Spread joy in the lives of kids who are special in a different way

Do something meaningful. Spend your gap year caring and teaching children with cerebral palsy, delayed milestones, learning disability, autism and other disabilities. 25 years ago, starting as a school for children with cerebral palsy, the project has now expanded to multiple areas. It provides physiotherapy support, special needs education, a training centre where parents of children with special needs receive advice and guidance, vocational training to teach basic skills and make these children employable.

This is a truly inspiring project where you can involve yourself in multiple roles and make a marked difference.

Your role: Depending on your interests, there are multiple roles that you can perform as a volunteer. For those interested in teaching, you can teach at the special needs school. There are multiple levels – pre-primary, primary and secondary. If you are teaching for the first time, primary would be a good way to start with. However, if you are a qualified teacher, taught children with special needs or volunteered with special needs children, you can opt for secondary school teaching.

The teachers here would appreciate any support you can give them. You can assist and train the teachers in English or Maths.

For students of physiotherapy, there is a great need for volunteers here. With many children who need special attention and specialised care, your physiotherapy skills are much needed. Design classes or sessions for children, spend time with them and provide one to one therapy as there are varied needs at this project.

You can also assist in the vocational training programme by giving ideas and designing schedule for classes. For eg: The project runs training on making cards. Your inputs on making better cards and how they could be sold will be valuable

What you gain: Working with special needs children and knowing that you have don something worthwhile brings a sense of satisfaction that cannot be described in words. For those looking at a career working with special needs children, this is a perfect opportunity to get immersed in the way they live, challenges and support required. Based in the beautiful state of Kerala, you can also view the picturesque backwaters and coffee estates.