SRI ARUNODAYAMHome for M ental ly Chal lenged Dest i tute

UdhayamQ u a r t e r l y N e w s l e t t e r O c t o b e r - 2 0 1 0

SRI ARUNODAYAMHome for M ental ly Chal lenged Dest i tute

A note from theManaging TrusteeDear Friends and Well wishers,Welcome to the October 2010 issue ofUdhayam e-newsletter from SriArunodayam Charitable Trust. This issuepresents the events that happened in themonths of July, August and September2010 at Sri Arunodayam.

Hope you have an interesting read. Welook forward to your feedback whichmotivates us to progress and propels usahead!

Iyyappan SubramanianFounder & Managing Trustee

From the Admin deskIn months of July, August and September 2010, eight children wereadmitted into Sri Arunodayam. Four children were transferred toother homes, two children were re-united with their families andtwo children passed away. Thankfully, no run away cases happened.

We submitted the monthly strength report, death report, grant in aiddetails, retention letters and death expenditure reports to theDepartment of Social Defence.

July -Two children were admitted in the hospital for treatment. Forthe newly admitted children, we conducted the assessment and setgoals for them to achieve. We located Dinesh's parents and on 23rdJuly, it was a joyful re-union for him with his family.

August - All the children were given a refreshing haircut. Weconducted a master health check up and sought the opinion ofNeurologist for the newly admitted children. Four children wereadmitted in the hospital. We documented the stories of all thechildren at Sri Arunodayam.

September - We conducted a master health check up for the newlyadmitted children. Marimuthu, an adult resident of Sri Arunodayamwas admitted in the hospital.

UdhayamQ u a r t e r l y N e w s l e t t e r

SRI ARUNODAYAMHome for M ental ly Chal lenged Dest i tute

UdhayamQ u a r t e r l y N e w s l e t t e r Other Activities

• The Joy of Giving week was celebrated from 24th - 30thSeptember. We raised funds for the Battle of Buffet, whichwas held on 30th September. It was a successful event.

• Arasar Muthaiah Arivoli Manram conducted an eye camp forour children.

• Care Giver Mr.Balu attended the Parent-Teacher meet forAnkeet who is now mainstreamed into Kalki RanganathanMonford School, Chennai.

• Special Educators Ms.Maheswari and Ms.Radha attendedthe Special Educators Association meeting.

• At Madanankuppam new building, the roof of the first floorwas laid on 29th July.

• On 18th July students and faculty from DhanalakshmiEngineering College visited Sri Arunodayam and donatedfunds.

• World Vision conducted a capacity building program whichwas attended by our special educators.

• The Department of Social Defence conducted a trainingprogram on the Juvenile Justice System which was attendedby Iyyappan Subramanian.

• We celebrated Independence Day, Ramzan and VinayakaChathurthi.

• On 15th August students and faculty from Jaya College ofEngineering visited Sri Arunodayam.

• Special Educators Maheswari and Poongothai attended atraining program on various types of communication,conducted by The Clarke's School for the Deaf.

• Mrs.Suganya facilitated the Art of Living program forour staff.

The Infant Care UnitThis is the most heart rending unit at Sri Arunodayam.Miniature beauties, formed a little different than the rest ofus, they are such bundles of joy. Wonder how their parentshad the heart to abandon these gifts from heaven. Youmust visit us to agree on this. Anyhow, here is a virtual tourinto the Infant Care Unit. Infants from 0-3 years areprovided care and shelter in this unit. They enduremultiple conditions such as mental retardation, visual,multiple disability, limb deformation...

These infants are all placed in one room. Each infant isunique and so are its needs. Some like to be left alonewhile some cuddle close to the other infants or the caregivers. Some cry, smile and respond while others lay stilllooking into the void. Presently, there are eighteen infants.Four caregivers are with the children round the clock. Theinfants are totally dependent, they are fragile, highlysensitive and the distress of abandonment lingers in them.Every hour, the care givers carry each infant for a fewminutes and cuddle them warmly. These children areunder constant paediatric supervision and we feed theinfants based what the Paediatricians prescribe. Weprovide Physiotherapy for those children who requiretherapy to enable them achieve their developmentalmilestones.

At Sri Arunodayam, a care giver is more a mother than anemployee. They are dedicated, involved, affectionate andemotionally attached to the children. When a child fallssick, they fret, sit up the whole night to attend on the childand do not rest till the child regains good health. Underthe care of such warm hearted care givers, the infants doovercome the anguish of being separated from theirbiological parents.

SRI ARUNODAYAMHome for M ental ly Chal lenged Dest i tute

UdhayamQ u a r t e r l y N e w s l e t t e r

How you canhelp usYou can join us to serve the childrenbetter by contributing money /material. Some options are, 1. Sponsor a day's breakfast for the

90 abandoned mentallychallenged children - Rs: 1500

2. Sponsor psychiatric medicinesfor one month for a mentallychallenged child - Rs: 700

3. Sponsor a day's lunch for the 90abandoned mentallly challengedchildren - Rs: 2000

4. Sponsor annual health check upfor a mentally challenged child -Rs: 2000

5. Sponsor special educationtraining for one month for amentally challenged child - Rs: 650

6. Sponsor a day's evening snackfor the 90 abandoned mentalllychallenged children - Rs: 550

7. Sponsor a new dress for amentally challenged child - Rs: 600

8. Sponsor physiotherapy treatmentfor a mentally challenged childfor one month - Rs: 750

9. Sponsor a day's dinner for the 90abandoned mentallly challengedchildren - Rs: 1500

10. Donate any amount towards thechildren welfare

Gift in Kind:• You can gift furniture, Bed sheets,

clothes, toys in usable conditionfor the children.

• You can gift psychiatric medicinefor the children

• You can gift provisions

There are three options for you to donate money to Sri Arunodayam1. Donate directly to Sri Arunodayam • You can send in your contribution directly by account payee cheque to Sri

Arunodayam Charitable Trust, 35, Sivananda nagar Kolathur, Chennai - 99. • If you are in Chennai and your donation needs to be collected, our staff will visit and

collect it from you. 2. You can remit your donation in our bank account directly. NRI donors, kindly sent a

copy of your passport to the bank by mail. After approval, your donation will becredited into our account.

Name of the Bank ICICI BankBranch Name Anna NagarAccount Number 602701217045Name of the Account(Cheque to Sri Arunodayam Charitable Trustbe made in the name of )9 digit number (MICR Number) 600229011Current / Saving Account Savings account SWIFT Code/ Remittance Instructions NBBXXXICICI (Please check with your bank) ICIC0006027IFSC CodeAddress of the bank A-78, Plot No. 3211, 3rd Avenue,

Anna Nagar, Chennai - 102

Please avoid sending cash by money order.

3. Online donations - You can also send in your donations through these approvedwebsites. Please read the instructions and guidelines before making your donation.

• GiveIndia is a donation platform that allows you to support a cause of your choice fromabout 200 NGOs that have been scrutinized for transparency & credibility. Please notethat when you donate through Give India you have to pay 9.1% extra as charges towardsGiveIndia. This is towards the handling and administrative charges incurred by GiveIndia.For instance, when you donate Rs.100 you have to add Rs.10 to GiveIndia, and you donatea total of Rs110. Of this, GiveIndia retains Rs10 and passes on Rs100 to the NGO. Thus,what GiveIndia retains as a part of your TOTAL contribution is 10/110, i.e., 9.1%.

Visit http://www.giveindia.org/m-859-sri-arunodayam.aspx to donate through GiveIndia.

• GlobalGiving is a non-profit that connects donors with grassroots projects around theworld to make a high impact. Please note that when you donate through Global Givingyou will be requested to add an extra percentage (options vary) of tax deductibledonation to meet the operating charges of Global Giving Foundation. If you do not addany extra percentage, the operating charges will be deducted from the donation amount.

Visit http://www.globalgiving.com/projects/support-abandoned-mentally-challenged-children/ to donate through Global Giving

Presently we requireS.No Name of the items Quantity Rate (INR) Amount (INR)01 Provision items for the children for November Details available 51680

on request02 Psychiatric Medicines for November Details available 11126

on request03 Mats for the children 50 90 450004 Foot wear 90 150 1350005 Solar Water Heater for the new building 1 1,35,000 1,35,00006 Wall tiling for new building - we need to 4000 Square 70 Per 2,80,000

paste tiles on walls up to 5 feet in all floors Feet Square feetto maintain cleanliness in the building

SRI ARUNODAYAMHome for M ental ly Chal lenged Dest i tute

Plot No: 45, Sivananda Nagar, Kolathur, Chennai. 600 099, Tamil Nadu, India.Phone: 91- 44 - 2651 1450, 91- 44 - 2651 0778, Mobile : 91- 94449 15803

Mail: sriarunodayam@gmail.com | www.sriarunodayam.org

UdhayamQ u a r t e r l y N e w s l e t t e r

The role of YogaWhen we decided tointroduce Yoga for ourchildren, we were notvery sure about thebenefits. Today, we seethat Yoga has broughtabout a whole lot ofdifference in the lives ofour children. Two trainersfrom Krishnamacharya

Yoga Mandiram, Chennai, visit our facility twice a week and train thechildren to perform yogasanas. During the other days in the week,the Special Educators train the children to practise the yogasanas.This is a comprehensive program is safe, gentle, therapeutic anddesigned to enhance the development of children with specialneeds. We have realised that it helps to improve the concentrationand channelize the energies of children who are hyperactive. It hashelped the children to strengthen their bodies and make them moreflexible. Yoga program was initially for our Pre-primary and Primarychildren. Seeing their progress, we have now introduced it tochildren in the Early Intervention category as well. We are happy that our children enjoy performing yogasanas. Itenhances their growth and development and has turned out to bean important feature of our rehabilitation program.

Our TeamHere is a month wise recap on what our team did.

In July, three caregivers were appointed. Lalitha (care giver)was chosen the best staff of the month. Our team met forthe monthly staff meeting where we held a discussion onthe upcoming Care Giver training program, feedback wascollected from the care givers on meal time activities andspecific instructions were given to the residential staff ofhandling garbage. We decided to provide initiated MedicalInsurance for all the staff working at Sri Arunodayam.Mr.Amit Kumar, a well wisher started a spoken Englishmodule for our staff.

August - During the monthly staff meeting, Susheelamma(care giver) was chosen as the best staff of the month,general instructions on cleanliness and hygiene was givento the care givers and we also conducted games toimprove the communication abilities of our staff.

September - Maheswari (Special Educator) was selected asthe best staff of the month.

Marimuthu is 34 years old. He endures mild intellectual disability. His father is 68 years old and mother 60. His motherendures cancer of the throat and she has been undergoing treatment for quite some years. The father endures heart ailments. The family led a glorious life till ailments set in. Of their three sons, Marimuthu is the youngest. Not wanting to share theresponsibility, the other sons abandoned the parents and Marimuthu. Marimuthu wandered a lot before he reached Sri Arunodayam. Once he came to us, he was provided care, protection andshelter. Gradually, we trained him to assist the care givers and in the functioning of Sri Arunodayam. He now has a specific jobrole and earns a salary for his work. Meanwhile, we traced his parents. It was pathetic to see that the father, at the age of 68 hadtaken up tailoring to fulfil their basic needs.Marimuthu started supporting his parents with the money he earned and Sri Arunodayam supports the elderly ailing couplewith monthly rations and clothes during festivals. His mother sobs as she says, I never thought Marimuthu would be the onewho would support us in our old age. I had treated him badly for his limitations and I feel sorry for it - every moment. I am soproud of my son who knows to love in return for the hatred shown to him...

Credits and

Acknowledgement

We personally acknowledge the e-mail and telephonic feedback given by our donors, well-wishers and supporters for the April issue of Udhayam.We acknowledge with gratitude those who have sponsored the goods that we had mentioned in the required list.Design & Layout – Mr. Mohan, Infinity Creations, ChennaiInput information provided by Ms. Jeyachitra and Mr. Iyyappan Subramanian, Sri Arunodayam Charitable Trust, Chennai.Writing and Editing – Mrs. Radha Jagan, Documentation Consultant, Chennai.