A school for mentally disabled

It is the aching sense of loss that her little girl left behind that blossomed into Shilpa Society For The Mentally Challenged at Palluruthy. Dr Premila who started the Society way back in 1996 says that nothing was planned in her life.

Shilpa is born

Her daughter Shilpa was a beautiful child - soft, gentle and graceful with long hair. But unlike other children she was mentally disabled. She suffered recurrent attacks of epileptic fits and congenital ventricular septal defect (VSD). When she was 11 years old she went into a coma from which she never recovered. That was in 1995. Shilpa Society was born the very next year on the first death anniversary of Shilpa.

A crusader for a cause

Dr Premila has offered hope to parents like her locked in silent combat with complex disorders. You can’t help but marvel at her energy. She is continuing with her general practice at her clinic even as she manages the school with 150 special children in the age group of 6 months to 57 years. Her husband Dr Harimohan now works in the UAE. The couple has two other children. The older daughter is studying medicine and the son is in Class IX.

The Society

The Society was formed mostly with parents of special children who wanted to help others like them as they know what others go through. “I started the school with eight children and never knew it will grow into such a big institution. There are 20 committed members who have been working for the Society since its formation,” says Dr Premila.

The school

“In fact I first started the school by converting my car porch. But when the number of children began to increase we had to move to a bigger and better place. So we purchased a small piece of land and constructed a three-storeyed building. But now even that has become insufficient.”

An uphill task

Premila says they are now not in a position to accommodate more children due to the lack of facilities. But once the construction of their new building at Thoppumpady on the 60 cents of land purchased using government grant is over, they can be of help to many more special children.

But to complete the building, which in its first phase will have 3,500 sq ft built-in space, is an uphill task for which they are totally dependant on well-wishers.

The challenges

Being a charitable society they run on government grant. But they haven’t got the grant from the government for the last three years for recurring expenses. Thus fund raising is their biggest challenge. The government says there is need for qualified special educators only two days a week. Out of the 150 children, 40 need therapy. And it is just not enough to give them therapy for two days a week, says Dr Premila.

Adding on facilities

They are depending on the noon meal programme sponsored by the government where they supply rice and dal. “Apart from these we include vegetable dishes as well to make it a proper meal for our children.” They also provide transportation facilities on a concession rate. They have started a Saturday home-based programme for severely disabled children for which they are not charging any fees.

‘We are growing’

“We are in a growing stage and can do much more if we have more support from the government. We want to expand our vocational training programme by making it self-sustainable. Once our new building is ready, the building at Palluruthy will function exclusively for early intervention. We are planning a residential training centre where parents can stay with their wards for three months. We are also planning a residential centre for older children who have no one to take care of them.”

The need for more

“When it comes to facilities for children with disabilities our state is way behind. I feel sad that we don’t have facilities that other countries are offering to special children.”

 We hope many more will contribute to the welfare of the Society and their dream of moving to a new building with better facilities will soon become a reality.  Contact Dr Premila at 2328977/2232598.

manuvipin@expressbuzz.com