Sometimes people do not encounter problems; but rather problems have a way of finding those who have the vision and resolve to make the world a better place. That’s what happened to Prateek Kaul and Prarthana Prateek Kaul, when they were working on an event with blind kids and had to struggle in order to arrange for appropriate gifts for them. 

Prarthana and Prateek Kaul of GiftAbled Foundation at an event

This made them think of what would happen if a sighted person wanted to give a card to a blind person. If it was a card with words, the blind person would not be able to read it himself, but take help from someone. And what if the blind person wanted to return the favour, would he again need to take help? The couple then thought about a greeting card which could be read by both parties, one that was in Braille, and a language that the sighted person could read. This moment of realisation and a vision to bridge this gap, led to an initiative known as ‘GiftAbled Foundation’.

While thinking about making a difference to persons with disability, one usually thinks about their education, jobs and career. GiftAbled is a wonderful effort through which the specially-abled connect with the non-disabled, through sensitisation workshops and events, and thus bridging the gap between the two to work towards an inclusive society.

GiftAbled Foundation is a non-profit organisation which strives to create an ecosystem of like-minded individuals to come together to build a sensitised and disabled-friendly society. 

At present, GiftAbled:                                                                            GiftAbled’s products

• Provides gifts made for persons with disability (PwD) such as Braille greeting cards, Braille Slates and Stylus, Canes, Games and Drawing Boards, Word Blocks etc.
• Conducts fun events and learning workshops for disabled people – Inclusive events where PwDs and non-disabled people come together for learning, interaction and fun. Exclusive learning workshops for PwDs are also planned which helps them improve their skill set.
• Conducts workshops on awareness and sensitisation towards disabilities for individuals as well as corporates – Intro to Braille and Sign Language sessions which covers the basics of the alphabet in Braille and Sign Language, along with awareness and insight into the challenges of persons with disabilities. So far, sessions have been conducted at Essential Energy, Cisco, Om Restuarant, as well as for group of individuals.
• Hosts interaction sessions with differently-abled persons through Deaf Club, Vision Club (to be started on December 7th 2014) etc – Through monthly meets of differently-abled people and volunteers, it promotes interaction, learning and knowledge sharing amongst each other.

Recently, GiftAbled organised Archery for the Visually Impaired, which was received with appreciation.

At the Archery event organised by GiftAbled

As a part of their continued efforts to create a platform for people with disabilities, GiftAbled Foundation in association with Cheshire Disability Trust is organising ArtAbled  (December  3rd  – December 7th) to mark World Disability Day. ArtAbled is a program which brings together persons with disability and other individuals for art, knowledge sharing, interaction and fun.

At ArtAbled, artists with disabilities will showcase their talent and art in the form of paintings, music, dance or products which are made by them for their livelihood. ArtAbled includes the following programs:

• Exhibition cum Product Sale- Sale of various products made by people with disability such as paintings, earrings, pouches, bags and so on. The entire sales amount will be taken home by organisations and individuals who are provided with free stalls at ArtAbled.
• Step towards Inclusiveness- An exclusive session for employers to become aware of the disability sector, and the methods of reaching out to disabled candidates during the hiring process. Apart from gaining knowledge on how to create inclusive environments at the office places, the employers will also learn about effectively setting up low cost disabled-friendly office spaces, ultimately resulting in job opportunities for persons with disability (PwD).
• Assistive Devices Session- Through this session, employers can become aware on how persons with disability work effectively, on par with non-disabled and therefore help them to make a decision to hire persons with disability.  For employees, it is a knowledgeable session to experience the solutions used by various persons with disability and obtain the Ability Approach  (Solution to enable disability)

During ArtAbled, the organisers will also be fulfilling the wishes and needs of persons with disabilities through our ‘Wall of Hope’. Wishes are collected from PwDs and are displayed on the Wall of Hope. Participants of ArtAbled can come forward to donate and fulfil the wishes. The brick for that wish will then ‘turn green’ indicating its fulfilment.

Deaf Club of GiftAbled where people interact in Sign Language

Vision Club for the visually impaired will be inaugurated on the last day of ArtAbled. Deaf Club’s monthly meet will also be held at that time to share, interact and engage in fun activities.

Be there at Cheshire Disability Trust, HAL 2nd Stage, Opposite Manipal Hospital, from December 3rd to 7th to witness and be a part of the inclusive carnival. 

For more details:

• Website: http://giftabled.com/workshop.html 
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artabledbygiftabled 

This content was shared by Chitra K Reddy, on behalf of GiftAbled, and has been published with edits under the Message Forward section, a space meant for non-profit public interest messages by individuals and organisations.