16/12/2013
Next time you sip a coffee at the Alliance Francaise in Nungambakkam, take a second glance at the seemingly ordinary-looking paper cup in your hand. It will tell you a story about a special group of people fighting for their economic independence braving their disabilities.
“We want people to recognize their skills to be included in society. These disabled people want to make a name for themselves and like any other person seek opportunities to run their lives,” says Kaveri Viswanathan, special educator at Vidya Sagar (formerly the Spastics Society of India, Chennai).
Her daughter, 28-year-old Amrita, who suffers from mental retardation, runs a paper cup unit in Adyar along with six others. Alliance Francaise is one of their customers.
Trained at Vidya Sagar, they started their unit in June last, thanks to a good Samaritan, who threw open his garage for them, and another, who purchased the first set of machinery, comprising four machines at a cost of `30,000 each. Their parents pooled in amounts ranging between `2,000 and `3,000 to buy raw material – ITC paper from Coimbatore.
The papers cups are handcrafted by Amrita and her co-workers and the unit churns out about 2,000 cups a day. After the business picked up, the budding entrepreneurs have now gone in for a second set of machines and are also planning to shift to a larger place. Like other parents with disabled children, Kaveri Viswanathan watches their progress with a sense of satisfaction. “We want our children to be employed and stand on their own feet,” she says.
At Vidya Sagar, the trainees make their entry to the Employment Education Programme at the age of 18. “While most of them are afflicted with mental retardation and cerebral palsy, there are also people suffering from autism and learning difficulties,” says Vijayashree Ramesh, coordinator of the centre. “We first assess their economic background, likes and dislikes,” she adds.
For those who have higher skills, training are given in bakeries, confectionaries, housekeeping and computer hardware firms, where they get a certificate at the end of their training. The centre gets them placements, enabling them to join mainstream jobs.
For those who do not fit into the category, initiatives such as Amrita’s paper cup unit are formed by small groups. “These people need supervision to do their jobs,” Vijayashree Ramesh said.
Several such entrepreneurial initiatives have taken off, with products like paper cups, paper bags, leaf plates, leaf cups and yoga mats streaming out of the units. There are success stories like a paper bag unit set up by a six-member group in West Mamabalam eight years ago. “They get many orders during marriage season,” she said. Sai Samaj in Mylapore is also a customer.
Twin brothers R Sriram and R Sundararaman (27) set up their leaf-cup making unit at Pallavaram with the help of their parents. M. Swaminathan (25), who suffers from autism, is now ready to start his own yoga mat weaving unit. While most of the skills to the trainees are imparted by special educators at Vidya Sagar, Swaminathan was trained by a traditional weaver.
The main focus is to ensure that the people with disabilities become economically independent. “Every person should earn their living according to their capacity,” Vijayashree Ramesh says. They are also treated with more respect by their families, she adds.
Suchitra Sohoni of RASA, an NGO for rehabilitation of adults with special needs, echoes Vijayashree’s views. RASA’s school and vocational unit churns out a variety of art and craft items such as screen painting, bangle stand, magazine racks, beside paper bags and other products, all handmade products. All these NGOs are looking for recognition for the skills of these disabled entrepreneurs and lend a helping hand by encouraging them. Pointing to the tough competition to market these products, Suchitra says there should be awareness among the people that the products are handcrafted by the disabled. The NGOs are now studying the suggestions made by Columbian marketing expert Marcella Ecavarria at a workshop held in Vidya Sagar recently. Recounting her own experiences in marketing the products made by artisans in Columbia, Ecavarria suggested that the NGOs resort to branding their products.
