ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR 2014-15

        ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR 2014-15

SWAMI BRAHMANAND PRATISHTHAN

Regd No.E12466  Dtd : 09.11.89

                 Add: “Nav-Shanti “, Plot No.7, Sector 8A,CBD, Navi Mumbai – 400614.

                                             Email ID :shirishv12@gmail.com,

                              Blog Spot :http://sbp- pushpa.blogspot.comTel: 022 27570389 

UBUNTU

PERSONS OF SPECIAL NEEDS NURTURED AND EMPOWERED WITH SKILL AND TENDER CARE

  

25                            YEARS OF SERVICE

My Dream to Reality

Mrs. Shirish Govekar Poojary

Founder & Managing Trustee

Teaching in a special school for me was God’s Providence. I have loved every moment of my time spent with special children irrespective of the various challenges that I encountered. For me all these students are my own and so I am concerned about their well being and happiness.

My firm belief is that nothing is impossible for any of us. We need to be focused and clear about our objectives and plans.  The ability to work hard, honest and sincere efforts to complete the task at hand, team work, learning from mistakes, confronting problems and facing challenges,  sharing every little bit of success with each and everyone who has been in this journey of twenty five years and not the least the Grace of my Guru Swami Brahmanand who is always by my side  has contributed to the success of the organization.

It has been my endeavor to provide quality service to each and every special child who attends our institution.  Every parent envisions that their child grow up to be a well educated and happy human being with good values.  SBP believes in creating good human beings, so we have in turn from time to time created a curriculum to develop life skills with a blend of various cultural activities.

The efforts of the professionals in discharging their responsibilities is always appreciated and valued. Training programs for the staff are conducted time to time. Learning is a life long process. Upgradation of the staff by conducting various in house programmes keeps them in tune with the changing times. The efforts of both the teaching and non teaching staff have played a very important role in the growth and development of the organization.

Parents are an integral part of and are equal partners in the running of the organization. Their involvement in the organization’s efforts of providing quality services has got them involved at the management level, as class representatives, volunteers and various other capacities. Many parents of our students have shouldered the responsibility of raising funds for land, building, installation of CCTV cameras and  organizing events for the staff etc.

Efforts of various communities in supporting our projects are highly appreciated. Technical help from architects, engineers, doctors came voluntarily. Various individuals, social organizations, corporate supported us in different ways. This has helped in the construction and maintaining of our school building and upgrading our infrastructure from time to time. We also received support for our sponsorship programmes and medical support from many well wishers and friends. Extension of the second and third floor was possible because of our overseas donors from Spain, Bangkok and Pune. The sponsorship programme initiated by our friends from Spain “WALK BESIDE ME AND BE MY FRIEND” has helped to provide free ship and other financial support, for educational and extra curricular activities of the school. Contributions received towards the nutrition programme and medical expenses enable us to support our students for healthy living.

I cannot forget the place and the people where I grew up as a child. Irani Building can never be forgotten and all the lovely people who lived there.  The family where I was born, my parents, my brothers, sisters and all the members of my extended family who supported me and encouraged me to do what I wanted. All of my neighbours and friends who helped me at every step. This was a blessing indeed. I learnt various management strategies here. My eight years of service at my first job in Anza Special School also prepared me for my project. This is where I started my career the faith and trust bestowed on me by the management of the school gave me opportunities to learn administrative skills. It was here that I was destined to meet my life partner who supported me as long he lived. My friends from Anza special school still continue to help me even today.

I thank God for connecting me to all of them in this life. My heartfelt gratitude to all my special children who came on this earth as God’s Special Children, who gave me this opportunity to serve them, and this service equalizes my service to my Guru.

I have knowingly not mentioned any names but I am heartily grateful to each and every one of you who have been with me in my journey and made the impossible possible. Swami Brahmanand Pratishthan belongs to you all and I look forward to your support in its forward march in years to come.

Dhanyawaad

May Swamijee’s Blessings always be with you…

VISION

To empower the mentally challenged with skills that will enable them to lead a life of Dignity and Respect

MISSION

To develop services and programs for empowering persons with special needs and their Families

OUR UNITS

Disha Special School, CBD

In this unit there are 81 students divided in to 9 different levels.

A curriculum is framed and an Individual Educational Program is planned for every student. To enable the students with special needs face the rapid challenges in the society the curriculum provides practical exposure with a holistic approach. The objective of the training program is to make every student independent to the maximum possible extent depending on their ability, instill in them a sense of confidence and make them responsible members of the community. 

Along with special education other support services provided at this unit are:

-       Occupational Therapy

-       Counseling and Guidance

-       Computer Skills

-       Art & Craft

-       Music

-       Dance /Drama

-       Sports

-       Yoga

-       Various other Recreational activities for students, staff and parents

Falguni Vocational Centre, CBD

In the year 2003 one more floor was added to the ground plus one structure with the support of Daryanani and Mirpuri family and the overseas donors. The students completing the age of 18 years depending on their degree of independence and ability level take admission to the vocational section.  There are 44 students placed in this unit. The students learn vocational skills that enable them to become partially economically self sufficient and contributing members of the society. This also gives a boost to their confidence. The students here learn:

-       House Keeping Skills

-       Home Science Skills

-       Painting

-       Making Paper Bags

-       Jewelry

-       Making Food Products- chocolates, spices etc.

-       Handicraft Items – door mats, torans, wall hanging etc

-       Linen- Cushion covers, Bed spreads, Kitchen napkins.

-       Seasonal Products- Diyas, candles, Rakhees etc.

In addition to these activities, these students participate in various extra curricular activities.

As an extension of this unit our future plans are to develop a Sheltered Workshop cum Residential home.

Sweekar Special School, Uran- Rural Unit

Every child has a right to quality education. With this motive another centre was set up in the year 1999 at Uran with the initiative of CRY to cater to the students of this rural section. This unit runs from a rental premise and caters to the needs of the Persons with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities from the rural areas of Uran in the Raigad District.

There are 31 students grouped into three different levels managed by 8 staff members. Services provided at this unit are:

-       Special Education

-       Occupational Therapy

-       Art & Craft

-       Music

-       Dance /Drama

-       Sports

-       Yoga

-       Various other Recreational activities for students, staff and parents

The students participate in various extracurricular activities like Annual day, festival celebrations jointly with the students of the CBD centre.

Founder Trustees:

Mrs. Shubhangi Govekar

Mrs. Shirish Govekar Poojary

Mrs. Nirmala Namjoshi

About Our Present Management:

No.	NAME	POSITION
1.	Mrs. Shirish Govekar Poojary	Founder & Managing Trustee
2.	Dr. Mrs. Pratibha Moralwar	Trustee
3.	Mrs. Hansa Maru	Trustee
4.	Mrs. Charu Shah	Trustee
5.	Ms. Pushpa Moorjani	Trustee

Our Administration:

Mrs. Shirish Govekar Poojary – Director & Project Coordinator.

Educational Qualification: B Com, B Ed (Sp. Ed)

Special educator by profession she completed her B.Ed (Sp.ED) from SNDT college of Special Education in the year 1981. She worked as a teacher and then as a Principal at the Anza Special School for 8 years. She formed Swami Brahmanand Pratishthan with the support of her family members. She now heads the Organisation as the Managing Trustee looking after the overall administration.

Mrs. Charu Shah - Coordinator, Sweekar Centre

Educational Qualification: B Sc, D Ed (Sp. Ed)

Mrs. Charu Shah was the first Special Educator to be appointed by the organization. She completed her training from Dilkush College of Special Education, Juhu. Due to her personal responsibilities she discontinued as a teacher but continued helping the organization. She was appointed as a Trustee in the year 2012. At present she looks after the Sweekar Centre at Uran.

Ms. Pushpa Moorjani –Coordinator (Funding & Finance)

Educational Qualification: B Sc, D Ed (Sp. Ed)

Ms. Moorjani is a special educator by profession and she completed her training from Dilkush College of Special Education Juhu. She worked at the Anza Special School as a Head Teacher, however, later quit her job to join her family members abroad. She was appointed as a Trustee of SBP in the year 2010 and is now the Finance &Funding Coordinator.

Dr. Mrs. Pratibha Moralwar- Nutrition & Health

Educational Qualification: M.B.B.S

A doctor by profession running a child care centre at Kharghar & CBD Belapur, Navi Mumbai along with her husband Dr. Prashant Moralwar. She is a Trustee since 1994. She looks after the general health of the students by conducting health check ups in the school regularly. In case of emergencies students are taken to her clinic/ hospital for immediate treatment.

Mrs. Hansa Maru

Educational Qualification: Intermediate

A parent of a Down’s Syndrome student of our school, she has been a part of the Trust since 1997. She coordinates with the parents, takes the responsibility of the self group “Swayam”.

Mrs. Sukanya Venkataraman – Principal

Educational Qualification: B Sc, B Ed (Sp.Ed), PG Diploma In Education Management

Mrs. Venkataraman joined SBP as a special educator in the year 1992 and was later appointed as the Principal of the school in 2006. She coordinates with all the three units as the educational head.

Mrs. Suneet Marwah – Vocational Coordinator of Falguni Vocational Unit

Educational Qualification: M Sc (Botany), PG Diploma In Education Management

She joined as a volunteer in the year 2006 and later was appointed as the coordinator of Falguni vocational unit in the year 2008. She has the responsibility of training the students of the vocational section of the CBD centre.

Mrs. Madhuri Upadhye- Supervisor of Sweekar

Educational Qualification: Intermediate & Montessori training

She joined as an untrained teacher in the year 1999 at the Sweekar Centre, Uran. In spite of not being a trained special educator she was dedicated and got involved in the training and education of the special children of Uran. She was then given the responsibility as Supervisor of ‘Sweekar’

Mrs. SujathaBhaskar- Sweekar Administration (Ex Trustee)

Educational Qualification: B Com

She joined SBP in the year 1993 as an office staff and later became the Trustee and remained in the position from 1994 to 2003. At present she coordinates and volunteers her service to supervise the record keeping and documentation of Sweekar, Uran.

Ms. Chhaya Sawant – Office Coordinator

Educational Qualification: B Com, MSCIT

She joined the school in the year 2000 as Office assistant. She is now the office coordinator and takes care of the administrative responsibilities.

 

NEW INITIATIVES

CDAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing):

The Linux Software Program for Special Children was tried out with four students: Ms. AditiVerma, Ms. Kareena Rajput, Ms. Harinde rKaur, Mst. Akhilesh Shettigar. The session commenced on the 15^th of July and a training program of 24 hours was distributed over 6 weeks. Certificates were handed over to the students on 27^th August.

-Bus Tracking system of Tata Docomo introduced in all three buses

-Coats for teachers were introduced

-Report of 25yrs was printed on the occasion of the silver jubilee function and circulated on 14^th December 2014

-Awareness Session on Child Sexual Abuse and Disability by FACSE for the Principal,Teachers and care takers of Special Schools of Navi Mumbai and Raigad District by members of FACSE(Forum Against child sexual exploitation) Ms. Kavita Bhatia and Ms. Sangeeta Punekar

-Force Motors carried out a driver training program for the drivers, cleaners and attendants as a CSR initiative and spoke on Road safety and child safety on 12^th February 2015

                                                                                     

ACHIEVEMENTS                                                           PARTICIPATION

·         Cultural:

ü  Singing Competition at Aashray Special School on 13^th August ,Apeksha won-2^nd Prize, Sreerag- 3^rd Prize, Sujit- Consolation Prize

ü  Dance competition by  Natyashala on 9^th January - 1^st Prize

ü  Lions club of North Bombay- 2^ND Prize for group dance, 2^nd prize for solo song (won by Apeksha)

·         Sports :

ü  25^th July to 3^rd August - Ms. Disha Maru and Ms. Sneha Verma attended three preparatory camps and were selected to represent India in the Special Olympics World Summer Games, 2015 at Los Angeles, California.

ü  20^thMay to 6^thJune:  Mst. ShrilakBhoir attended the 20-20 Unified Cricket Tournament, Bangladesh Organised by Special Olympics and the team won a gold medal

ü  20^thto 25^thMay 2014: Ms. Tanaya Patade and Ms. Purva Nagri participated in the Basket Ball National games Organised by Special Olympics Bharat at Gujarat and the team won Bronze medal

ü  20^thto 25^thJune 2014:Mst. Prathmesh Koli attended Cycling National Games organised by Special Olympics Bharat at Bhopal winning a Gold medal.

ü  29^thSeptember: 8 students participated in the  SOB Young Athlete Program, at Andheri sports complex

ü  20^thSeptember: In the Table Tennis Tournament organized by AWMH at Goregaon,  

Mst. PratikTayde won -1st, Madhur Sonawane-2nd and Gurpreet Longia won 4th Prize respectively.

ü  3^rdDecember: District sports meet by Social Welfare department , Thane Zilla winning 5- gold,4- silver & 6- Bronze

ü  Students participated in the Navi Mumbai Marathon at Navi Mumbai  and Triumph Run at Thane

·         Art & Craft:

ü  Drawing competitions organized by Navneet and Inner Wheel club of Sunrise: Suraj Kotian, Khalid Kutty, Aditi Verma and Shrayon Deb won prizes

ü  Drawing competition for Navi Mumbai Environment Preservation Society on 28th January: Ms. Aditi Verma-1^st, Mst. GurpreetLongia- 2^nd,Mst. Shrayon Deb-3^rd Prize

EVENTS

·         Birthdays are celebrated on the last working day of every month. Skits were performed by students based on various topics.

·         Festivals celebrated: Swamiji’sPunyathithi, Guru purnima, RakshaBandhan, Gopal Kala, Ganesh Chaturthi, Dandiya, Diwali, Christmas, Holi

·         Special Days: Parents and Grandparents Day, Teachers Day, Children’s day and Care Givers day , Independence Day, Republic Day

·         The School Annual Sports on 20^th of January for the students of three units.

·         The Schools 25^th Foundation day was celebrated on 12^th July with the inauguration of renovated class rooms by the Managing Director of Just Dial Mr. V.S.S.Mani.

·         Cultural Program to celebrate the silver jubilee anniversary on 14^th December at Vishnudas Bhave Auditorium

Sale & exhibition

·         Stalls put up at: RaghunathVihar, Albattross Shipping Co., Bharati Vidyapeeth, Airtel, Vashi, IMC Mela, Mhape and Larsen & Toubro, Mhape.

·         An annual exhibition cum sale of articles made by the students of the Falguni Vocational centre at School on 11^thOctober .

Workshops

For Staff:                             

·         IEP (Individualized Education Program) by Ms. Kala Sundarvedha,

·         Speech and Language skills by Speech Therapist Ms. Sarah Gadkar

·         Health Issues in Women by Dr. Vidhya Kshirsagar

For Parents:

·         Behaviour Management by Mrs. Kala Sundarvedha

 For special educators and sports instructors working in Special Schools of Navi Mumbai and Raigad District 

·         Community coaches training program level III on behalf of Special Olympics and MYAS(Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs) on  19^TH AND 20^TH JULY 2014.

OUTING

v  Camp at Godriwale Baba ashram, Wagholi, Pune from 5^TH TO 7^TH February 2015

v  Picnic at Wonders park, Nerul on 14^th February 2015

v  Mangroves walk organized by Navi Mumbai Environment preservation society on 31^st January 2015

VISITORS

·         Mr. R.B.Shinde, District Social Welfare Officer, District Social Welfare Office, Thane Jilla

·         Mr. Sundar Mirpuri with his  grand daughter

·         Ms. Uma and Mr. Deepak

·         IAS officers Mr. Alkesh Sharma, Joint Secy, Govt. of India and Mr. Sunil Panwar from Bangalore visited with Mrs. Varsha Bhagat, Director of ETC

·         Employees of Rallys

·         Mayor Mr. SagarNaik, Corporator Mr. Vinit Palkar and Mr. Sabu Daniel

·         Mr. Vinod and Amit Mirpuri

·         Mr. V.S.S.Mani, Managing Director of Just Dial and his team

                                                                                      and many more……….

PLACEMENTS

Ø  Maren Hubner a student from Germany  from 16^th September to 31^st January 2015

Ø  Ms. Akanksha Arora student of NMIMS  from 2^nd to 21^st February 2015

Ø  Interns from Terna Physiotherapy college for practical training

Ø  Students of Teacher Training Institute,  NIMH RC Navi Mumbai for practical sessions

Ø  Students of Helen Keller Teacher Training Institute for observation

                                                                                                         

COMMUNITY & CORPORATE SUPPORT                          

Our heartfelt gratitude to all our donors, well wishers and friends  for supporting us in our mission of creating a better life for Persons with special needs

JUST DIAL:

·         Sponsored the renovation of five class rooms costing Rs. 24 lakhs.

MIRPURI FAMILY:

·         Sponsored Rs. 8 lakhs for the Purchase of plot measuring 1800 Sq. ft at Uran

·         Rs. 4 lakhs for the plot was sponsored by well wishers and friends

AMWAY:

Contribution of Rs.1.3 lakhs towards

·         Salary of one staff member

·         Nutrition Program

·         Camp expenses

They also conducted the following programs:

·         Medical check up

·         Magic show

·         Fashion show- 30 students participated on the theme “Winter Collection”

Other community support:

·         Inner wheel Club of New Bombay Seaside

·         Inner wheel club of New Bombay Hillside

·         Inner wheel clubs of Zone IV & Bombay Sea Coast

·         Rotary Club of New Bombay Hillside

·         Mr. Mahesh Shetty of Vishwanand Hotel, CBD

·         Employees of Bank of Maharashtra, CBD

·         Mr. Vishwanathan, CBD

·         Mr. K. Satish, BG India

Government Grant: The school continues to receive Government grant for 50 students and this includes the salaries of 16 staff members. An Amount of Rupees forty eight lakhs seventeen thousand five hundred and eight (Rs. 4817508/-)  was received

Sponsorship Program: Deserving and needy students of the three units have been sponsored by our friends and well wishers under the Project: “Walk Beside me and be my friend”. Without their support many of the activities would not have been possible. We thank each and every one of them without whose support it would have been impossible to carry on the activities.

AWARDS/FELICITATIONS

Mrs.ShirishPoojary was felicitated by-    

v  RSS Navi Mumbai Chapter on 25^th August

v  Kairali cultural association on 14^th September

v  Vocational excellence award on 5^th October 2014 by Rotary &Inner wheel club of Navi Mumbi Sunrise

Mrs. SukanyaVenkataraman also received the Vocational excellence award on 5^th October 2014 by Rotary &Inner wheel club of Navi Mumbi Sunrise

Mrs. Grace Rekha Simoes received the Teacher Award on 5^th October 2014 by Rotary &Inner wheel club of Navi Mumbi Sunrise

Mrs. Anita Mankame was felicitated on 14^th December for completing 25 years of dedicated service in the Organisation

FUTURE PLANS               

Ø  BRAHMAGIRI

A project for the mentally challenged children and adults –community based

Facilities to be provided

ü    Vocational training 

ü    Sheltered Workshop

ü    Residential Home for adult mentally challenged

ü    Respite care   

ü    Health care 

ü    Early Intervention & Therapeutic support

ü    Counseling & Guidance

ü    Research centre

ü    Spiritual Spa

Mrs. Shirish Govekar Poojary                 Mrs. Sukanya Venkataraman

Founder & Managing Trustee                 Principal