New partnership between PHF grantees in Eastern India
The Paul Hamlyn Foundation’s India programme has facilitated a partnership between grantees which is due to commence in October 2013.
Four recipients of PHF funding that work to identify children and adults with disabilities living in vulnerable communities are based in Eastern India: Research Academy for Rural Enrichment (RARE), Vikash, Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy (IICP), and VAANI Deaf Children’s Foundation (VAANI). These organisations are set to collaborate with each other, sharing skills and training.
The more experienced partners, VAANI and IIICP, which provide capacity building services to nine rural and peri-urban organisations, will impart their skills to benefit RARE in particular.
While RARE has qualified and experienced staff working with children and adults with a physical disability, the organisation needs technical inputs in managing disabled children in order to grow.
During a recent monitoring visit to RARE, a representative from both IICP and VAANI accompanied the PHF Eastern India consultant Veena Lakhumalani who facilitated the process of identifying where help is needed. This was followed by a visit from RARE to the two Kolkata-based partners where an alliance between the PHF grantees was formed.
VAANI and IICP will confront the weaknesses identified over the next six months. VAANI will offer RARE both home-based programmes and more formal centre-based training. It will also link RARE to a contact so that training for hearing aid maintenance can be given to young adults with a physical disability who can then become local resources for RARE.
IICP will train RARE staff on physical management of children with disabilities and on home-based support. This will enable therapists to become local trainers for RARE and work to integrate children with a disability into local schools. IICP will offer training to one RARE staff member so a similar unit can be set up for its adult disabled network. RARE’s staff will also attend the Child Protection Policy development and training programme organised by IICP that is taking place in October.
In turn, it is hoped that IICP and VAANI will have the opportunity to learn from RARE’s expertise in advocacy work with local government structures.
All four partners have much experience in the sector and hold strong reputations as resource and training centres, providing exposure to national and international practices, access to up-to-date literature and government networking opportunities. They each wish to share their knowledge with other organisations and individuals to aid and increase understanding of the rights and entitlements of disabled people.
PHF’s India programme works with these organisations because they fit with the programme’s overall mission to improve the lives of the poorest and most vulnerable communities in India. This strategy aims to recognise those with disabilities within these societies and follows the results of the Indian Census that identified 2.1 per cent of the country’s population as having a form of disability.
These newly formed relationships will provide a foundation for collaboration that can be extended to other PHF partners working in disability in India as well as replicated in future areas of work across the India programme.
The current PHF Eastern India consultant Veena Lakhumalani will be finishing her term with the Foundation at the end of September. She is to be replaced by Shwetank Mishra who will be based in Patna.
