VAANI and Swabalambi
Swabalambi is a cross-disability organisation working in Dimoria Block of 12 Gaon Panchayats of Kamrup district in Assam since1997. Through CBR, the organisation focuses on:
•home-based education for children with disabilities.
•raising awareness about issues of disability, prevention and management .
•enhancing the capacity of people with disabilities, their families and the community
•networking with other organisations and agencies and Government at all levels for influencing policy, action and legislation
•mobilising resources for CBR activities
•empowering girls/women with disabilities by skill-training and inclusion in all CBR activities
•counselling people with disabilities and their parents
•formation of self-help groups for economic sustainability
•rehabilitation of adults with disabilities into local trades
Swabalambi’s project with VAANI aims to rehabilitate deaf children of the rural areas through community based rehabilitation. CBR workers involved in the project will receive further training on hearing impairment.
The CBR team identifies deaf children through a house to house survey and includes other necessary data about the villages assigned to them. The identified children are assessed by the CBR workers in consultation with professionals and a rehabilitation programme is worked out according to their needs. Family members are to be trained to use sign language or other communication methods and develop family communication.
Sensitsation and training will be provided for primary school teachers and villagers, with the support of the local Panchayat. Short orientation programmes will be organised at local schools to motivate inclusion of deaf children. Awareness Meeting will be organised at the villages.