“I am only one, but still I am
one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot
do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.” - Helen Keller
* Manasi
Jadhav
My attitude towards
those less abled than myself has been a shortcoming in my worldview of things
that exist around me. Every time we come across a challenged person we stop and
stare, knowingly or unknowingly. Our attention gets diverted from what we are
doing and our reactions vary between compassion, sympathy and sometimes even
pity. For no real reason, we get awkward around those we think our different
from us.
Reality differs.
An eye opener and
outlook changer for me was during my participation at CHILDLINE’s awareness
programme on the issue of Child Sexual Abuse (CSA). Over the years, CHILDLINE
has conducted awareness programs on this issue in approximately 200 schools
across Mumbai. Understanding the importance of spreading awareness among all
children, CHILDLINE realized the need to address differently abled children as
they are more prone to abuse and need to be educated on subjects concerning
their safety.
On 11th
July 2013, CHILDLINE conducted their first session with disabled children at
the Helen Keller Institute for Deaf and
Deaf blind located at Mahape, Mumbai. This was when I got the opportunity to
interact with the children and empower them on topics such as Safe Touch,
Unsafe Touch & Personal Safety Rules. The sessions were arranged for 15
children from the Primary Section & 65 from the Secondary Section. Of these
80 children, some were partially or completely deaf & blind, while some
could see clearly but were partially deaf, and others who were visually
impaired but could hear fine. The session was conducted by CHILDLINE’s
CSA School Awareness Program team – Tanvi Aher and Sneha Kupekar.
As part of this
initiative, CHILDLINE took the painstaking effort of creating a module suited
for children with disabilities. While using the story telling module to deliver
the programme, the story was adapted in a way that had elevated characters from
the story to allow visually children to touch the flipchart and understand what
the story said, or make it easier for interpreters to better explain the story
to other children. A combination of methods was used to ensure each child was
equipped with the knowledge of how to keep themselves safe.
The sessions called
for a lot of reactions from the children. While some were in shock, the others
giggled on the mention of ‘private parts’. Their questions and reactions were
no different from children in other schools. It is the lack of knowledge and
outlook that has generated stereotypes about disabled people.
That day
changed my life forever.
As Helen
Keller rightly said “The only thing worse than being blind is having
sight but no vision”, all our lives we live offering pity but it is us who live
in the dark, not the visually challenged child; it is us who don’t listen, not
the hearing impaired kid.”
CHILDLINE is
doing great work in ensuring that all children are treated equally and are
equipped with knowledge on their safety. I was proud and glad to have made a
real difference to the lives of children.
*Manasi Jadhav is the
Communication Officer at CHILDLINE India Foundation
