School Visit

On Saturday morning we all congregated outside the State Institute for the Mentally Handicapped school on the edge of Trivandrum for a ‘Social Work Outing’.
The State Institute for the Mentally Handicapped is residential care home and school, which caters mainly for children.
We were visiting to learn about the work that is done, and to meet the children.

Before we were shown around the school, there was a presentation from the lady that runs the school, in which she explained all about the work that they do, the funding that they receive, but unfortunately for me, I did not understand the language, and had to read the leaflet that was passed down.

After the introduction, we were shown into the main hall, a lot like my old school assembly hall, where the children were sat in their uniforms. They were pretty well behaved, although obviously excited to have the visitors.

Whilst the children watched cartoons projected on to the wall, I went to have a look around some of the classrooms. The educational emphasis is on providing hands on skills, so as to equip the pupils with some sort of vocation for when they leave. Classes included candle making and handicrafts. Some of the work that was done was very intricate.

Once the cartoons had finished, some of the children, and some of the Sherston staff took it in turns to sing on the stage. The children obviously really enjoyed the singing, and were very clapping along, and calling out.

It wasn’t long before the visit was over, and we left them to their more normal day. It had been an interesting morning, not only because it gave me more of an insight into the enlightened attitude towards disability in India, but also because it gave me a real appreciation of how caring the staff at Sherston are.