All institutions run by the MSWC operate on the premise that every living person has the right to self sufficiency, dignity and self esteem. While some of the programmes reach out to the most deprived women and children, equally, there is the understanding that even among the underprivileged, all are not equal.
Savera – “Dawn” center and Sheltered Workshop is an institution that serves intellectually disabled, underprivileged children between the ages 13 and 20 , and provides a daycare for these young adults who are often incapable of being left alone while their parents go about their day’s work. These children are cared for for the entire day, provided meals and are given vocational training that can help them supplement the family’s income even as they are in a safe location. Many are severely disabled, and activities that are age and capability appropriate are selected for these young people.
The center has three main projects within its ambit. It conducts classes for academic studies, recreation and creative activities. All of these are conducted using therapeutic methods. It also conducts vocational classes for children who can be taught basic skills to create things and a Child Guidance Clinic for children with emotional and behavioural problems. A trained counselor also tests children who are brought in by parents to detect special needs and provides therapy for parents of such children. This helps parents adjust to the differently abled child better, and the assessment sometimes results in correction if the child is being given mainstream tuition which he / she finds hard to grapple with.
Intellectually challenged children from underprivileged homes are doubly disadvantaged, with almost no access to the outside world if they are overprotected, sheltered or uncared for. Parents are often unsupportive of their needs given that they have greater day-to-day challenges of having to eke out a living and support families. The added “burden” of having to support a differently abled child creates stresses and strains which often makes the child’s life a living hell.
A child is admitted to Savera center after a test is conducted to see if he / she is suited to the therapy and care provided. A basic IQ test, coupled with tests that assess motor coordination, social development and most importantly, the inability to be able to look after themselves adequately if left to their own devices determine which children are taken in. Children are dropped off in the morning and are picked up by parents in the evening. A day in the life of a typical young person here involves games, music, activities, sports and lots of new learning. Children are taught to make articles of everyday use which are then sold by them at various exhibitions and proceeds from the sale of these products are handed over to the children who make them in the form of a stipend. Children make gift bags, dusters, coasters and a variety of products that are useful and aesthetic in equal measure. A child is ready to leave when he / she is adequately equipped to manage basic tasks independently, and has the ability to create a source of income which can pay for its own upkeep within the family. But equally, even if the age limit of a child is exceeded, no child is turned out until fully ready or in a less fragile state. Every case, the center recognizes, is unique and is treated as such.
Savera Center and Sheltered Workshop depends heavily on its teachers and trained resources. It is an institution that requires specialized and trained personnel, and constantly in the need for more of these. The current teacher-student ratio – of a teacher for every 6 students is impressive, but it is a ratio that the institution fights hard to maintain. The institution also recognizes the need to do far more for the cause of the underprivileged intellectually challenged, and is looking at means to expand the work that it does to offer better coverage, and better facilities for its young wards.