CHENNAI: The year was 2002. In a small house with few provisions, Iyyappan Subramaniyan began his dream of building a well-organised society for the intellectually disabled; with the help of his sister, Jayachitra Deepak Raj. Named Sri Arunodayam, the home for abandoned children with intellectual disability (ID) completed 20 years of service on Saturday and welcomed their new home for the girls under their care.
The massive property in Kallikuppam, with each floor measuring 7,000 sq feet, was inaugurated in the presence of the chief guest PS Reddy, MD and CEO of MCX Mumbai, and guests of honour, Rohini Ramesh, vice president of Chennai Willingdon Corporate Foundation; Skanda Sundaram, chairman of Madras Round Table 1; Raju Vaidyanathan, MD at Wolters Kluwer ELM Solutions. The inauguration was also attended by Seshagiri Rao, whose house was the first location of the organisation. All the guests came with kind words for the organisation and its work in the past. “It has been one year since we began work with Sri Arunodayam but it has all been online. When we came here, we were unprepared as to what to expect. When we took a look at the building, I was bowled over. It is a phenomenal effort. You can see the amount of thoughtfulness and care taken for each step. Just by looking at it, I’m so inspired. I can only imagine what it must be like to build such an infrastructure through a pandemic,” shared Raju. With the help of several kind-hearted donors and contributors, the new structure bathed in warm colours — reminiscent of the NGO’s logo — came to life.
What awaits the residents
The home, as you enter it, welcomes you with a breezy atmosphere even in the mid-day heat of Chennai. Well ventilated and with tonnes of sunshine, the facility is equipped to accommodate 100 girls. The ground floor is a space for dining, administrative services and a play area, while the first floor is neatly divided into classrooms for therapy, training and education. With individual development and seamless integration into society in mind, the home offers counselling, special education classes, vocational training, sensory rooms, physiotherapy, as well as medical assistance. The second floor is a planned maze of dormitories with rooms for recreation and bathrooms.
And the terrace above it offers a beautiful view of Korattur Lake and the cityscape beyond it. Even a ramp twirls up the central portion of the building for those in need. “This is a very happy moment in my life. It is our 20th year project and I am so glad we were able to complete it on time. When I won the World of Children Humanitarian Award in 2016 (the only Indian to receive it that year), they asked me what I would do with the funding of $85,000. On the stage that day, I mentioned the lack of homes for girls and that I wanted to set up a safe and loving one. So, I used that money for the initial funding,” Iyyappan admitted to CE.
Keeping in mind that it is a place that houses a very vulnerable section of society, several other safety and security precautions have also been taken by the founder. “We have caretakers who will be on ground the entire time, while therapists, special educators, administration staff and psychiatrists will stay till evening. We also have a room outside for four security guards, split into day and night shifts, who have gone through police verification. There are also CCTV cameras and all the switches are located near the front door to give the girls the privacy they need,” he explains.
While 35 girls will call this home for now, Sri Arunodayam is keen to extend their support to others in need in the future, Iyyappan says.
The girls, decked in dazzling gold and black for their inaugural dance performance, had perpetually donned a smile in anticipation of their new residence. “I liked the house. There are classes for everything that we need, designed keeping our future in mind. Each class is thought of with regards to a fruitful future for us. It is very nice and I am very happy,” sharess Nithya (18), after the electric performance with Reshma, their Bharatanatyam teacher of five years.
As the staff, guests and the girls appreciate the home for what it has to come to be, this success was not without many hurdles, as is often the fate of all good-intentioned work. The property faced the uphill battle of withstanding heavy rains and the COVID-19 pandemic when the construction began in September 2019. “I’ve had this dream since 2008, when we bought the property but permissions took nearly a decade to come through. When we finally began construction, the pandemic came around.
Several workers were migrants from states like Jharkhand and were ready to march out. We spoke to the builder and arranged for their food and accommodation and assured them of a job and payment. That’s how we retained the workforce. There was also a heavy monsoon season that delayed work by two months,” says Iyyappan. As the property is near a waterbody, the building is constructed 4.5 feet above ground and has gone through soil testing as well. Although, the risk of flooding is hardly there, he claims, as the waterbody has drainage and does not flood the surrounding areas (they noticed in the past).
A secure future
The NGO has passed several milestones, including a home for the boys during their 10th anniversary and now this on their 20th, but they have no intention to pause the good work. “Many of these children are not able to rehabilitate properly because of the nature of their disabilities. Many of them have moderate, severe or profound retardation. For them, lifelong care and support have to be provided. After 18 years of age, we have to separate them because children and adults cannot be kept together as per law. So, my next focus will be to set up a home for aftercare of these children,” he informs. As they say, the best preparation for good work tomorrow is to do good work today and in that sense, Sri Arunodayam is on its way to do some great work.
