From The President’s Desk

Amazing cooperation by our Friends; they understand the crisis

BEFORE India came under the grip of COVID 19, our Friends enjoyed a visit by a team of volunteers from DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel. On March 7, we celebrated Holi with the usual excitement and in a traditional manner, with puran poli for lunch, on March 9. On the tenth, our Friends enjoyed a music programme, Rangeela, by Melodious Breeze.

On March 11, we celebrated Holi with a team of visitors from Emcure Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd. Volunteers from Emcure have been celebrating this festival of colours with our Friends since the last ten years. They bring generous amount of natural colours and everyone at Navkshitij,including the employees, enjoys playing with the colours. At the end of the programme, all of us have a delicious breakfast sponsored by Emcure. Every year, our Friends wait for this event.

And then, India was hit by the deadly Corona virus. After March 14, we stopped entry to outsiders and closed the Day School and Autism unit, two daytime facilities. Non-resident staff members have been requested not to come to Navkshitij. We cancelled two monthly events, the monthly Traffic Awareness programme and our monthly trekking. Our resident Friends are staying with us, strictly following the guidelines laid down by the government.

Even during these trying times, we are striving to give as normal a life as possible to our Resident Friends. On March 25, we celebrated Gudi Padva, the Maharashtrian New Year. We made puri and shrikhand, the traditional menu for lunch. In the morning, we raised the Gudi. Our Friends have realised that it is a difficult and challenging situation now and the need to be cautious because of the prevailing threat of Corona. They are cooperating and going through their daily routine with surprising understanding.*

Upholding the spirit of Navkshitij in these trying times

Due to the lockdown to check the spread of Coronavirus, we are facing some challenging situations at Navkshitij.Staff coming from outside is now not allowed to enter Navkshitij. Hence, instead of theusual staff of 40, we have a skeleton resident staff of 14 taking care of 50 special friends. In this situation, sending our Friends home was not a good option. So we decided to take care of them at Navkshitij, where they are safe.

The main challenge is in the kitchen, where we have only one resident staff. Therefore, resident staffs from various other units have begun to take responsibility of the kitchen. They are cooking food in adherence to the timetable drawn up at the beginning of the year. So our Friends are continuing to get delicious food without any compromise. Asha, Ganga, Manjula and Gade kaku are working round the clock. Our regular vendor from the village is providing milk, vegetables, grocery and water.

At the workshop unit, instead of eight staff members there are only three now. Our Workshop Manager Santosh Munde, Assistant Anuradha and More kaku are running the workshop from 11 a.m. to 4.30 pm. For special friends, it is very important to continue their daily routine. The activities at the workshop keep them productively occupied. Caregivers Sainath, Tirupati, Datta, Ganga, and Sakhutaitake care of their morning exercise routine. They also help with the morning chores, serving food, giving medicines and taking care of any Friend who falls sick. Everyone is multitasking. We have only one regular staffer, Omkar, tending to the garden, instead of three. Our Friends help him water theplants and clean the premises. In the office, we have only one staff member, Admin Manger Balu Wayal. General Manager Operations Rameshwar Fundipalle, Facility Manager Mahendra Suryvanshi

and I are contributing by controlling our urge to visit Navkshitij. We are constantly with them, giving them moral support and helping them resolve any challenge that occurs.

At Asawali, the resident staff includes Workshop Manager Sandeep Mavhale, Ram, Santosh, Rani, Sadhana and Ashwini. They are taking care of nine special friends and doing a very good job.

My colleagues are taking good care of our Friends, with the same love and compassion as always. I am really touched by their sensitivity and integrity. I am very proud of my team. Every time there is a challenge, they voluntarily take responsibility. Lending huge support to all of us is our 81-year-old Founder Trustee Mrs Vasudha Divekar. We are working as a team to overcome the challenges that the lockdown has brought with it. This is the essential spirit of Navkshitij. *

By Dr. Neelima Desai, Founder President and Managing Director, Navkshitij

Month’s events

• March 7: Visit by a team from Hilton’s Hamilton Doubletree Hotel
• March 10: Holi celebrations; Music Program by Melodious Breeze
• March 11: Dhulwad & Rang panchami
• March 16: Birthday celebrations for our March-born Friends
• March 25: Gudi Padva

Navkshitij Now Needs

• 50 Kg Sugar
• 24 CFL Bulbs – Approximate cost Rs. 4,800
• One Wall mounting Fan – Approximate cost Rs. 2,400
• Toiletries
• 12 Toilet brushes – Approximate cost Rs. 2,400
• 120 Spoons – Approximate cost Rs. 1,000

Mission of Navkshitij:

The mission of Navkshitij is to create a world that offers mentally challenged friends (MCF) a life filled with happiness, dignity, warmth, excitement and joy and helps them be an ccepted part of society, and where parents of adult MCF have the reassurance of seeing their wards leading their lives happily, and in this way motivate and empower other NGOs and parents to start many centres like Navkshitij, replicating the Navkshitij model.

For more information, please visit: www.navkshitij.org or call: +91-9850092195