Activities and Events - Leonard Cheshire Disability - South Asia Regional Office (SARO)

Given below is a summary of activities and events that have occurred during this period - 

Mainstreaming Disability Progamme: SARO supported Dark and Light and REK to organise a workshop on Mainstreaming Disability for their partners in southern India between the 20th and 22nd January 2010. SARO acted as local resource for the organisations to conduct organisational assessment and mapping exercise and to provide inputs on how to mainstream disability into the existing programmes of the organisations. The objective of the workshop was to equip the participants with appropriate knowledge, ideas and attitudes to initiate the mainstreaming process in their respective organisations in a systematic and planned manner. This workshop was organised at Manipal county in Bangalore and was attended by more than fifteen participants from different organisations across southern India. 

Followed by the success of the inputs the Regional Representative was invited to facilitate a session on Mainstreaming Disability for International partners of Dark and Light and other NGO members of the ICCO alliance in Netherlands. The workshop was organised in Ethiopia in the month of June and the topic for inputs was Rights based Approach - a conceptual framework application of Rights Based Approach (RBA) to disability and development. The inputs were greatly appreciated.

World Jewish Relief (WJR) Trustee visit: In the month of February SARO office had a privileged visit from Mr. Peter Reichwald and his kind hearted wife Ms. Marion Jane Reichwald who were in India to visit one of our projects at Nagapattinam funded by World Jewish Relief. They were accompanied by the regional representative and head of programmes during their visit to the project location. Peter and Marion visited some of the clients and their family members we have been working with. They interacted with the staff and the clients. Their visit had tremendous impact on some of the clients. They wanted to express their gratitude in their own words and later drew pictures and wrote letters to the couple. Peter and Marion had an opportunity to witness the impact of their support and in the words of Peter himself  “WJR has provided significant ongoing practical assistance for a suffering that remains long after the main aid agencies withdraw. The Chief Rabbi describes community as society with a human face, a place where one is not alone. This project is a practical expression of this, and one, we hope, like us, you will feel proud to be associated with.” 

On 3rd March 2010 the Regional Representative was invited to facilitate a session on inclusion through a holistic approach in Inter-country meeting for Promotion of Inclusivity  in Education, Employment, Health and Well Being of Persons with Disability in the South-East Asia Region organised by Amar Jyothi Trust and Rehabilitation International at Delhi. The attendees focused on inclusivity in the areas of education, accessibility, employment and health and prevention. There were eminent speakers from 22 different countries, representatives from international organizations such as the World Bank, UNESCO, and UNICEF etc. Programme Officer for Inclusive Education SARO also participated in this particular event. 

Participatory Research Workshop on Disability and Development: SARO had the opportunity to facilitate organising a Participatory research Workshop on Disability and Development for a Cross cutting Disability and Research Programme managed by Leonard Cheshire Disability and Inclusive Development Centre at University College London on April 5th and 6th 2010. This research programme is funded by the Department for International Development. This research programme is an innovative three-year project which focuses on how disability can be effectively mainstreamed into wider international development projects and research in order to address poverty among persons with disabilities. The aim of this Programme is to provide evidence, based on original qualitative and quantitative research, on how disability interacts with other factors related to poverty to better understand how development policies and programmes can more effectively improve the lives of persons with disabilities. The goal is to increase the sustained social and economic inclusion of disabled people in international development projects in low and middle income countries. The event was attended by some eminent personalities representing some of the prominent organisations in the disability sector from across India and neighbouring countries. 

Capacity Building workshop for SARO team: Consultant Mr. Manab Bose was invited to facilitate a workshop for SARO team titled “Good to Great” on 15th and 16th April 2010. The purpose of the workshop was to inspire and instigate the SARO team to look at the team performance and work towards achieving greater results. The message conveyed was that though the team is good there is still scope for greatness.  

Decennial celebrations: The year 2010 has great significance in the life of SARO. It represents the tenth year of existence in South Asia. Though Cheshire Homes have existed in the region for more than half a century it was exactly a decade ago that the International department established a Training and Development Centre in the region and K. R Rajendra was appointed the Training and Development Officer in the year 2000. Under his able leadership the organisation has come a long way from 27 Homes to 23 medium to large outreach programmes besides the existing homes reaching out to more than 20,000 disabled people addressing not only their basic necessities but fundamental human rights. The first team member to be appointed after Rajendra was Srinivas  office assistant. His diligent service has ensured that all the staff, visitors and guests are attended to with a smiling face. The team celebrated his services by presenting him a watch as a small token of appreciation. Different projects in Prakasham, Sri Lanka, SARO team and others joined in the celebrations by felicitating Rajendra and showering the office with good wishes.