Road to Recovery

Mallappa is 30-years old, and is from Chikkamageri village of Koppal district in Karnataka. He was working as an agriculture laborer, when in March 2016, a wall collapsed on him and he sustained an injury to his spinal cord.

He underwent treatment at Hubli KMC hospital for his injuries. He was hospitalized for a month and given aftercare at home for the next 18 months. However, his condition didn’t improve much. He was bedridden and developed many bedsores. He was totally dependent on his mother for all his daily activities.

His family brought him to the Naandi Social Rehabilitation Center (NSRC) for persons with Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) where Samarthya operates a short term residential facility. Here, he was thoroughly assessed by NSRC staff, and a detailed intervention plan was drawn up.

Once he was enrolled, he underwent physiotherapy and exercised regularly. The focus of his intervention plan was on strengthening his upper body, lower limb stretching, balance activity and gait training, in addition to training for bowel and bladder management and activities for daily living management.

Mallappa was also provided with a caliper, a folding walker and a wheelchair, while adaptations were made at his home. He received counseling services and information regarding government schemes during his stay.

Determined, Mallappa recovered from his bedsores and learned adaptive techniques to accomplish day-to-day tasks. He is now able to shift from bed to wheelchair and wheelchair to bed and perform other daily living activities independently. From being bedridden and dependent, he is now independent.

Hemant – Standing Tall

Before / After

Hemant, a 3-year from Lebagiri village, in Koppal taluk was born with delayed development.

When Hemant was brought to the Samarthya Early Intervention Centre, he was assessed to have neurological issues.

At the beginning, he faced problems in rolling, sitting, standing, walking, etc.

Hemant started using appliances like the AFO (ankle-foot orthosis), Gaiter and Rollator to learn sitting, standing and walking. With the appliances, he has started using the sitting chair and started walking with the standing frame and the walker. His parents were also trained to help him with daily activities, and with his basic physiotherapy requirements. Today, Hemant identifies all vehicle sounds, and he is able to recognise animals and birds through pictures

Finding her way out of silence

Archana was born deaf. Archana has a 9-year-old brother. Her family includes her grandmother and her father’s sister. Her parents are farmers.

She visited the Koppal Early Intervention Centre regularly with her parents.

She received a hearing aid with the help of Starkey Foundation Then her parents joined a parents group and started attending short stay camps.

On the advise of one of the parents, Archana’s parents to go to AIISH (All India Institute for Speech & Hearing), Mysuru. Here, she was provided quality hearing aid for better hearing, as well as inputs in speech therapy, listening therapy, pre-school training, etc.
After this, the parents came back home and admitted Archana to UKG class at her own village at the age of 5.

Samarthya staff supported her through home-based sessions and sessions in camps. With all these inputs, Archana improved in writing vowels and consonants. She is now also writing 1 to 100 and is able to do 2-digit numbers’ addition and subtraction. Her speech also improved and she is able to recite rhymes, read sentences, etc.

Archana’s aim is to complete her education and become a police officer.
The project recognized her mother’s skills and provided an opportunity for Hema, her mother. to work in the project. After her appointment, Hema mother opened a learning centre at her own house and is now supporting 2 to 3 deaf children from her surrounding villages.

Caring for Carers

Gyanamma, 34 years, is from Hatti. She is, herself, disabled. Her husband, Hanumappa, is an agriculture laborer and earns around Rs 200 in daily wages. They have three children, two girls and one boy.

Naveen, the oldest child, is 10 years old and has cerebral palsy. naveen now has his medical certificates and disability pension. He was also provided a special chair, splint. Gyanamma has also learnt basic physiotherapy to help Naveen practice at home.

Gyanamma, herself, was assisted to apply for and receive her disability pension, and she has undergone tailoring and design training with Samarthya.

Presently, she earns around Rs 100/day from stitching blouses and children’s dresses. She was also supported to purchase two sheep worth Rs 5800.

She has joined the Carers group at Koppal and has started savings Rs 100 per month. After joining the Carers group, she has been able to meet and share her issues with her peers. The meetings have also helped her to to gain knowledge about carers issues, self employment opportunities, Govt schemes,amongst others. She now shares her experiences with others, and attends seminars, workshops and other events and celebrations.

Gyanamma applied for a motorized bike in 2018. In the beginning the Disabled Welfare Dept did not accept application. Gyanamma then met the Deputy Commissioner to submit her application, which was then forwarded to the Disability Officer. Regular follow-up was done with the Dept. until this was sanctioned. Gyanamma received this on the occasion of Kannada Rajyotsava on 1st of November 2018 at Koppal.