A special day for the disabled
Under its newly-created avenue, Able to Ability, RID 3141 organised a series of programmes to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities by joining hands with local NGOs and several Rotary clubs in the district. RC Bombay Powai was the lead club. Laughter therapist Bhagwan Babur conducted a workshop on finding happiness, wellbeing and love amid hardships and challenges in daily life. “Around 160 disabled people, parents, caregivers and Rotarians interacted with the trainer and enjoyed the laughter session,” said Vivek Khandelwal from RC Deonar.
The club donated over 150 ration kits to visually-impaired people who enthralled the audience with a musical show hosted by the Human Welfare Charitable Trust. A panel discussion on mental health challenges and managing disability during the pandemic created the much-needed awareness on the daily hassles being faced by the disabled.
RC Palghar sponsored the wedding of five disabled couples and helped them with household essentials. “The club started a computer training programme for the second batch of 25 hearing and speech-impaired people at the SDSM College, Palghar.”
In another outreach, RC Ghatkopar West donated a specially-designed wheelchair to para athlete Geeta Chouhan for her participation in national and global sports events.
“The day-long event ended with a dual district programme with ‘Able to Ability’ of RID 3141 and ‘Enable the Differently Abled’ of RID 3232 coming together on a virtual platform for a common cause,” said Khandelwal. RID 3141 DG Rajendra Agarwal and RID 3232 DGND N S Saravanan attended the virtual meet in which over 100 Rotarians from Chennai, Mumbai and the US interacted with each other.
Four achievers honoured
Geeta Chouhan (basketball), Siddharth Sanjay Mhatre (disabled activist), Priya Gada (dancer) and Dhivya K (wheelchair runner) were felicitated for their grit and tenacity to achieve big despite their physical limitations.
A musical entertainment by Smiling Souls consisting of young differently-abled children brought the curtains down on an eventful day filled with interesting programmes and sessions. Project director A V Suresh from RC Deonar and co-chair M Hari Prakash from RC IT City Chennai coordinated the virtual programme.
