A friend can teach you very many things but what Adhishthan Chowdhary's best friend, who has special needs, taught the 16-year-old was empathy. Seeing her being bullied or called out just for being different was tough for him. "I started to read up and understood that getting an education that caters specifically to a child with special need is an expensive affair and those from underprivileged backgrounds might not be able to meet the cost," shares the Class XI student. Hence, in June this year, he started Abhivyakti.
The first step, of course, was research, so he emailed several special education experts and three of them got in touch with him, including Suruchi Bhargava. "I was just trying to understand their needs better,” says the youngster. From there on, he zeroed in on two organisations that cater to children with special needs — Sahasra Centre For Learning, Hyderabad and Ayur Sukham Special School, Chennai. He started a fundraiser on ImpactGuru for Rs 1,43,100 that has already crossed the 85 per cent mark (at the time we went to print). "I had to go in for an online campaign because volunteering or physically trying to do something was ruled out completely due to the pandemic," he says. As much as 15 per cent fees of five children in Ayur Sukham and two in Sahasra Centre has been met with the funds gathered recently. "Once we meet our fundraising target, I plan on increasing it and we will try to cover more than 15 per cent of their fees," he shares with determination. The aim, he shares, is to help 50 children.
To ensure that the word spreads, efforts are on big time. Adhishthan, who was born and brought up in Hyderabad, started an Instagram account a few weeks ago and is in the process of making an exclusive website with a friend. "We also went around the Gachibowli area and posted a few flyers," he informs. "It is difficult to raise funds because right now, people are leaning towards donating for causes like migrant labourers and so on because their needs are urgent and important, but we are still doing the best we can," he points out, sounding hopeful. It's the same reason why CSR funds are not coming through either. All this is doing little to dampen the spirit of Adhishthan who continues to work to see this campaign through.
A little about the two organisations:
- Sahasra Centre For Learning caters to children with special needs and prepares them for their Board exams as well
- Ayur Sukham Special School's goal is to help develop the attitude of children towards learning
For more on it, click on bit.ly/3a93A4s
