Most of us or I should say all of us have this
deep desire of doing something for our society especially for the vulnerable
section of the society. But for some reasons, we don’t get a chance to do so,
may be because we don’t know from where to start or may be because we think
that our small contributions cannot make any big difference. I don’t hesitate
to accept that I also used to think similarly till I got an opportunity to
visit RAPHAEL and NIVH.
RAPHEL is an NGO based in Dehradoon working for the intellectually challenged people. After visiting RAPHAEL, I felt as
if I have got a glimpse of some other world. Some of the children there might
be undesirable and burden for their parents but members of RAPHEL put all their
efforts to make sure that these children get a chance to live life with dignity,
care and love. It was completely a mesmerizing experience to see children there
studying, playing, dancing, making beautiful candles, stoles and paper bags,
working on computers and most importantly to see them enjoying each and every
moment with their friends.
Visit to NIVH(National Institute for Visually Handicapped) gave me an
opportunity to look into world of visually challenged children. I am sure most
of us would have never imagined that these children not only have all the books
in braille form, talking books, full fledged library but also geometry box,
playing cards, Cricket ball and wickets, Chess board, carom board especially
designed for them.
The interaction with the students
of 11th and 12th class at NIVH made me really feel
surprised as the questions raised by them were so contemporary and relevant and also these children were so much aware and updated about everything
including movies, music, politics, sports and most importantly civil services
exam - future career choice of many of them.
If we try to analyse efforts of
these two organisations at cost benefit parameter, we might not be able to
appreciate much as working with such children demands huge efforts and patience
with outputs which are never certain. But yes, considering every human life
valuable even if one is physically or intellectually challenged, we can
estimate significance of efforts of these organisations.
I am sure that this visit has
given many of us a new direction and motivation to give shape to our desires and
dreams of doing something for our society. We might not be able to make a very
big difference but surely we will make difference in the lives of at least few
people.
