of teachers sit together and read the text and at the end of the hour, presentations on what they learnt / understood from it is discussed. This brings about times when a teacher explains it in detail on the board to others, heated discussions about what another teacher understood from it and talk about many live examples among our own students in school where Steiner's explanations live.
In this whole month of March, everybody, and everything in KLC breathed Kadambari from morning till late in the night (at times), weeks and weeks together till March 31st, Friday. A few main points:
The seed of the story was from the students, which was developed by Neha and Puja into an 8 scene play. Script, Music, most of the costumes, props, accessories – headgear, neckpieces, armaments, backdrops, and everything related to the play was done in-house. All students and teachers worked on it along with a few friends too. Recycled materials were used mostly – newspapers, old waste clothes, feathers, shells, rajma, etc. were all used aesthetically for the final look. Practice of the play took place in the portico of the school building and the other units joined us in the last 2 weeks to put the play together. Some major props were made by VTU, EI and YES units too.
A few Feedback given here:
An Ode to Kadambari
So many things to admire
In this journey of Kadambari
That life is about passion and fire
And the will to break free
Two Bisleri cans an hourglass make
A silver cascade, a slithering snake
And when that pit that was dug, began to rise
O what a wonderful surprise!
With the bar set high and teachers who believe
Truly, there is nothing our children can't achieve
Larger than life, a feast for the senses
Eyes welling,
Heart swelling,
Kadambari gently broke through our defences.
- Madhura, Siddarth's mother.
&nsbp;
Saw Kadambari online yesterday
What can I say.it was so overwhelmingly beautiful.
Every single aspect of the musical was divine
A big kudos to all involved in this show
The music especially was so haunting, the tunes still reverberating in me. The costumes and props were so simple and so effective, added to the brilliance of the show. I wish I could have witnessed it in person. Having been a choreographer for so many years, I was impressed with the seamless way the whole prog went about each scene merging into another.
Congrats..
All in all, a lovely 90 minutes, that sped past winding through that wondrous jungle with trees, waterfalls, caverns and the hoot of owls, Sinuous slithering snakes, peacocks that dance while monkeys jump, and tigers and cubs move freely.
The finale was awesome as the animals left the hall in a procession of sorts led by the heroine who finally accepts that forgiveness itself is an act of Love!
My heart simply was tugged at by the exemplary messages of love, care, concern,….the nuances were there, layer upon layer!
Ah! That is an emotion one feels witnessing Kadambari! for your heart strings are tugged and how!
Emotional moments, unshed tears are what the audience gets.
Kudos to the organisers!
V-Excel Educational Trust
Annual experiential trip to Pollachi
Trainees and trainers from VTU (Vocational Training Unit) of V-Excel went for a Annual experiential trip to Pollachi- Coimbatore for 9 days .
When photos talk louder than words we donot need to write an elaborate review.
The highlight was all had a great time. Planning a trip to such a scale of 22 people could be very concerning. Lots of anxiety for all adapting to weather conditions, long travels, food timings and packed days . One of our trainees was much appreciated as he turned out to be a champ and managed himself well independently. Proud moment indeed.
The trip got us thinking that this is what the curriculum for young adults should be. Looking forward to many more.
Women's Day Celebration
Women's Day Celebrations in V-Excel - EI (Early Intervention) celebrated by felicitating super moms who went out of their way to give importance to the continuity of therapy for their child and diligently worked on their home program. This helped the teachers too in achieving specific goals for each child. V-Excel Founder-Director Dr. Vasudha Prakash thanked the mom's saying they were the real women to be celebrated and gifted them cards made by their children.
YES(Youth Empowerment Services) - 25 female employees from Intercontinental (IC) hotel who visited them along with their training head Mr. Atul Nagarkar. They celebrated with yummy food, activities like quiz, card making and exchanged gifts. YES trainees got a beautiful digital watch from them and each employee received a gift hamper with products made by our trainees. We also gifted them with an artwork made exclusively for the event.
Holi Celebrations
The V-Excel center at Nashik celebrated Holi with colors and full enthusiasm. They made the festivity very enjoyable for our special people. Happy Holi All!!
Field Trip
YES team visited the trade fair exhibition at Islands grounds yesterday. TTDC staff were very supportive and helpful. We went around the stalls of different government departments. We also visited the models of London bridge, Dubai city and Malaysia twin towers.
Disability Awareness Session at Novotel
The Yes Unit of V-Excel, upon an invitation from the Accor Group of Hotels, we conducted a Disability Awareness Session at Novotel Chennai Chamiers Road, on March 13. The session was attended by 35 employees of the hotel including the GM and HoDs.
V-Excel's presenters were - Ms. Gayathri Suryanarayanan who spoke about social inclusion and covered the "whys", "hows" and other FAQs of inclusion. Our counselor, Ms. Jayadevi Jayaprakash, explained about disability, the types of disabilities, how to support individuals with disabilities at the workplace and strategies to handle situations. They were assisted by Ms. Sujanya Thangavelu of our Mylapore centre. The messages that we passed along were well-received.
Discussion 1...from the previous post on Disability Awareness session @Novotel Chennai
Discussion 2 from the previous post-Disability Awareness Session @Novotel Chennai
Workshop
V-Excel conducted another successful workshop on 15th March on "Team Building" for all at Monexo Fintech Ltd. in Chennai.
The session was conducted by Dr. Vasudha Prakash and Mr. Natarajan, well received by everyone at Monexo and they gave us positive feedback. The movement and activities got the whole office, from the CEO to the office boy on their feet, dancing ,energised and doing everything that was not usual for them. Monexo, was very grateful to V-Excel for getting their team together and help the employees to think differently. They look forward to more sessions with V-Excel.
Conference
Ms. Lavanya Ashok, our coordinator for Early Intervention services in Chennai, gave a poster presentation entitled "Runway to Takeoff - An Odyssey of a Special Mother" at the conference on 'Best Practices in the Rehabilitation for Individuals with Special Needs', organized by Vasantham Residential Special School. The conference was held on 17th & 18th of March 2023 at Mogappair, Chennai. The program was conducted in Tamil (predominantly) and English. Ms. Ashok traced the journey, thus far, of her son Arpith, who is a trainee at our Mylapore center.
Akshadh was felicitated by the Indore Collector on Down Syndrome Day
An article on Akshad, 21yrs. Who has Down Syndrome, was published in the papers on Down Syndrome Day. He and his family had moved to Nashik for 2 years from Indore, for getting him trained in YES, a unit of V-Excel Educational Trust.
He plays the tabla and synthesizer. His mother mentioned that Akshadh made and sold envelopes and diyas in Indore and bought himself a mobile from that money. He has even written a letter for Prime Minister Modi which they will soon post to him.
Akshadh was felicitated by the Indore Collector on Down Syndrome Day. Wed. 21,2023.
Satellite Centers
From Jayanthi Vishwanath in Nashik
The much-awaited festival of Holi was celebrated on 6th March in all the 3 Centres of Nashik with joy and gaiety. Both students and teachers smeared organic dry colour powders on one another and danced to upbeat musical numbers. The students enjoyed eating the laddoos prepared specially for the occasion.
On the 8th of March, Woman's Day was celebrated by all the teachers of the Centres.
Savitribai Phule's memorial day was observed on 10th March 2023. The children were enlightened with information about this renowned teacher, Indian social reformer, educationist, and poet from Maharashtra. Along with her husband, Jyotiba Phule in Maharashtra, she played a vital role in improving women's rights in India. She is considered to be the pioneer of India's feminist movement.Savitribai Phule was a trailblazer in providing education for girls and for ostracized portions of society. She became the first female teacher in India (1848) and opened a school for girls with her husband.
On 21st March, Down's syndrome day was celebrated at the YES center by the teachers and trainees. All the students' trainees with Down's syndrome were felicitated on this day.
On the same day, the Marathi New year Gudi Paadwa was also celebrated by making a Gudi(Doll) and preforming a puja to the Gudi. Gudi Padwa marks the first day of the New Year in the Hindu traditional calendar. Gudi Padwa signifies Brahmadwaj – meaning that Brahma created the entire universe on this day. Gudi is made by tying a piece of fresh cloth around a bamboo stick of about 5 feet long and neem leaves along with sugar candy garland are placed on it. The stick is then placed in silver or bronze pot. Next, a clean copper or bronze pot is placed upside down over the cloth at the top. This Gudi is then hoisted at the doorway in a prominent position such that everybody can see it. The festivities begin early in the morning and the Gudi is worshipped five to ten minutes after sunrise. The placing of the Gudi at the entrance of the house signifies the victory of good over evil.
The year end evaluation of all the students began on 27th March.
Erode
Every year, we get teams of physiotherapists who visit our center and get trained on the various aspects of therapy for the special needs children. During this month, students from Nanda college of Physiotherapy approached us with the request of getting trained. Three students were in the center from 9.30 to 12.30 p.m. under the guidance of our Physiotherapists Ms. Nandini and Ms. Dhanvanthri. They observed the students and were trained on some of the strategies and activities for them. It was a good experience for them and also for us to have them spending time with our students.
As we are in the last lap of this academic year, the staff is busy with the Home Programs and the reviews of children and then meeting parents. We are also planning for the Tamil new year.
Wishing you all a very happy Vishu and a happy new year!!!
Solapur
On 8th March 2023, We celebrated woman's day at our center.
Program was arranged at Indira Sabha Gruh, Solapur. Program was specifically arranged for mother's and teachers of our school to motivate their hidden talent and give them some relaxed and happy time.
Mrs. Sunita Vaidya was the chief guest. Program was hosted by Mrs Rajani Bahirat and Mrs. Namrata Gaur. Group dance,solo dance, songs were performed by teachers and mothers. All mothers and teachers won gifts enjoyed various fun games, antakshari , group dance and delicious snacks at the end of the program.
From 20th March teachers have been busy in term end evaluation and preparing report card of their students.
Abhyasa Kendra, Srirangam
In Abhyasa Kendra we give therapy sessions for our trainees and remedial students. Ms. Latha N. is the Physiotherapist at our Center. She gives shoulder strengthening, trunk stability, trunk mobility, trunk strengthening, SLR, pelvic pose, calms down, joint attention, proprioceptor (kneeling, kneel walking), sitting and squatting, push-up and pull-up exercises, Midline cross, visual motor, bilateral eye-hand coordination, arm exercise, bear crawl, low pose, star jump exercise and peg board, beads, puzzles activities, clay activities, screwing and unscrewing, shoe lace activities and daily living activities depending on their needs. She gives therapy for remedial students in 2 batches and in between, she gives therapy for the trainees. She takes group therapy also in alternate days.
Physiotherapy (PT) & Occupational therapy (OT) can be highly beneficial for disabled children as it helps them to develop the necessary skills to perform everyday tasks and improve their overall quality of life. Here are some specific benefits of occupational therapy for disabled children:
1. Improves fine and gross motor skills: OT helps children to improve their hand-eye coordination, balance, and overall movement control, which can help them to perform tasks such as getting dressed, eating, and writing more easily.
2. Enhances sensory integration: For children with sensory processing disorders, OT can help them to better understand and respond to sensory information. It can also help to reduce sensitivity to stimuli, improve attention, and promote overall relaxation.
3. Facilitates social skills: OT can assist children with disabilities to develop social skills and to communicate effectively with their peers, parents, and teachers.
4. Enhances cognitive skills: OT can help children with cognitive disabilities to develop their thinking, reasoning, and problem-solving abilities, improving their overall cognitive abilities and self-esteem.
5. Helps with daily living skills: OT can help disabled children to perform daily living activities like bathing, grooming, and toileting more efficiently and independently.
6. Improves gross motor skills: Physiotherapy can help children to improve their gross motor skills such as balance, coordination, and strength, which can help them to perform activities like walking, running, and jumping more efficiently.
7. Enhances mobility: For children with physical disabilities, physiotherapy can help to improve mobility, increase range of motion, and improve overall physical functioning.
8. Reduces pain and discomfort: Physiotherapy can help to reduce pain and discomfort associated with physical disabilities through the use of various techniques such as massage, stretching, and exercise.
9. Promotes independence: By improving physical abilities, physiotherapy can help children to become more independent in their daily activities and reduce the need for assistance from caregivers.
10. Prevents secondary complications: Physiotherapy can help to prevent secondary complications associated with physical disabilities, such as muscle atrophy, joint stiffness, and pressure sores.
From Outreach Remedial Center, Pollachi
New premises
Outreach Remedial Center, a unit of Outreach Educational and Charitable Trust, Pollachi. In association with V-Excel Educational trust, Chennai has been shifted to a new premises as a separate block with the existing Learning Center for Exceptional children at Pollachi.
For the opening ceremony on 28.03.2023, Puja Shri Saksath Krithaanandha Sarasvati Swami, Chief Acharya, Sri Gangadhaeswar trust, Hrishikesh graced the occasion and blessed our students, parents, faculty and management.
Smt. Lekshmi Ramesh Unit Head from V-Excel Educational Trust and Smt. Ponnieswari, Donor from Coimbatore accepted our invitation and blessed us.
Swamiji, in his address, emphasized the need for special schools is more and service to these individuals need compassion and determination when compared to other social services.
Trustees Shri. Bala Murugan and Dr. Manju, Outreach Educational and Charitable Trust, Pollachi, family members, friends also visited our premises to seek blessings from Saksath Swami.
From Ananda Karuna Vidyalalyam, Ambattur
Greetings from Ananda Karuna Vidyalalyam!
March 1st - Krishnamacharya yoga manthram assessment
March 2nd - Yellow day celebration
March 9th – Women's day celebration
March 9th & 10th - Korattur Government school assessment
March 17th & 18th - Vasantham presentation
March 19th - Home visit
March 21st - World Down Syndrome day
March 23rd – Stationery kit and blessing by Sumathi mam for NIOS students
March 24th, 25th & 27th - 10th & 12th - NIOS practical
March 25th – Annual sports day
March 26th – Bharathanatyam by Mrs. Jayashree for Nadhananda Sangeetha Vidyalaya - Golden jubilee celebration
March 28th – Embar S. Kannan violin music special program for children
March 30th - Rama Navami celebration
Vocational Training Unit
From Charumathi Sriram's Desk
Visit to Coir Industry
This month started with fun and frolic of Annual Experiential trip to Pollachi and Coimbatore, preparing for Annual Day, busy making props and ended with stage show of spectacular performance of 'Kadambari'.
Annual Experiential Trip To Pollachi/Coimbatore – Feb 27th To Mar 3rd March 2023
What different does this Experiential Annual Trip does to our trainees, teachers and staff?
Yes, lots of learning on, independent living, accommodating to travel in a train without parents but with us, setting the berth and bed, chatting with co-passengers, waking up early without any issues and many more.
We (12 trainees and 10 staff) left on 26th Feb by train to Coimbatore and reached at early hours. We travelled by mini bus to Pollachi where we had arranged for accommodation at Iyal Thottam, Sethumedu, Anamalai district, Pollachi which was at the base of Top Slip forest area covered with coconut grove. It was a eco-friendly based set up and the rooms and dining hall were built with natural materials and bamboos. It was surrounded with Peacocks and dogs. Delicious food was served and packed wherever we went for local travel.
Day 1 – Visit to Coir Industry where we saw making of Cocopeat, V-Excel Outreach center and a resort which had all the best varieties of birds around the world and various breeds of dogs. All these were organised by our Pollachi team Manju and Bala.
Day 2 – Top Slip – Elephant Camp
Early morning, we left to Top Slip Anamalai Tiger Reserve Forest to watch the Elephant feeding. Trainees woke up at 4.30 am and got ready. Packed the breakfast. On the way uphill we could see deer, peacocks, monkeys, different varieties of birds.
Afternoon – Few trainees and staff went on a tractor ride to a stream and had bath.
Evening – Games and entertainment by local drummers and all trainees were so excited and moved in rhythm with them. It was surprising that the high decibels didn't disturb them.
Day – 3 – Vaalpaarai – Hill station with tea plantation. Most of the falls and viewpoint were closed but it was an amazing experience to have 40 hairpin bends and none of the trainees had any issues. We packed lunch and had it alongside tea estates.
Evening we had games and then started packing as we had to leave next day early morning.
Day 4 – Isha Yoga center visited Dynalingam, Linga Bharavi and special lunch was provided to us and trainees took rest. We were taken to the Goshala and a yoga session was conducted for our trainees. Music and dance activity was performed by the volunteers for our trainees. We left to Adiyogi and had dinner by 6.30 and watched 3D lighting show which was spectacular, and everyone enjoyed. During all these, there was lot of walking to be done and none of the trainees felt tired or irritated. They were very adaptable right from waking up every day early morning at 4.30-5 am or delay in lunch or breakfast. They danced in the bus and slept as the weather was too good and everyone enjoyed.
Concert for Friendship – British Council and KM music conservatory on March 4th, 2023 at Sri Mutha Venkata Subba Rao concert hall, Chetpet.
Some of our VTU trainees and staff along with other V-Excel units students, attended the Concert for Friendship on Saturday 4th March, 2023 at Lady Andal Mutha Venkata Subba Rao Concert Hall. Concert for Friendship is a collaboration between the British Council and KM Music Conservatory to celebrate the ability of musc in cultivating friendship. A part of the India/UK Together Season of Culture, the concert features young artists from different countries in one symphonic performance – The AR Rahman Foundation's Sunshine Orchestra, Sistema Scotland's Big Noise and KM Music Conservatory. The 100 musicians on stage, most aged between 8-20, and the concert will also include a post performance sensory tour where audience can interact with he musicians and their instruments.
Trainees were engrossed with the beautiful melodies, Naga and Tamil folk songs and Carnatic melodies. They also tried the instruments and interacted with the musicians.
Good Company At VTU
A small group called Good Company where Mr. Natesan, who is in the spectrum and works at Grundfos, will come on every Saturday to VTU and play keyboard and have music sessions and interact to make friends has been initiated. Rishi our Student program coordinator taught a new song and Natesan played it in the keyboard. He will come regularly on Saturdays. This program is to create friendship among the special needs. They also started going for a movie and more outings will be organised.
Visit By Mindsprint CSR Team On 15th March 2023
We had visitors from CSR team of Mindspree company. They saw all our products and was very impressed especially the block printing unit. Trainees intereacted with them and showcased their work.
Making Of Props And Practice Sessions For Annual Day
As the Annual Day musical drama 'Kadambari' was gearing up, one team of 7 trainees and 2 staff started practice at Sharada everyday and other team was busy with making of props. Ideas were given by Usha and team. VTU created Elephant, Carcas, fish and flowers, basket for market scene. Teachers and co-workers executed the ideas along with the trainees with full coordination and dedication. Trainees were enjoying stitching, painting, cutting the materials, drawing on the cloth and brought life to the final products. Trainees Vishal, Varun, Nehal, Abhishek, Hariharan, Swaminathan and Ashwin were involved in making of these props. The Elephant was made with human and balance props. Everyday training was given to the staff and trainees with regard to the walk. As we had our Annual trip to Elephant sanctuary and showed them the real Elephant and their habitat, trainees were able to connect and imitated the same.
On the D-Day of 31st March, Elephant and Deer stole the show. Human Elephant were Ashwin, Adrian, Abhishek, Lokesh, Staff Abee Wakas and Rishi Subramanian. On the finale they went on a parade around the audience for which they got a standing ovation.
• Charu was busy inviting all the donors and well-wishers and also contact the media.
• Mani was busy helping in buying materials and coordinating with teachers regarding the props.
• Charu and Usha visited Grundfos to invite the Country Head, CSR and HR team. Chandra who is interning invited them with the invitation.
• We had dress rehearsal on Thursday, 30th Mar 2023 at the hall and did all corrections regarding the props and other related dance.
Annual Day – 'Kadambari' On 31st March 2023 At Narada Gana Sabha
Spectacular day started where all the staff assembling at Narada Gana Sabha to set up the stage for to bring our 'KADAMBARI' who is going to give a message to the world. Forest and village were set on the stage with all the props done by our V-Excel family with their creative ideas, art, craft and many more expertise. Each unit were assigned role and responsibilities and was busy executing it. Vasanth our therapist drew amazing and colourful Rangoli of the 'Kadambari with Neni (Tiger)' in the entrance with the help of EI and YES staff.
VTU staff and EI team set the reception area with affixing the posters of behind the scenes photos, poems written by KLC students and Art expressions of Kadambari by Arpith on the boards kept in the entrance.
At 4.30 pm everyone started coming and all of us got ready to invite the guests. Charu, Usha, Gayathri, Lekshmi Ramesh and YES team were there to receive the guest in the reception and EI team were inside the hall to make them be seated. Charu and Usha received the Chief Guest Smt. Ranjani and Smt. Gayathri, Renowned Carnatic Vocalists and Vionlists. Mr. Sudeep and Sudha accompanied them and we showed them the rangoli and display of art work and poems. They were so happy and stunned to see the work. They were walked through the hall and to their seat in the front row. The show started sharp 4.45 pm.
Charu and Usha were busy with the media team who were asking for bytes about the Kadambari and V-Excel. Grundfos team arrived and were made to sit in a comfortable place. Hall for filled with audience and with so much of appreciation and claps. All the unit heads had a few movements on the stage with Vasudha and also ended with finale walking behind the Elephant.
It was a spectacular show and each and everyone appreciated and wished us and messaged after the program with their feedback.
Therapy, Functional Academy And Counselling Sessions
• Therapist Vasanth made the trainees involve in the props making.
• Uma our functional Academics Consultant prepared them regarding the stage, lighting, Kadambari story, their role in the play and importance of the props they are making.
• Counselling sessions went on as usual preparing the trainees for the Annual Day.
Youth Empowerment Services
From Gayathri Suryanarayanan's Desk
Key highlights for the month of March 2023
• Vocational training program, Counselling and Therapy services.
• Field trip – Chennai Trade Fair
• Women’s day celebration
• Annual progress review meeting
• Orientation program at Novotel Chamiers road
• Hexaware volunteers visit
• Preparation for the Annual day play – Kadambari
• Progress in Archery
• Production
Vocational training program, Counselling and Therapy services
March 2023 was filled with events and co-curricular activities; training and production slightly took a back seat during the second half of the month. Practice sessions for the annual day play, Kadambari started around the second week and the other preparations for the same were happening at a parallel level. As about 14 trainees participated in the play, the rest of the trainees were involved in training and production.
Volunteers from Take a Step and volunteers from Hexaware visited YES as scheduled. Counselling sessions for the trainees, staff and the parents took place.
Therapy sessions were happening regularly.
Field trip of the month – Chennai Trade Fair
On 07 March 2023, 12 trainees and 8 staff members from YES visited the Trade Fair exhibition at Islands Grounds. We went around the stalls of different government departments and visited the models of London bridge, Dubai city and Malaysia twin towers. It was very educative and informative going around all the department stalls. Staff at the stalls took time and patiently explained everything. We also got a chance to ride the toy train around the premises. TTDC staff were very supportive and helpful. They helped us by waiving off the entry fee.
Women’s Day celebration at YES
25 female employees from Intercontinental (IC) hotel visited YES on 08 March 2032, to celebrate International Women’s Day, along with their training head Mr. Atul Nagarkar. The team celebrated with yummy food, activities like quizzes, card making and exchanged gifts. All YES trainees got a beautiful digital watch from them, and each IC employee received a gift hamper with products made by our trainees. We also gifted them with artwork made exclusively for the event. This was a wonderful occasion and gave our trainees an opportunity to interact with people from the industry. On the other hand, the team from IC appreciated our efforts and mentioned that this was an eye opener for them with respect to supporting special needs.
Annual progress review meeting
As preparation in setting up goals for the coming academic year 2023 – 24, a progress review meeting for all the trainees started in the month of March. Meetings were scheduled in such a way to include the counsellor and the therapist along with the coordinator. Each parent was given a clear understanding about the current program for that trainee, his/her progress, counselling and therapy needs and support and overall observations. Parents shared their viewpoints and challenges as well. By the end of March 80% of the parents have been met and very few were pending. This whole process will be completed by 05 April 2023.
Orientation program at Novotel, Chamiers road
The YES Unit of V-Excel, upon an invitation from the Accor Group of Hotels, conducted a Disability Awareness Session at Novotel Chennai Chamiers Road, on March 13. The session was attended by 35 employees of the hotel including the GM and HODs.
The presenters were - Ms. Gayathri Suryanarayanan from YES, who spoke about social inclusion and covered the "why’s", "how's" and other FAQs of inclusion. Counselor, Ms. Jayadevi Jayaprakash, explained about disability, the types of disabilities, how to support individuals with disabilities at the workplace and strategies to handle situations. They were assisted by Ms. Sujanya Thangavelu from YES. The messages that were passed along were well-received.
Hexaware volunteer visit
The Hexaware volunteers visit in the month of March was fun and memorable. About 17 volunteers came and took time to get connected with our trainees. The agenda for the day was already set and it included outdoor play time, art time, music, dance hour and chit-chat time. Trainees thoroughly enjoyed every single moment. The session ended with sharing their thoughts and feedback from the volunteers.
Preparation and participation - Kadambari
As the annual day was on 31 March, more than 2 weeks of the month was completely dedicated to that practice and the props making. Trainees started their play practice on 14th and props making began the following week. On 17 March, pictures and video for the concluding part of Kadambari was shot at YES. Lead roles were done by Shruthi and Govindarajan while a few other trainees also participated as people of the World.
For the props, YES team made a food cart, bird cage, medicine counter, chain saw, placards with social messages and all the fast-food items also. Arts and Crafts mentor Ms. Girija, therapist Mr. Vasanth and TAS volunteer Ms. Prasanna Narayani along with YES staff and trainees made the props. All the props came out very well.
Progress in Archery
Assessment and fine tuning of the Archery program continued in the month of March. Archery master Mr. Bala pointed out their strengths and limitations. Out of 9 trainees 5 are ready to move to the next level and a decision to upgrade the bows has been taken. These new bows will get them ready to even participate in archery events outside of V-Excel.
Production
Because of all the annual play activities, there was not much production work in the month of March. While we managed to pull through with laundry services, very minimum production happened in other vocations except kitchen. Vegetable shopping and chopping continued to happen and 4 kgs each of Rice upma mix, Millet Mix and Kanji maavu were prepared to be included in the gift hampers for the special guests of the annual play, Kadambari. Also, we completed the internal order of printing receipt and payment voucher books for all the other V-Excel units for the new financial year 2023-24.