Author: damien
Day care programme
There are up to 30 children and youth attending our day care programme. This group is very mixed and ranging from five to over thirty-years-old with various disabilities and individual special needs. Many of them have learning disabilities often combined with a poor concentration span and hyperactivity. Some have multiple impairments and require diverse therapeutic […]
Students under our day care programme
Nagammalwas born in 1989 in the nearby village into a family with three older brothers. She was unwanted and her mother had tried to abort her. When she first came to the “Old Playground” she was about three and a half years old and was not able to walk because of severe undernourishment. She was […]
Outpatients come for treatment
Babies and small children come with their parents for physio-, occupational- and / or speech therapy. Some of them come daily or several times per week, others irregularly as they come from further away. We expect their parents to participate and cooperate to achieve the maximum result. This individual care is very time intensive and […]
House visits at the villages
It is essential for us to know the social situation and background of all our children. Some years ago we used to do more house visits so that we could reach out to the villages, because we thought it would be the best way to do community-based rehabilitation. Soon we came to the conclusion that […]
Outings and field-trips
Our children come from poor families and they are usually not taken out. Once a year we have a full day outing when we rent a big bus and leave in the early morning. This event is usually well planned and organised. In the wee hours of the morning some of our team members come […]
Celebrations & events
These are important events which bring us together even more. There are many occasions such as birthdays, farewells for volunteers or guests who offer a special programme such as clowning or theater games. We do celebrate Christmas which is usually not celebrated at the homes of our children, as most of them originate from “Hindu” […]
Deepam’s evolution
It started out as a playground under the trees In January 1992, two Italian ladies from Auroville gathered children who were affected by disability in the local village of Kuilapalayam, in Tamil Nadu / South India, on the so-called ‘playground’ under some big tamarind trees. At that time, there were mainly children with learning disabilities […]
The meaning of our name
The meaning of our name: A typical earthen oil lamp is called a “Deepam”. Deepam means light or flame. We chose this symbolic name for our project because we intend to bring light into the lives of children who are challenged with disabilities. Traditionally in Tamil Nadu for centuries, the Deepam Festival of Light is […]
Diagnoses and applied therapies
In the local rural villages, we face all kinds of disabilities. Most common is learning disabilities, cerebral palsy and hearing impairment. Different types of muscular dystrophy are also common. We do also see children who suffer from hemiplegia and different congenital disorders. Down Syndrome is less common in these villages. Many children suffered from birth asphyxia […]
Challenges
The local villages are spread out. The roads are poor, and unsafe traffic manners make driving in India dangerous. Children with a disability are not easily transported on a bicycle or motorbike. Unlike in the West, the parents of our children have no cars. There is no public transport to our centre. Therefore it is […]
