How do we help put India’s railway children back on track?

WHEN Neelam Jolly, a post-graduate in biophysics, changed track and trained to become a therapist, she was exposed to the needs and problems of children with disabilities from close quarters. This pushed her to dream of an organisation that would work for special needs children – where they are made to feel an integral part of mainstream society through inclusivity.

GiveIndia: Did you have an epiphany or a moment of revelation that led you to start VISHWAS? Tell us about the journey.

In 2005, Neelam took the big leap of faith and set up VISHWAS in a small building in Saanp Ki Nangli village in the Gurugram district of Haryana. Soon, they turned a vandalised and abandoned building into a fully functioning school and resource centre for children of migrant communities and the marginalised – with 17% of the students in the school being children with disabilities.

Neelam Jolly: It all started with an advertisement in the newspaper way back in 1988 from Action for Ability Development and Inclusion (then the Spastic Society of India) which was planning to start a one-year course in Basic Development Therapy. At the time, I was looking for a change in my field from biophysics to something more manageable and equally satisfying.I was looking for a change in my field from biophysics to something more manageable and equally satisfying.I was looking for a change in my field from biophysics to something more manageable and equally satisfying.I manageable and equally satisfying.

I was called for an interview and asked to spend one week with the children there to see if I could cope – it was my first exposure to disability. I was very upset for the first two to three days, seeing some of the very high need children who were not able to eat, swallow or sit properly. But then I also noticed they were smiling, playing, and exchanging notes on cricket in their own sign language. So I finished my one-year course with a lot of hands-on training, worked there for a couple of years and that brought me the confidence to later venture out on my own.

I was called for an interview and asked to spend one week with the children there to see if I could cope – it was my first exposure to disability. I was very upset for the first two to three days, seeing some of the very high need children who were not able to eat, swallow or sit properly. But then I also noticed they were smiling, playing, and exchanging notes on cricket in their own sign language. So I finished my one-year course with a lot of hands-on training, worked there for a couple of years and that brought me the confidence to later venture out on my own.