1. Sankalp Special School, Kanpur
Mid Year Update

2. Background
Caters to children with special needs (autism, behavioral problems, learning disabilities, speech/language issues, mentally challenged)
Project’s goal is to nurture these kids with targeted attention and therapy so eventually they become self-sufficient
Individual progress plans for each child, 5-7 children per teacher, Physio/Speech/Behavioral therapy
Supported by Asha-SV since Fall 2009
Asha Stars project: Like any other Asha-SV project except the funds sent are only those that have been directly donated to the project.
Asha Kanpur oversees the project (funds are sent to Asha Kanpur, they do the disbursals and monitor funds utilization); they also try to raise funds locally
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3. Current statistics Students - 48 Staff
8 teachers for class (existing) + 1 new teacher (starting April)
1 Speech teacher (part time)
1 Physiotherapist  (part time)
1 Coordinator  
1 Vocational incharge
2 Supporting staff
5 Hired vans
*New teacher - she has a diploma in special education and was keen to join. Seeing her education, Dr.Deepti decided to appointment her but she doesn’t find her any better than other teachers which again confirms her belief that training doesn't make much difference when handling these children - attitude and personal temperament is more important!. She is looking after one class and the extra teacher is taking one to one activity sessions for children under Dr.Deepti’s guidance. This was needed because every child has certain specific limitations which can't be attended to in the group - for example, one child in the class may have poor self-esteem and he will never take initiative to do any activity within a group or one child may have slight motor weakness and when other children are doing any activity, he will lags behind but it is not possible for the class teacher to give more time to one child so his problem remains unattended or a child may have attention problem for which, the class teacher can only give repeated instructions to pay attention to the work. Also, there are many sensory issues with many children for which individual therapy is needed.  
*Dr.Deepti now works as the psychologist along with being the principal for the school

4. Vocational Work Challenges:
There are very few children who can actively do the production work, rest all can contribute only in one or the other part of the entire process, and that too, with help from the teacher. So it is difficult to make things in bulk or make a variety of things (we do need to have a variety of things on display when we put up any sale so as to attract the attention of the people)
We haven’t been able to create a steady, successful outlet in terms of market. The major reason for this is that none of them have any experience or exposure in business or marketing etc. The teachers do the work like they do at their home. Dr. Deepti tries to pinpoint the lacunae but most of the time its after fact. They lack a proper planning beforehand e.g., the kind of material needed for packing, the size of packets needed etc. Also, when a teacher is supervising preparation of a certain thing, she will do it as per her knowledge. There is no set protocol for anything. Since they are not very confident about the product, they can't take it out in the market for bulk sale, even if they plan to produce just two or three products
They put up a stall in annual function of a school and also a stall in the inauguration ceremony of Javed Habib Parlor. People came, saw the items and appreciated them but very few people purchased anything. The focus is on other things in these events so people don't buy many things. Dr. Deepti felt that the time and energy that we invested in these events was much more than the result that they got (a sale of 500/- rupees when we are investing 6-7 hours and spending rupees in cartage is no good at all!) So she has decided not to put up any sale just for the sake of it. We have talked about putting up a stall in a commercial Rakhi Bazar on 11th august. The hope is to get good response here because everyone who comes will have mood to shop. They do have a number of these type of bazaars during every festival but they charge a good amount for booking a stall. We are on a lookout for organizations that aims for good cause event. The one above is Sahyog foundation and they have verbally agreed to give us the stall for charity purpose
    

5. Vocational Work Progress:
We started making few new things and with supervision of the vocational teacher, the quality of the products has improved and people are liking the items more than before. Few new things that we are making include mathri, laiyya mixture and besan bhujia. We are also getting haldi, dhaniya and garam masala powder prepared and packed at school. Both of these things are presently being consumed within the families of the teachers and the students. These things can be sold in the market once they are sure about the consistency of the quality and the packaging. We have also started making some low cost jewelry items (neck pieces and ear-rings), the type that is used by college girls and young ladies. Again once convinced about their quality and finishing, we can sell this too in the market round the year.     
Rest all products such as diya, shagun envelopes, paper gift bags etc. are being made as before, with improvement in their quality. 

6. Review Year Till Now
Jan- Annual picnic on 21st Jan – was held in Apna Ghar hostel premises. This is situated in a rural setup away from the pollution and the hustle bustle of the city. Also, there were no safety issues since it was a closed space and above all, it was planned on sunday so that our children get to interact and play with the normal children of Apna Ghar. This was a mega success and everyone wanted to have such event again n again!
Sale on 26th Jan - we had put up a stall for sale in the premises of the Javed Habib Parlour in their opening ceremony. This was close to our premises and a huge gathering was expected. People did come and they also visited our stall and appreciated our products but very few bought anything! 
Feb - 3 of our students participated in the drawing competition organized by Kanpur Zoo authorities on their founder's day i.e.4th Feb. One girl, bulbul got a prize too! On 19th Feb., we put up a stall at the annual day celebration function of ACME public school. The school has two branches, both from elementary school till 12th class so we expected a huge gathering and hence substantial sale. However, we found out that most of the parents were interested only in their child's performances and didn't even look at the stall. The few who visited the stall didn't buy much (most of them said we didn't bring money with us for anything like this) although they appreciated the products. We tried making potato chips and aloo papad in Feb for holi. Children enjoyed the activity and when some of them told about it at their homes, the parents came and bought the products. Rest of it were taken by the teachers
Mar- Holi was in early march so the first few days of the month were holiday (In Kanpur, they have 8 days festivities during Holi!). After that they prepared for our upcoming annual function, apart from the regular school activities

7. Review Year Till Now
Apr - Annual day on 7th April! As always, the children amaze with their performances as well as their behaviors and mannerisms on the stage! They also had a stall for sale during this function and we had a reasonable sale. The sensitivity of the crowd matters a lot; all those who came here were sensitive towards the cause so they bought whatever they could. The general population(atleast in Kanpur) is still indifferent towards various social issues, including issues like sanitation that directly concerns them! After the annual day, regular activities resumed with enthusiasm as the annual assessment was due shortly! They also started making namkeen and masala grinding and packing in April(we had decided to make household consumables after seeing the response of parents for the chips and papad that we made in Holi!)
May -  This month is utilized in annual assessments and preparation of annual reports. These reports are handed over to parents every year so that they know how the child is performing and what all activities we are doing at school. This is also a time when the teachers get to meet the parents who otherwise don't communicate often. The school was closed for summer vacations on 26th May after the parents meeting on 25th May.                
June -  White-washing of the premises. Also, aluminium cabins were constructed for the speech teacher, vocational teacher and the teacher who aredoing one to one activities with children. Earlier they were sitting in open space in the corridor outside the classrooms. Dr. Deepti generated some funds locally for this and rest of it was contributed from Asha general account