From The President’s Desk

(A monthly newsletter published since April 2012by Dr. Neelima Desai and edited by Kanaka Cadambi on behalf of Navkshitij)

Stressful September; Covid 19 descends

SEPTEMBER started well. We celebrated Teacher’s Day on September 5, when we organised sports events. A week later...

After seven months of staying safe, COVID 19 descended on us. Three staff members first showed symptoms and tested positive. This triggered a train of events. On September 12, 90 persons, including Friends, staff members and their children, were tested. In thefirst round, whilethree staff members tested positive, none of our Friends were positive. This was a big relief. However, when we repeated the test on September 18, four staff members and 12 Friends tested positive. This was a scary situation.

Staff members, parents, and I were tense for a short while. But, as always, we had in-depth discussions. We came up with a proper plan to tackle the issue. Affected caregivers were admitted to the Wipro COVID Centre in Hinjawadi and Friends who had been in their charge were quarantined.

Admitting Friends to a COVID centre is very tricky because every special friend needs a separate attendant. Parents and siblings stepped in and took full responsibility for their son/daughter or sibling. The staff members who had tested negative took care of Friends who were unaffected and kept them separate.

On September 24, we tested the 56 people in the premises. This time, two staff members and three Friends tested positive. We admitted them to the COVID centre. The families of two Friends were not in a position to take care of them. In a touching gesture, Ganga and Shitole, two staff members who had tested positive &who had been just discharged, opted to stay back asattendants for the two Friends. A big salute to them!

Navkshitij staff once again rose to the occasion, took proper decisions and handled responsibilities so well. I had a conference call with the core group, once a day, to review the situation and plan new strategies. The staff members were proactive and calm during this testing period.

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) members supported us at every step. They organised free testing and saved Navkshitij Rs 3 lakh. They also helped get admission to the COVID centre. Dr. Pravin Dabadgaonkar and Mr. Sandeep Jadhav worked with great dedication and sincerity. Their timely support was a big blessing and we are grateful to them for this.

After the third round of testing, we took the strategic decision to break the spread. We requested all parents/siblings to take their wards home and bringthem back only after Diwali. Understanding the gravity of the situation, most took their son/daughter/sibling home. Only four Friends, who have no one to take them home, are now at Navkshitij. We are planning to complete pending tasks such as raising a compound wall, renovating the kitchen, fixing tiles in the shed, laying pipelines and so on, during this period. We had put these tasks on hold because of the pandemic.

Under the able guidance of General Manager Rameshwar Fundipalle and Facility Manager Mahendra Suryavanshi, our entire staff worked tirelessly to take good care of special friends.

Now we are conducting one-hour online programs every day for our Friends to make their stay at their homes easier on the parents. We have planned weekly counselling sessions for parents. Our Workshop Manager Santosh Munde has worked it outmeticulously. Our managers and Caregiver Coordinator will havevideo calls with special friends every alternate day. We are trying our best to make our special friends’ stay at their homes as smooth as possible and to make things easier for parents and siblings. Take care, stay safe.*

Excellent care at Navkshitij

THEREis uncertainty everywhere. The words Corona, mask, sanitizer, and lockdown are hard to get used to. We believe they are beyond the imagination of special friends.I can’t imagine how teachers were communicating with special friends and keeping them happy, especially with parents not coming and visitors strictly prohibited.

Navkshitij staff work on the basis ofek meka sahaya karu avaghe dharoo supantha, which means, “Help everyone to achieve his or her goal.” The staff membershelp each other and move ahead.Before Covid hit them, the staff members were giving personal attention and care, giving medicines as per prescription, taking special friends to the doctor when required, ordering medicines online if it was not possible for parents to come and hand them over at the gate, giving Vitamin C supplements and so on.

Even in the midst of the Corona crisis, the staff members took excellent care of the special friendstill the families took them home. The staff members are now caring for special friends who are staying at Navkshitijwith great love. Our children are safe with them.

By Sunanda Khare, mother of Resident Friend Abhijit Khare.

Month’s events

• September05: Sports Day & Teacher’s Day