Outreach Qatar (OQ) made the International Day of Education special for around 40 children with special needs and their parents, by providing them with the unique feel and experience of a school and classroom environment, at Bhavan’s Public School.
Children were segregated on the basis of age into different classrooms and provided interesting and educative sessions by experienced trainers and teachers Pratiksha Bhosale, Manimala Kulasekaran, Sangeetha Nirmala, Thamarai Selvi, and Pushpa Suryanarayanan. The event aimed towards a greater initiative of instilling social skills in the children. A session on Mindful Parenting was imparted to the parents in a separate classroom by Sasikala Natarajan, occupational therapy specialist - Cardiac Rehabilitation Department of the Heart Hospital.
The parents were made aware of how an emotionally balanced mind and sound body allows effective parenting and well-being of the family.
The event co-ordination was conducted by Naveenapriya Ragavendran along with Subhashini Prabhakar and Shobha Stevenson. The support at the venue was provided by Kanika Maheshwari, Rama Selvam, Saravanan Sachithanantham, Muhammed Anwarali, Ramesh Gobalakrishnan and Mani Bharati. A breakfast was arranged for all who attended by Skills Development Centre.
OQ president Avinash Gaikwad, advisory chairman P N Baburajan, honorary treasurer Krishnakumar, and advisory committee members Mahesh Gowda and Ravindra Prasad, visited the classes and addressed the parents. An interactive assembly session for the children was organised after the classes by Pushpa Suryanarayanan.
The final gathering was convened by general secretary Sameer Moosa, wherein the trainers and teachers for the event were felicitated with mementos and certificates. Tamarai Selvi shed light how ventriloquism is an effective tool in helping interaction with children with special needs. The highlight of the segment was a painting dedicated to OQ by 12-year-old Gopika Elamurugan.
