Since 1989, the Integrated Education Hostel has been providing educational opportunities for visually impaired, hearing-impaired, physically handicapped, and orphaned children . The inhabitants of our hostel belong to rural poor families from Kanchipuram and other surrounding taluks. All hostel children are fully integrated into local schools and helped to overcome their difficulties. There are Braille language teachers, Speech therapists, and sign language teachers to facilitate their education.
- The hostel accommodates up to one hundred children, including visually impaired, hearing-impaired, physically handicapped, and orphaned children. These children are provided with educational facilities, health care, nutritious food, sports equipment, and physical rehabilitation programs. Employees from the village supervise the children.
- All hostel children are fully integrated into local schools and helped to overcome their difficulties. There are ten Braille and sign language teachers and two computers within the organisation to give them the utmost chances. Transportation is provided to enable the physically disabled children to attend school.
- Commonly international volunteers reside in the hostel, rending their services for the betterment of the children both in the hostel and in the local schools.
- The main aim of the hostel is to provide the children with all the necessary skills and motivation to make them an independent individual in the society.
- Funding - the last 10 years subsidies for maintaining the children of the hostel were donated by a neighbouring organisation in Andhra Pradesh. We have eight acres of land for sericulture worms rearing and brick making for the landless labourers.
- The children are involved in the village as they partake in all the social activities such as festivals, religious gatherings, arts and other entertainment.
The hostel consists of a two-storied building with 5 bedrooms for the children, 3 large bathrooms, an eating room, kitchen, reading room, physiotherapy room, an office, and rooms for volunteers. Outside the building there is a large play area for the children, including a playground and a garden maintained by the children. The staff includes 5 housemothers, a warden, a watchman, driver, physiotherapist, and an assistant warden. All staff are carefully selected from the village and trained for their position. Housemothers cook food and sleep in the children's bedroom providing supervision and personal care. The warden is in-charge of all hostel operation, the watchman provides security for the children and maintains the grounds. Twice a day the physiotherapist comes to the hostel to give therapy to the many children disabled from polio. The driver takes the children to and from school, as well as transporting children to the Cerebral Palsy day-care centre and bringing food from the market to the hostel. Our assistant warden takes care of the volunteers, helping them with their projects as well as performing many activities for the hostel.
Commonly international volunteers reside in the hostel, rending their services for the betterment of the children both in the hostel and in the local schools. Once the children complete their school education through KOGS they are assisted with job placements and higher education if they can find individual sponsors.
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