Sparsh Children Dazzle on World Disability Day

In India over 7 million people are disabled and unfortunately no special policies are crafted for this particular challenged segment, which still remains oppressed and isolated. Disabled people are often victim of discrimination. It is the society which needs to take adequate steps to involve them in the mainstream; making them part of the social, political, economic and cultural aspects of the community.

Every year 3rd December is observed as International Disability Day or World Disability Day. Several schools, NGO’s, government bodies and even corporate houses organize numerous events to express their solidarity with disabled people.

On this day, Sparsh an NGO organized an event to encourage the abilities of the differently abled and to honor their talents. The motive of the event was to make people aware of the fact that even special children have special talents and also, to draw the attention of the policy makers towards the issues and problems faced by disabled in the society and also to increase public awareness about it.

Present at the event were eminent guests including Smt. Arti Mehra (Former Mayor, Delhi) and Mrs. Kiran Chopra (Founder, Varisht Nagrik Kesari Club) who gave an awe-inspiring speech stimulating the audiences. Chairperson of Presidium and Mother’s Pride and Chief mentor of Sparsh, Mrs. Sudha Gupta and President of Sparsh, Mr M.P Singh also expressed their happiness of being committed towards such a special cause.

Special children of Sparsh gave extraordinary performance on ‘Jai Ho’ that left audience mesmerized. Their presentation touched the hearts of the parents and relatives of the special children. Many of them were proud to see their child performing so brilliantly on the stage.

The girls of 'Project Shakti' also enthralled everyone with their beautifully choreographed performance. The children of Savera Special School were awarded with medals for winning various positions in the Sport’s event held recently at the school. Also, they were rewarded for making noteworthy efforts in making Touch of Heaven products.

The applause was never ending as audience supported and encouraged the special children on the stage. The beautiful expressions on the faces of these special children created an aura of happiness.The show gracefully concluded with refreshments for everyone. The efforts and dedication of the children was admired by everyone and the message behind World Disability Day was well delivered.

Women Education India: Dreams Are Not Just Restricted To One Gender!!

Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, once said, “You can tell the state of a nation by looking at the status of the women there”. How true his words are? Women play a significant role in a country’s economic development. Better living condition for them can escalate nation’s growth rapidly. More so as women are mostly untapped resources and their potentials generally remain unexplored.

Education, especially women’s education is the key element that lacks particularly in India. If one closely observes the status of women in India, one would find their position is daunting and pathetic. As per the recent stats, female literacy rate in India is still 54.16 percent, which is quite low. No one can turn blind eye to the fact that women have a much lower literacy rate than men. Far fewer girls are enrolled in the schools, and many of them are drop out. Even if girls are encouraged to receive education, greater challenge remains, the learning provided to them is too little to prepare them for 21^st – century job markets.

Education of women is significant in improving living standards of the country. Higher literacy rate of women helps in improving quality of life both at home and outside as education cannot be just linked to employment but affects others aspects like fertility , hygiene etc.  Studies show lower women literacy rate results in high levels infant mortality, poorer nutrition, lower earning etc.  

In India, there is great disparity amongst different states regarding female literacy rate. States like Kerala has female literacy rate of about 86 percent, whereas Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have 55-60 percent. Furthermore, the disparity of female literacy rates across rural and urban areas is also too high.

NGO Support 

Many NGOs are working to uplift status of Indian women in many ways. Women education is one such pivotal aspect for which several NGOs are working aggressively. Education not only stimulates female empowerment but also fortifies the process of changing prevalent misguided mindsets and derivative of socio- cultural factors towards the girl child and women in general.

One such NGO working in this direction is SPARSH, which strongly believes that dreams are not just restricted to one gender and females should also get the opportunity to realize them. Its mission is to emancipate women and to motivate them to acquire new skills. 'Project Shakti',  one of our initiatives aimed at providing girl child education in India that will empower them, and save them from poverty and exploitation. Presently, around 50 girls are being given free evening classes under this project.