KOCHI: Early this year, K G Nair, a resident of Edappally, met Amala Joy, a 24-year-old girl, suffering from paraplegia- a condition that causes complete paralysis of the lower half of the body. On her request he took her for a visit to Lulu Mall in Edappally. As they drove out into the city, she screamed terrified that the buses were going to run over them. “It surprised me how much less she has seen the place where she lives. In Toronto, Canada, there are vans, fitted with mechanisms that lifts the paraplegics along with their wheelchair into the van. It offers door-to-door services and charge only bus fares. That makes their life easier and helps them lead a normal life. They don’t spend years inside their house, just because they are paralysed,” says Nair.
It was those vans that Nair had seen in Canada which helped him formulate a similar system here.
As Nair planned buying a second hand van which can fit three wheelchairs in it easily, he gathered funds from his friends and relatives. The van is fitted with a platform which can lift a wheelchair along with its occupant into the van and is equipped with three wheelchairs. This enables the beneficiaries to see around Kochi without any trouble.
Just like the name suggests, when Supratheeksha, which offers free services started functioning two months later, it rekindled the hopes and dreams of many kids in Kochi. The first one to use its services was Amala herself. After Amala, 65 other such children have been taken for a ride around Kochi in Supratheeksha.
Amala’s mother Mini Joy is at the forefront of the Supratheeksha venture. Bindhu, who is also a paraplegic and Raji Ashokan have associated themselves with her, aiming to bring light and colour to the lives of many. “We take them to two places in Kochi, according to their preference. We give precedence to people with born disabilities and also those who belong to financially backward classes. It is they who need help,” says Bindhu.
Talking about her experience with Supratheeksha in the past two months, Raji says that at times the parents don’t agree to let their children go out and enjoy fresh air. “They are scared that other people would see that their kids have disabilities. But we have seen the happiness of other kids whom are taken out. So we keep trying till they give their consent,” she adds. Although it was Nair, currently in his late seventies, who set Supratheeksha in motion, he is planning to relieve the responsibility of the project to Raji, Mini and Bindhu.
“We are planning to expand our services with one more van. The kids we take out are requesting us to build a place for them to spend some time during daytime. We are considering it along with hopes that more people would come forward to use our services,” adds Mini speaking about their dreams. Supratheeksha, is currently operating with the sole funding of Nair who is expecting sponsorships and external funds once they complete the procedures of registering Supratheeksha as an NGO.