Different Strokes, Project Anjali
Dr. Sruti Mohapatra
When it comes to making a difference, we need more
programmes like this.
THE IDEA: Watching
Sonali move her body in rhythm to music, though she
was hearing
impaired and Nibedita
playing deftly on the tabla a thought arose in my
mind….Why not? Why not launch a scheme to enable
competent students with disabilities, who are otherwise
economically weak, to receive higher education or
professional training.
Since we are all so much more alike than we are different;
Since dance and music have been used throughout the ages
as tools of communication;
Since art that is not passed on cannot endure And since
the children are our future....
I thus started talking to friends, well wishers and
organizations... And then Anjali was born ...
With the help of Ms. Sukanya Rath, Child Rights and
Information officer, UNICEF, Orissa, Mr. R. Balakrishnan,
Commissioner/Secretary, Department of Tourism, the AAINA
family, Sonali with her young group of teenage volunteers,
and Rashmi leading the OISC staff...the project finally
took shape.
The mission of the camp was to foster full participation
and involvement of disabled children with non-disabled
children in a cultural ambience. It was an attempt at
helping disabled and non-disabled children discover new
ways of reaching out to each other, as well as of looking
at life in new ways and leading fuller lives.
Project ANJALI is five-year demonstration project, which
will focus on physically, and sensorily impaired children
with active involvement from non-disabled children. ANJALI
will give the non-disabled children, teachers and parents
an opportunity to experience the challenges that children
with special needs have to confront every day as a result
of their disability. The project has four distinct activities
with each activity interacting and overlapping the rest
with an attempt at integration in all levels.
Seventy-seven children, both disabled and non-disabled,
from various schools and institutions in Bhubaneswar
participated in the four-day camp. ANJALI was inaugurated
by Mr. Tom Olsen, State Representative, UNICEF - Orissa
and Padmashree Dr. Priyambada Mohanty-Hemjadi, President
Sangeet Natak Academy. At the valedictory function the
Chief Minister, Shri Navin Patnaik blessed the children.
Some of the activities at the camp were:
ANJALI
INTEGRATED DANCE BALLET: performed at the opening ceremony,
this integrated dance ballet
was a sweeping
attempt at imagination in a world that contains a diversity
of attitudes, actions and outcome. Choreographed by Ms.
Aruna Mohanty, a renowned Odissi dancer, "SHRAVAN
KUMAR", had 33 performing artists including physically
and mentally challenged children. The dance ballet challenged
prejudice and preconception and aimed to extend the boundaries
of contemporary music and dance by developing a new aesthetic,
which embraced power, technical achievement and strong
visual imagery.
ANJALI CARNIVAL: Never had the streets of Bhubaneswar
seen such a bright and colourful assemblage of children
on the streets. Singing, dancing and spirited they danced
to the Raj Bhawan. Children were dressed in costumes,
as birds, butterflies and cartoons. People not only stopped
to watch the colourful carnival but also read the hand
outs that were being distributed. As the group danced
through the streets it kept growing bigger with bystanders
joining in. His Excellency, the Governor of Orissa Mr.
M.M. Rajendran and his wife Mrs. Sushila Rajendran, welcomed
the children with warmth and hospitality.
Different workshops on music, arts and crafts and theatre
were also held in the course of the camp. Project ANJALI
truly symbolised the meaning of the word Anjali in Hindu
scripture: 'the blossoming of a flower about to see the
world'.
Source:
Success & Ability, Volume
7 No. 1
Issue: Dated Jan-Mar 2002
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