Our Well Wisher Speaks.....

Mr.Niresh Daryanani, (from Tenerife, Spain,) is our well wisher, guide and a strong supporter of our school and we, at Swami Bramananand Pratisthan, are very grateful to him for all his assistance that he gives regularly. Recently, we were happy that he could find time (from his busy schedule) to visit our school during school hours and see the children at work and were glad to know that he was impressed by the progress at school. He complimented the school profusely and this is what he writes…….

“Hello friends

Hi ! Yesterday ( 18/11/09) I did pay a visit to SBP ( the school for the mentally challenged ) in New Bombay .

I hadn't visited the school in normal working hours , for more than 6 years .

I was taken aback by what I saw.

All Uniformed children, busy either studying or being taught vocational work, others being given voice, occupational and vocational therapy.

School was bustling with action. 2 young table tennis players having won silver and bronze medals in the special sports . 15 yr old weight lifters, silver in their category. Others having won medals for singing and dancing. Many busy with work preparing orders of curtains , spices to be delivered , patch work bags and wallets being sewn , vegetables to be cut and sold to restaurants and homes at a very nominal price . Clay and earthen vases beautifully sculptured and painted , key ring holders made of wood and resin so pretty would sell in any of our stores. (Some of the proceeds of this sale goes directly back to them ) . Honestly incredible!!

When we 1st were introduced to the school , some students couldn't even buy uniforms , they would travel in auto rickshaws ( 3 wheelers, with no doors ) and almost 8-9 if not more would travel in them to and from their homes. Now the school has 1 van for about 12 -15 students and a mid-sized bus of their own with a capacity of up to 43 children .

Not so long back they used to wonder how they could make it to the end of the month and be able to pay salaries and utilities. Today they have a reserve of about 6000 Euros in case of any eventuality.

The government also who had refused to help them at that early stage , has come forward with limited financial support .

All this my friends would not have been happening had it not been for the trust , the confidence , constant support and undying friendship that you have created with this small school in one corner of Bombay.

Believe me, I was stunned to see this bunch of such happy children, smiling in each class that I visited, at all diff levels, trying their best in their own way. I was very encouraged by the teaching staff, their patience and their steadfastness in getting the message across , no matter how long it took .

This is a fantastic combination. It is truly a marvelous school making a huge difference in more than 130 homes.

Remarkable and unbelievable is all that I can say !!!
Thank you all
Best wishes
Niresh”

..Thank you so much Niresh…your support is a great boon to these children...our children are very lucky to be surrounded by kind folks…..!!!!

Our talented stars

On 12th November, 16th National swimming event was held and our students won prizes. Disha won 2 bronze, Prathmesh won silver and bronze and Shruti won silver.

On 12th-14th November, children took part in ability competition and the winners were: Tanya – 3rd prize in Origamy, Ashish – 3rd in Origamy and painting, Apeksha – 3rd in Clay modeling, Kareena – 2nd in Lego, Suraj – 2nd in Painting, 3rd in Rangoli, Leena – 1st in Get well cards, 2nd in embroidery, Ashwini – 1st in Rangoli.

An Awareness Program for Parents of a Special child.

On 12th November, an awareness program was organized by our institution, on behalf of Research Center and SNAC Nodal agency, under the ministry of Social justice and empowerment at Malwan.

The program was a huge success and not deterred by the bad weather (A sudden cyclone hit the Sindhudurg district) twenty eight parents and school representatives participated in this program.

The program was inaugurated by Mr Duelkar, followed by talk on information about schemes and facilities that are provided by central/state government of SNAC

On various discussions, it was observed that people are not aware of the government facilities available for children with special need and therefore they do not avail of such schemes. The first priority was to help them to get disability certificate for their children.

Our active representatives, Mr, Dashrath Parab and Mr. Bakshi, motivated parents to come together towards common goal of helping the special children. Mrs.Mayekar, a parent of a special child, shared her experience of raising a special child.

Dr. Barrister Nath Pai Sevangan agreed to partner with our organization to help the parents in Malvan district in our absence.

Children’s Day Program at JNPT

On 13th November 2009, the students from our school were invited to perform in the cultural program by JNPT (Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust) Vidhyalaya.

Our students put up their great performance in music and dance to the packed audience of 700 people.

Programs like these give our children opportunity to showcase their ability and talent.

We are grateful to the organizers of this event for giving our special children such opportunities.

Skill and Ability Competiton

Suraj sits crouched on the floor, sprinkling the colored sand from a strainer on a ‘two feet by two feet’ square patch on the floor.

With great concentration, he sprinkles different colored sand, one by one, one layer of colored sand on the top of the other layer, creating colorful designs. Quite satisfied, he looks up to get his teacher’s attention and awaits the next instruction. “Now make some design, using your finger, do whatever you feel like” says his teacher. Suraj stretches his first finger and slowly, carefully, moves his finger, tracing randomly, digging into the layers of colored sand, producing beautiful design.

Quite satisfied, he places leaves and flowers on the border of the square, keeps a ‘metal tray with a tumbler and coconut’ in the centre of the square and then decides to decorate the rest of the square with colored stones and mirrors.

Suraj is being trained for the competition of Rangoli, an Indian floor art. He will be participating in the ability competition that is organized by ‘Skill and Ability School’ the event will be held on 12th, 13th and 14th November 2009.

Thirteen students will be participating from our school. The event is divided into three groups: Under 9 years, 10-15 years, and above 15years.

Following are the events that will be included in the ability and skill competition: Waste re-use, embroidery, Lego, jigsaw puzzles, painting, making get-well card, clay modeling and rangoli.

Over the three hour competition, child will be graded on the basis of their originality, neatness, skill and speed.

Active parents of our school

Parents play a very important role in the development of their special child and their involvement in school activities show greater progress in school management.


Teaching a special child is a team work where teachers and parents work together in helping the child overcome their handicap.

At our school, in Swami Brahmanand Pratishthan, the parents are very cooperative and help the school management in the best way that they can, giving their quality time and attention.

We have parents like Mrs Bakshi, Mrs Maru, Mrs Nirmala and many others who come to school in every need of hour. During the school functions or celebrations of any festivals, we are lucky to have our student’s parents who volunteer to help, arranging food, drinks and gifts, and their precious time.

Whenever children need to go for any outdoor activities, such as sports or any cultural programs, we can depend on Mr and Mrs Maru, who volunteer to drive children, providing thier personal transport to those venues far away, helping in reduce the stress of traveling. They are also the trustee of our school and helps coordinate the other parents living in the zonal area of Panvel

Mrs Nirmala Mohandoss comes regularly to the school and assists teachers in the vocational centre, helping those children who require one-to-one guidance. She devotes her afternoon hours at the school activities and is very helpful to the teachers. She also coordinates with other parents living in her zone of Belapur, CBD.

Mrs Bakshi volunteers by attending the important meetings on behalf of our staff and parents, helps in guiding other parent in dealing with their special children, coordinates with other parents living in her zone of CBD, Belapur.

Mrs Pushpa Mhaske and Mrs Anika Gurung are also active parents who volunteer thier time and skill in helping children in the tailoring section of our vocational group. They organizes stitching activities , designing bags and handicraft items and help in making beautiful articles for sale in exhibitions.

AshaDevi Thakur, Bina Nambiar and many other parents come regularly to school to volunteer when the time permits.Mr Nilesh Doshi helps the institution by donating the yearly supply of phenol and liquid soap. Also, Mr,Deepak Mane helps in transporting the children in the school bus whenever our school driver is unable to report to work.

Then we have Mr Parab, who helps the school in organizing the printing and publishing of our paper work, visiting the government offices, coordinating with charity commissioner, officers in the government office.

Mr Bakshi helps in compeering and organizing school functions.

Parent-teachers meeting take place regularly in school and we all work together as one team, striving for perfection in achieving our goal towards better conditions required to live a better life and creating condusive envirnoment for our children at our school.

Yoga Camp At Santacruz

On 21st-22nd October, from 10am to 5pm, few of our children took part in yoga-cum-playgroup-camp that was held at Yoga institute in Santacruz.

Normal children were integrated with special children and together they took part in yoga exercises, cushioned with art, craft, singing and dancing activities.

There were separate consulting and counseling session for parents of special children where parents discussed the problems faced by them and how they could overcome it.



Children were very happy to take part in this camp and at the end of the two day camp, children put up a show whereby they performed yoga exercises and dances for their parents.

Children made things for the exhibition

Teachers help the children to make many things that are later sold at the exhibition that is held once a year....



Children love to make many things such as.....

Making Mats



Making laterns



Making newspaper bags



Making Fancy paper bags



Decorating diyas




Weighing and packing masalas



and many more things, come to the exhibition and see the children jump with joy when they see their art work being sold......

Special Children's Party

Dhandia Party at School

On Saturday, 26th September, children at Swami Brahmanand Pratishthan celebrated Dhandia at school.



They came dressed in ethnic clothes with colorful dhandia sticks in their hands.



As soon as the music begun, the mood was set, and whole of the evening was spend in dancing and singing.



Later, Pav Bhaji and Gulab Jammu were served, sponsored by our well-wisher from Malaga, Mrs Rachna Fabiana.



One more festival to enjoy and children loved it....