Bengaluru: A journey of self-discovery led Mr C.M. Kathavarayan to start an organisation that would help children, either visually challenged or differently abled, to learn and enjoy life like their peers.
The 67-year-old founder of Welfare Association for Rehabilitation of Disabled and Society (WARDS) is soft-spoken and disciplined as he has always been for the school prayers at WARDS. “I was visually impaired because of wrong diagnosis and treatment, but this never stopped me from learning and also becoming a teacher,” he says with a laugh.
Mr Kathavarayan used to be a teacher at a blind school, but he felt that his calling lay in something more. “I used to hear about abled people helping visually or mentally impaired children and I thought why not me?”
He started WARDS in a small piece of land in Jeevan Bimanagar in 1992 with just 10 children. In 25 years, WARDS has grown, and now teaches 50 children in and around the city. The non-profit organisation identifies children from various slums in Bengaluru and supports those suffering from autism, cerebral palsy, multiple disabilities and mental retardation.
“We teach them life skills and vocational courses, and the endeavour is to bridge the gap between these children and others in the same age group,” he explains.
The organisation not just trains the children, but also provides daycare facilities which include lunch and snacks. “We provide the children mid-day meal and snacks. We also conduct physiotherapy, music therapy and speech therapy classes,” says the founder.
The daycare programme caters to the autistic and mentally challenged individuals. The staff at WARDS takes care of them during the day. Vocational training and simple education with yoga and life skills are imparted to the individuals based on the degree of disability.
Currently, WARDS has 20 staff members, including teachers, office staff and physiotherapists who work constantly to help these children cast aside their weaknesses and fight their way through life, without any inhibition.
In the therapy services, physiotherapy is being provided for children suffering from cerebral palsy (permanent brain damage) and mental retardation. Speech therapy is also provided to those with speech problems.
However, the founder's goal is not restricted to this. “I am planning to make it a residential care centre, and am planning to build a kitchen and a lunch hall to provide a clean and safe area for the children. We are concentrating on infrastructure needs for the 50 students and we are planning to start another building that would be a superstructure, which will start from November," he says, adding that the building cost might touch a little over Rs 1 crore. "Until now, we have relied only on donations from well-wishers and individuals and groups," he says. On his journey, he says, “It will end with my children here at WARDS.”
