Kosbad Residential Camp May 2022

A residential camp was conducted at Kosbad between 3 May 2022 and 9 May 2022.It was attended by 35 visually impaired students belonging to a 14 to 21 age group.

Highlights of the Camp:

1) Mobility Training: The participants were trained to cross the terrain with the help of the cane.Trainers- Special Educators: Pallavi Shankar and Sampada Palnitkar assisted by a few dedicated volunteers.

2) Digital Accessibility: Two sessions were conducted by Dr. Homiyar Mobedji on Digital Accessibility.He interacted with all the participants, inquired about their goals, ambitions and their dreams. He advised them to accept their disability and work towards their goal. He also advised them not to depend on government jobs. He also gave them membership to the bookshare.org website which would help them to access any book very easily. He also taught the participants how to attach the keyboard to their smart phone and how to type using the keyboard.

3) Career and Personality Development session was conducted by Dr. Kishor Bambardekar. He gave guidance to the participants in developing their effective communication skills and how to manage their stress. He advised them to accept their weakness but try to overcome it with positive attitude.

4) Daily Yog sessions for all participants were conducted by Ms. Alka Shrawne.

5) Deepakbhai Bothra, one of the sponsors visited the camp and encouraged the participants to visit his farm. Here the participants could actually touch the fruits from the farm, drink fresh sugarcane juice etc.

6) Mr. Y. B. Jadhav and his team from Alcoholic Anonymous (AA) related the problems they faced when they were addicted to alcohol and how they overcame that addiction with the help of AA. They advised participants about how to stay away from any addiction, how to get timely help if such addictions become part of their life and how AA will help them if they came across anyone who is suffering from such addictions.

7) The various miscellaneous activities done during the camp were: Chess playing, Meditation, Singing session, identifying different legumes and pulses by touch, signature session, ironing of clothes, acquaintance with BrailleMe device,visit to the sea shore, camel ride, visit to the Mallinath Jain Temple etc.

This Camp was attended by Parimala Bhat, Girish Gadre, Alka Shrawne,Pallavi Shankar, Sampada Palnitkar,Mrunal Gupte,Geeta Subramaniam, Gopal Rawal, Meghna Borlikar etc.along with the participants.

The Camp came to an end on 9th May 2022. With a heavy heart the participants left with a promise to keep in touch with each other and attend such camps every year.