Volunteering at Drophen School, an attempt to provide opportunities for disabled adults in Bir.

My name is Pushpa and I am a trained speech pathologist / special educator. A recent move from America back to India had left me weary and restless, I wanted to get away from the chaos of it all and found an opportunity to do that as a volunteer through Deer Park. I thought it would be a good idea to try and get involved in the short time that I had in Bir.

Drophen is an adult day center serving individuals with physical, emotional and mental disabilities. I met the current students. They were friendly but shy, nervous to talk to me and constantly apologizing for their poor Hindi. I think friendliness knows no language barriers and these simple individuals were only eager for some warm company and a generous attitude. Currently the school is struggling with the lack of a good program and consistent staff.

My interactions with the students, the staff and the people at Deer Park led to a meeting where further plans were laid out for vocational opportunities for the students.

We have restarted a latent vegetable garden; Deer Park is willing to buy the vegetables that the students grow. Deer Park has also offered to buy paper bags made by the students and provide a safe environment for the students to come for supervised work tasks so they can learn valuable work skills. I am eager and excited to see how all this pans out in the coming months.

The experience here has taught me some valuable lessons - to stay focused on specific goals and not let doubt get the better of me. I have also re-learned the value of being patient and having a positive attitude, something I often forget even though I expect that of other people, especially the disabled individuals that I attempt to serve. I am really glad I came and hope I can come back sometime soon. If you are interested in further information on how to help the students at Drophen School, please contact the staff at Deer Park.