Society for Child Development

Driven by the conviction that there is a way to create a world of equal opportunities for people with disabilities, the Society for Child Development Read more(SFCD) was set-up as a non-profit organization in 1992 to establish programs and initiatives for its actualization. Prabhat, a school for children with learning difficulties was set up with an aim to provide students with an educational and training facility that would assist them in acquiring basic living and academic skills. At the age of 18, students transfer to the Vocational Training Center to learn market-driven skills and crafts. But the road to development is not about school and vocational education alone, and SFCD started a unique website called the Disability India Network. Encouraged by the enthusiastic responses, they added an Online Legal Aid Cell which provides pro-bono counsel to the differently-abled and their families. To expand the scope and extend their reach further, they also set-up a Parent Support Network to provide a forum for parents to benefit from each others' experiences. Because of this expansion, the Society for Child Development now includes a variety of programs and initiatives to promote the rights of persons with disabilities from several angles.

Vision
Our vision is that every person with disability will have:
 The same access to services like education, skill development and recreation;
 The opportunity to utilize their inherent and learned capacities to their fullest potential; and thus
 Be respected for these capacities and be valued for their efforts in living as equal members of their community.

Mission
To create a world of equal access and equal opportunities through innovative programs that include the poor by:
 Providing quality education and skill development which will allow them to actualize their capacities;
 Creating and disseminating innovative frameworks and models of best practice which resolve unique difficulties in inclusion;
 Being a catalyst for attitudinal change in the society as a whole.

For the first decade (1992 to 2000) the main focus was education
As the years passed, the school grew as did the children (now young teens!) and their parents, the inevitable question loomed large "What is the point of education, if they do not get a job later on?"
The concern was true but what was more daunting was the reality of the next step - Skill development. Since there were no examples of sustainable employment practices with this group to model upon, it was left to the management to develop a strategy.
Logically it appeared that it would be desirable to develop

1. a. Training facility with a manufacturing endpoint that utilized the strengths of this group:
b. Ability to learn and carry out simple repetitive tasks
c. Regular attendance (their parents were keen they left the house to enable them – the parents – to carry out their own economic activities)
d. Deep conditioning in obedience and eager to please

2. Products that utilized basic manufacturing processes that are endemic to the region
3. raw material that was low-cost, widely available and easy to procure
4. a product line that had a unique quality
5. master trainers who were easily available.

The challenges were many, with the lack of financial resources topping the list. With no money to purchase raw material, training was difficult as the inevitable wastage of raw material led to financial losses. Given the fact that persons with intellectual disabilities are very slow to learn, it was estimated that procurement of raw material without any output would not be sustainable given the economic landscape of the organization. Thus, the choice naturally narrowed to the use of material that could be donated regularly, such as unused and unusable items from households, offices and manufacturing units to fabricate handcrafted items for personal, household and office use.

In 2001, a new Skilling program was launched - Trash-to-Cash Skill Development Program.
After setting up a sustainable skilling program, the focus was shifted to the next milestone - Livelihood.
At first, through retail in Corporates, Community fairs and events, in schools and over a period of time through bulk sales for conferences, seminars and meetings. . The main focus was to showcase their abilities while inviting others to join in the movement of providing these persons with the opportunity of leading dignified lives.

Avacayam – the livelihood program was established in 2013 and means ‘gathering flowers’ in Sanskrit, the general language of ancient India. It is apt, as it speaks of cultural traditions and of reaching out to fallen blossoms with ideas and activities to help them bloom anew. .

Avacayam, serves as a manifold window for the promotion of the abilities of persons with disability, their adaptations of traditional handicrafts and allied cultural practices, the processes involved in their creation, and the preservation of culture, community and local environments. At Avacayam, the effort is to create a democratic and empowering space - a common roof under which a range of stakeholders can exchange ideas and collaborate. All work is directed to shift consumer perspectives and raise the cultural value placed on the capacities of people with disability. This leads the vision of a vibrant, sustainable community of fulfilled people in which the crafts and artisans alike are highly valued worldwide.