A beacon of hope for the differently-abled

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Ever since the lockdown was declared, many organisations and individuals are in the forefront of relief activities. Thirumala-native Prabha Unni is one such. Through her NGO Mother Queen Foundation, Prabha has been helping differently-abled children in the city during these testing times. She and her differently-abled daughter Raji Radhakrishnan have distributed around 1,500 masks to different organisations so far. 

Prabha and Raji’s deed came into the limelight when state Health Minister K K Shailaja acknowledged their work through a Facebook post recently after they handed over 100 masks to the city corporation. Prabha taught Raji to stitch so that she could use her talent to be self-sufficient. “When the lockdown was declared, we asked her to stitch masks. She doesn’t know anything about the pandemic. Usually, we encourage her to stitch by offering some pocket money which she saves. However, she denied taking money for this,” says Prabha.

The masks were also given to many government offices, hospitals, media offices and police stations. Happy to receive the masks from Raji, minister Shailaja encouraged her to continue working. As part of the NGO, Prabha supplies food kits and essentials like diapers to around 40 families with differently-abled children. “I distributed essential items to the families on the second day of lockdown. With the children at home, it was hard for parents to go out and buy these,” adds Prabha. She also supplied food to around 150 migrant labourers in her area with the help of police officials.

“We were also able to provide groceries and essentials to 50 labourers. Kerala Water Authority officials have asked to supply some masks. The others will be distributed to the needy.”
 
Rehabilitation centre
Prabha hopes to build a rehabilitation centre for differently-abled kids in the 45 cent plot owned by the foundation in Adoor. “Families with differently-abled children go through a lot to bring them up. Things get worse if they are financially backward.

The centre will be one where these children feel happy. We intend to train them in different skills and make them self-sufficient. We hope to receive the support of kind people to fulfil this initiative,” says Prabha.