KOCHI: When students leave the Aluva School for the Blind this year for the summer holidays, they leave with a dear package held close to their heart. Inside would be a device worth Rs 10,000 which can help them study and understand better. For the school, the donations worth Rs 6.5 lakh from Commodore Joginder Chandna in the form of assets are nothing short of a blessing. Apart from the very helpful study aid which can store a lot of data, it has an MP3 reader and player, voice recorder and a lot more to help children improvise.
When Abhishek M J, a student, charmed the audience with his mesmerising voice, Chandna and his wife Suman were quick to offer financial aid to the child for continuing his music classes.
The school , formed 56 years ago for blind students, now houses children with varying and multiple disabilities. The maximum strength of the institution is 70 and currently houses 67 children from Classes I to IX. "The first time I ran for a cause, my motto was that my miles should turn into smiles. There were no money transactions included. We simply spread the message of feeding a poor child every day. It was well received and this is my third initiative. We are happy to be here and be of use to these kids. My motto remains the same," said Chandna.
His wife Suman was seen greeting the children with familiarity. She had been visiting the place for some time now with her husband to get to know the children and to provide them with aids that are necessary to each one of them. "I don't believe in giving money without addressing the major concerns ourselves. We should look at the need of the people we are trying to help and act accordingly. Only then would the help reach the right and deserving people in useful ways. We visited them and spoke with them and understood their basic needs and hopefully have addressed them," she said.
The faculty here have only one major worry. They had to start from scratch with most of the differently-abled students. Basically, their training expands only to handle blind children. However, they have developed indigenous ways to deal with different disabilities and it is a learning process for both students and the staff.