CBR Project Details

CBR- Community based Rehabilitation

Anchal in partnership with more aware community is currently implementing CBR project- a community based rehabilitation approach in North East district of Delhi. The project is being implemented since July 2012. The purpose of the project is to provide basic physical rehabilitation and referral services & mainstream primary inclusive education to children with disabilities as well as raise awareness on disability & its related acts/policies/schemes at community level. The services are being provided through a two Community Resource cum Rehabilitation Centre developed under the project. The projects also develop 20 community volunteers (CVs) by building their capacity in physical rehabilitation and referral services. These community volunteer now provide basic rehabilitation services to children with disabilities as well as facilitate availing of different government schemes at the community level.

Under this project all children with disability are ensured the basic rights of survival, development, participation and protection. The Main Objective of this approach is to improve quality of life of persons with disabilities especially children with disabilities living in urban slums of Delhi through provision of rehabilitation and referral services

It was planned that the entire North-east District of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT Delhi) is to be covered. However, we have to the present extended direct services to 29 communities located in this district which in terms of numbers indicates a population of 200,000 people.

Indirect services have been extended to the rest of the population in the district which cover therapeutic services and extension of services from government departments in matters relating to their ‘Rights’ and ‘Entitlements’. This is achieved with the support of our specific local volunteers who work on a door-to-door basis in their areas and are in close contact and communication with the target communities.

 

Main Objective; To improve quality of life of persons with disabilities especially children with disabilities living in urban slums of Delhi through provision of rehabilitation and referral services;

 

Specific project objectives (results):

• Establishment of model rehabilitation centers for disabled children.
• Children/adults with disabilities have access to rehabilitation services at community level
• Persons with disabilities have increased access to rights and entitlements provided by different stakeholders including government through increased awareness and knowledge on the rights of persons with disabilities
• Children with disabilities access mainstream primary inclusive education in MCD (Municipal Council of Delhi) schools in the target communities.

 

Geographical  Coverage    : 20 JJ clusters and 9 resettlement colony in North East district of Delhi State.

 

Project achievement :

• Community resource and rehabilitation centers established under the projects are the key component in referral and rehabilitation of the children and persons with disabilities. The centers are model centers in terms of all services under one roof ranging from specialized therapy by occupational therapist using therapeutic equipments to guidance for schemes and entitlements. Parents and care givers training on basic therapy and activities of daily living forms an integral part of the rehabilitation process. The occupational therapist involves parents of children with disabilities while providing rehabilitation services both at the centre and at community level. The purpose of the training is to build therapeutic skills of parents in order to continue basic rehabilitation service at their home settings. 493 parents have benefitted from such trainings and such parents can see considerable improvement in their child medical condition.
• To increase the proximity of information to the target beneficiaries Disability Information Centers (DIC) are opened with in the community. At present four such centers have been functioning and catering to the needs of beneficiaries who cannot due to varied reasons cannot come to CRRCs frequently for availing the next schemes. Hundreds of beneficiaries has been benefitted by DICs.
• Children with disabilities have been provided activities of daily living adaptations and small developmental aids in forms of cerebral palsy chair, corner chair, standing frame and adapted combs, tooth brushes, spoons to increase functional independency of the children and bring improvement in their positioning. Home modification in form of installing toilet bars, exercise bars and ramps have been provided to the needy children.

 

• Strong cadre of trained community volunteers, selected from within the community forms one of the epitomes of Muskan project. Community volunteers over years dedicatedly have been providing home based training to the children with disability. Poverty is one of the reason due to which many families of children with disability cannot afford the quintessential therapeutic intervention in form of occupational therapy. Trained community volunteer provided relief to the parents who regularly cannot come to community resource and rehabilitation centre opened under the project. Guiding numerous beneficiaries, motivating parents to work for child with disability and referring beneficiaries to right authority has become part and parcel of life of these volunteers.
• Parents’ sensitization meeting organized under the project proved to be beneficial for parents and care givers who had minimal or no information about welfare schemes and other disability related issues. Such meetings were conducted at regular interval within the community. Apart from information dissemination such sensitization meetings within the community created awareness among community members, who would gather around at large number and learn about the existence of children and persons with disabilities within their community and how community as a whole can work towards their social rehabilitation.
• RTI (Right to Information) group and MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) are the two advocacy group formed under the project to train the selective community members, who themselves either have disability or have a child with disability in their family. The group collectively work towards ensuring that persons and children with disability get their right and dues, are included in mainstreamed society through filling necessary petitions with the concerned authority. Both the groups have undertaken community level advocacy initiatives to claim disability entitlements. Over due project period advocacy members have been trained in writing and filling petitions, these members act as torch bearers for the other community members.
• Though education department at regular interval organize training and workshop for its teachers but whether disability is included in it and given a priority is still questionable. With implementation of Right to Education Act 2009, it has been made mandatory for the school to admit children with disability. But with no prior sensitization regarding needs of children with disabilities the qualified teaching faculty and inclusion in formal school is of no help. Under the project Muskan numerous sensitization meetings have been organized for the teachers of MCD primary schools of the targeted community which gradually leaded to positive perception towards students with disabilities. Alongside meetings, interaction workshop between parents and teachers have been organized which attempted to bring both teachers and parents of children with disabilities to common platform and have been successful in searching alternatives to problems faced during inclusion of children with disabilities. Sensitization campaign in the MCD schools has been organized to create a discourse on inclusive education. To enable teachers in effectively teaching children with disabilities teaching learning material is provided to two schools every year.

 

• To enhance the capacity of parents and care givers in dealing with children with disability adolescent age, children with disability gender identity as well as equip parents with necessary information about their child medical condition various trainings have been organized with help of practitioner in the field of mental health. The trainings conducted provided much needed relief to the parents and care givers as their queries were handled by the specialist in the field of rehabilitation of children with disabilities. Parents after attending the training have felt more confident to work with their children and build a protective environment for them right from their childhood.
• To promote inclusion of children with disability and promise avenues to the children with disabilities as well as their parents for recreation the organization has organized picnic and a movie date. Its hardly one see children with disabilities at public places such as malls, parks and numerous other places making them invisible and forgotten. The trips organized gave fresh breath to the children, who are usually confined within four walls of their homes and strengthen the bond between the parents and children.
• Celebration of World Disability Day over the years have emphasized on talents of children with disabilities who with zest and zeal participate in different activities alongside children with disability. Who needs sensitization on disability when children from young age are given avenues to interact, play, study and share bonding with children with disability, making them part of society and their lives. As children are the future of the any nation thus inclusion should start from childhood itself and rather from later stages in life.

 

DISABILITYWISE DATA:

Type Of Disability	Children		Total	Adult		Total	G. Total
	Male	Female		Male	Female
Intellectual Disability	307	125	432	153	55	28	640
Hearing Impairment	16	13	29	4	4	8	37
Loco motor Disability	137	87	224	224	112	340	564
Mental Illness	0	0	0	7	2	9	9
Multiple Disability	130	83	213	33	21	54	267
Visual Impairment	12	8	20	10	4	14	34
Speech Impairment	14	5	19	2	3	5	24
Total	616	320	937	437	196	638	1575