ACTION
FOR DISABILITY
Overseas Projects - India
Home page
India
Back to Overseas Project Page
3-4%
of the Indian population has a significant disability. The main problems are caused by
polio, meningitis, cerebral palsy, leprosy, spinal injury and head injury. Since the
majority of disabled people in developing countries live in rural areas, the community
based rehabilitation (CBR) approach is being increasingly used to reach larger sections of
the disabled population. The philosophy is to integrate disabled people into mainstream
society rather create special environments for them.
Rehabilitation does exist in major urban centres though this
is usually too remote and too expensive to be of any relevance to the rural communities.
Therefore, less than 1% of disabled people have any access to rehabilitation facilities
and the overwhelming majority are excluded from education, employment and community life. 
There
are virtually no state supported community based rehabilitation facilities in rural India
and development projects rely almost exclusively on local and international
non-Governmental organisations (NGOs).
AFD has been working in southern India for several years, in partnership with local organisations, developing community based rehabilitation programmes for people with disabilities. Our aim is not simply to deliver rehabilitation services, but to help empower disabled people to take control over their own lives, their rehabilitation, their education and their employment prospects.
We have two main projects in rural India – Rural Aid and
SACRED which are currently being funded through a grant from the National Lottery. We
began our association with Rural Aid in 1993 when they contacted us after reading an
article on our objectives, in ActionAid Disability News. Rural Aid is situated south of
Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu, South India, and was established in 1985 to meet the growing
demands of the disabled population in the area. We began our partnership by funding their
orthotic and prosthetic workshop and then by supporting their multi-purpose health worker
programme. More recently we have taken the step of funding a community based
rehabilitation project, including a school for speech and hearing impaired children.
Our second project is run in partnership with a local organisation called SACRED (Social Action for Child Rehabilitation, Emancipation and Development) in remote rural communities near Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh. This is an innovative project which aims to empower disabled people to take charge of their own lives and develop their own support, employment and education opportunities.
Rural Aid is situated south of Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu, South India.
It was established is 1985 to meet the growing demands of the disabled population in the
area. Before this time, the disabled population had virtually no access to rehabilitation
services or interventions.
The first step in our partnership with Rural Aid was to fund
their orthotic workshop. This was the first time we had funded a capital project but we
felt it to be a very necessary expense. Two young men, both of them disabled through
polio, were trained at the Association for the Physically Disabled in Bangalore. The
workshop also has a physiotherapy area and this is run by a young disabled woman who is
trained locally. Disabled people who can make the journey to Rural Aid are assessed at the
workshop for aids and appliances. Those disabled people who are unable to make the journey
are seen in their village by the technicians.
Multi purpose health workers are employed in the project and they support the 30 dais (traditional birth attendants) who work at a village level.
The major services undertaken are:
Ante-Natal Services
- Registration of ante-natal cases, education including hygiene and nutrition
Natal Services
- Assisting mothers in home based delivery, encouraging early
breast-feeding.
Post-Natal Services
- Growth monitoring through Tamil Nadu Integrated Nutrition Project.
- Oral rehydration – through education and preparation.
- Breast feeding – education, encouragement, weaning practices
- Immunisation with Government collaboration
- Nutrition – through education, demonstration, kitchen gardening.
Treatment of Minor Ailments
- Basic drugs are provided to treat minor ailments in the villages
Family welfare
- Encouragement of small families
- Gender issues and female literacy.
- Registration of vital events
- Referral to specialist centres
- Communicable diseases prevention and environmental sanitation. Action for Disability has been funding this since 1994.
Rural Aid runs a school for speech and hearing
impaired children which is also funded by Action for Disability.
We are now funding a community based rehabilitation project at Rural Aid. 7 multi purpose health workers are now employed and oversee the work of the 30 dais. A programme co-ordinator, one orthotic technician and an assistant and 10 teachers are also employed.
Through our partnership with Rural Aid we aim to create a self-sustainable project which will benefit many disabled people and their families.
SACRED (Social Action for Child Rehabilitation,
Emancipation and Development) is a project based in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, South
India. The overall aim of SACRED is to bring qualitative change to the lives of disabled
people living in rural areas through the promotion and use of community based
rehabilitation. SACRED facilitates disabled people to identify and tackle the issues which
have bearing on their life.
Mr Thippanna runs the project and 2 community based rehabilitation workers, community based animators and village based health workers.
The participation of parents is felt to be vital in the rehabilitation of disabled children. The aim is to bring disabled children into the mainstream of development and empower them to have equal opportunities and independence. Groups are formed of disabled children and adults to address the issues which affect them.
Mini banks operate and many families benefit from being able to start their own business. AFD is to fund a CBR resource centre for SACRED on land which has been given to the organisation.