Rajiv at Ambumular II

In a village near the city of Chennai, in southern India, the Ganapati family faced a life of poverty and anguish. The father, Aditya, was unable to earn a living, after being disabled in an accident on the building site where he worked. His wife, Seema, is a deaf-mute. Their son, Rajiv, suffered from cerebral palsy and mental disability. He was likely to be totally reliant on others throughout his life – while at the same time remaining an object of scorn and fear in the local community.

In late 2006 the Ganapatis received a visit from staff of the Anbumular school for the disabled, then being built nearby. The visitors encouraged the family to apply to the school for help. Some time later, Seema pushed her husband in his wheelchair, Rajiv on his knees, to the school complex, several kilometres away. It was, she said, “their only hope in a desperate situation.”

There, after an interview, the school accepted Rajiv as a boarder and offered his mother a job in the kitchen. This was the start of a process that has since changed the boy’s life and offered hope to his family. It has helped to ensure that Rajiv’s elder brother was able to finish school in Chennai and not have to leave in order to support the family financially.

Anbumular II inauguration

At the time, Rajiv was unable to walk or speak, or take the most basic care of himself. Three years on, he is able to speak in sentences, write and walk while holding on to a support. He is one of 75 children at the school, which was built with funds raised by the Geneva-based association “Don du Choeur”, at a concert given by 350 school children in 2006.

The school cost some 227,000 Swiss francs to build. Since then, Don du Choeur has continued to support the establishment through funding for teachers, accommodation and food. The French based Fondation Mérieux has financed the building and running of a clinic, which also serves the local population. Friends of India – which initially proposed the project for foreign funding – also contributes to the funding and has provides technical and financial advisory assistance to the school. The Indian government is set to take full responsibility for the school in 2012.

Read more about the Anbumalar vision