It’s been 3 years and the journey has never been smooth. We have had our shares of success and failures. There have been questions that even I have not had answers for. I can only turn back to see that the journey has been good.

The Movie “Mr India” draws a lot of similarities in our journey of Riya. To be honest, maybe I was selfish. I wanted to create a world of my own, a world where I would be happy, a world were happiness overruled selfishness.

I stand aware that any endeavor faces tough resistance. The scene in the movie that touched me the most was the fun that we have in the small world that we have created.  It could be as simple as waking up our kids in the morning or having a good laugh at the breakfast table or an evening filled with stories and masti. When I went for advice on working with the mentally challenged I was told it’s the most difficult of all. Yes we have had our share of lows too. But a recent incident changed it all.

On one of the occasions where the caretaker had to leave on a family emergency, it left us helpless without a staff. I was cornered as I had a kid that needed the most attention and my hands were full. This is where I feel that life at Riya is blessed. One of the kids at Riya takes it upon himself to take the youngest kid to the restroom and help him with his morning duties and cleans him up. It does not end with that. He even goes the extra mile of bathing the boy and powdering him ready for the day. This is nothing short of a day were tears roll out without an excuse. That’s when you feel hope I had a watch like which Anil Kapoor did in Mr India.

This incident is nothing short of a miracle. May be it’s these motivations that tell you life is full of surprises. I don’t know of the magic watch but I can tell you these memories are priceless and I feel one life is just not enough for this. The best way to end this blog is to say a line from the movie.

How often have you had to rush back from work or cancel appointments or miss a function because there’s no one to take care of your child back home ? It truly gets difficult to tag the child as their tantrums can make life miserable.

When Keerthana, a Mother of a special child, had to sacrifice her job and all its luxuries because she found it difficult to balance work and home – she had to fetch her child from the crèche, feed her, dress her up, when ill, run around to ensure the medications were given on time and many such complication that could arise.

She didn’t want women who worked so hard to get their dream job to throw it all away because there were parent to a special child. Her work was affected because she had to log out and rush back to her baby.  She decided to start a home where women like her could drop off their children and pick them up any time of the day.

Riya Foundation caters to parents who travel and do night shifts. The facility allows parents to drop off their children even late at night. Named after her child, “Riya Foundation” ensures disabled children from rural areas are provided schooling and hostel facility too.

It is a charged centre. I know there are thousands of women like me who had to quit their job after a child. I don’t want that to happen. It’s important for a woman to pursue her career” she says.

Riya foundation – A Residential Hostel and an integrated learning centre, provides the following services

• Respite care – For those having to travel, attend family emergencies or ceremonies. The duration of the facility can be availed from few hours to a maximum period of three months.
• Long term – This is the answer to the questing, after me who?
• Hostel and Boarding – The child is sent to an integrated school, taught life skills and provided exposure to manage life on his own.

The center operates 24×7 providing Residential care for the disable children with security and clean nutritious food. We also fill up the child’s time with interesting activities. The center maintains emergency services like night-transport, first-aid kits, in house care takers and round-the-clock security. The staff is trained to look after children across all ages, and know how to handle them, bathe them and feed them.

Please feel free to TAG yourself and help spread the cause.

Would like to thank all our Friends, Family, well wishers and Critics  for your support, Prayers and Blessing.

We thank God and pray to him to give us the strength to continue providing the best to these children.Congratulation to the entire staff and administration at Riya !!

Recently once Riya was stuck in the car. What happened was… after completing all the chores of the house; we were all set to go to school. I pulled the car out of the garage and hurried to close the gate. I was half-way through then I realized. God! I had left the keys inside, no windows open, the stereo playing and the car had auto locked. What am I going to do now?

I did panic a bit as none of the windows were open. Then mind took over. I started instructing her to hold the knob because I knew if she did then she would pull it up but making her hold it was a herculean task. Half an hour passed by but she just wouldn’t comprehend what I was telling her. She would look up at me with twinkling eyes as she found it very amusing to see us throwing our hands up and down. Looked like the monkeys in the cage, I guess. Neighbors gathered around the car. One called all the mechanics she knew, the other gave me moral support and another started planning strategies. That day I realized that all kinds of people are necessary in life because we need them all.

After 45 minutes of waiting, finally our electricity meter reader passed by. On any regular day I would have cursed him but this day he was warmly welcomed. Humans you see!!! He struggled for some time, used all techniques he would have learnt in school and POP!!! opened the lock. He was the hero of the moment. I thanked him profusely and thanked everyone who stood by me. Then I hurried to drop Riya to school.

I neither know the name nor do I meet him often. I meet him only once a month; sometimes I am not even there when he comes. Yet the meter reader took it up on his shoulder to get Riya out of the car. Guess that’s why they say – we are HUMANS you see !!!

When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,

When funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh.

When care is pressing you down a bit.
… Rest, if you must, but don’t you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns
As every one of us sometimes learns.

And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out:

Don’t give up though the pace seems slow -

You may succeed with another blow.

Success is failure turned inside out -
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt.

And you never can tell how close you are.
It may be near when it seems so far:

So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit
It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.

]]> http://www.riyafoundation.org/2012/02/poem/feed/ 2 http://www.riyafoundation.org/2012/02/mangalore-i-need-your-help/ http://www.riyafoundation.org/2012/02/mangalore-i-need-your-help/#comments Thu, 16 Feb 2012 05:43:33 +0000 Ashley http://www.riyafoundation.org/?p=356 Riya Foundation a home for the special children at Kulshekar is looking for a caretaker who could take care of our kids here. Looking for a mid-aged woman who is passionate about kids. She will be taken care off like our own mother. Food, Shelter, accommodation and salary will be provided. Call: Ashley Fernandes @ 9008159091

“This is where Riya comes into picture as a helping hand for these families and children. We like our kids to live life like we did or better than us. Every kid deserves to play and study with all the other kids. But we understand that raising a special child could be a handful, and it could be even scarier to raise a child with physical disability. When you don’t know what to do, who to call for help, where to start, which way to look or just runaway. All parents ask for is a miracle that they would just become normal and start walking and be independent.”

RIYA Foundation started with the goal of keeping in mind the hurdles of people with special needs and their parents. Riya Hope Farm is currently located at Kulshekar in Mangalore, India. It aims to be an integrated place to normalize lives by providing comprehensive care. The objective is to make available a long-term variety of non-time-limited housing. The center provides residential homes, individualized services, care, rehabilitation, education and training.

What Riya offers is not a miracle cure but an opportunity to live life again. The more effort a child puts in, the better control they’ll have on their mind and body. In most cases a child’s condition is due to malnutrition at early stage. Riya provides a facility for these kids where they can live a healthier life. They have strict-diet workshops to teach them how to deal with different scenarios in life. Physical and psychological therapies by trained professionals meet their mental needs.

Working with special children coming from financially-backward families means that schooling, uniforms, teaching aids, accommodation with healthy and hygienic food and trained staff becomes a huge challenge. It’s not only run with the intention of stabilizing the disabled but also to provide them an opportunity to work. Riya Foundation is looking at empowering them to be like us.

The only thing Riya Foundation wants to ensure is that these children are not banished from their families (which is common in poor families). We’re also willing to take care of the kids for life. We ensure they’re trained in simple tasks ensuring he or she can earn a living doing things like photocopying or working at restaurants or coffee shops.

In the future, Riya Foundation plans to invest in better learning aids, an upgraded training center with better teaching aids, cots and bunker beds, basic gym equipment for daily exercising and many more things to benefit the children. With lack of government support and awareness, funds to meet day-to-day needs become difficult.

A parent feels proud when their child reads a book or draws a painting. So imagine what a special child’s parent would feel when they see their kids do what normal kids do. If this small gesture can put a smile on these faces, then so be it. I want to see the kids smile, walk with pride and not be teased for a disability. -