The hidden treasures inside of us!

Ajay Joshi

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, November 7

People like Rekha Kashyap (37), a city-based social activist is making a difference in the lives of specially-abled children. With a passion to serve disabled kids, Rekha prepares them for sports and para activities. She has been in this line of work for past 20 years. And most of her wards so far have either excelled in sports or academics.

“Young minds with disabilities face more denial, discrimination and inadequacy when it comes to physical activities and recreation. Considering that their children won’t be able to play any sports, most of the parents are unaware of the games designed particularly for the specially-abled children. I believe every child possesses a special skill and if utilised in a right direction it can do wonders,” she says.

The focus of her work is on providing such children an environment conducive for them to explore their abilities. “We basically do research on disabled children for three-four years prior to putting them into activity. Me and my team spend time with children between 4 and 7 year-olds and try to get friendly with them. Participating in a sport not only makes you feel lively but also boosts your confidence and energy levels. Hence, the children are later on engaged in sporting activities,” Rekha adds. Being a sports enthusiast herself, she tries to fully resonate and understand the transformation that the research programme brought about in the attitude of the children.

The year when it was found

Her interest first rooted in 2001, in the first year of her graduation, as part of a college assignment, Rekha was asked to work with a few disabled children to understand their behaviour and interests. Her efforts at the time hauled in laurels from her mentors and the children under her watchful gaze also had responded well. Subsequently, she joined Red Cross society and continued to work with the specially-abled children and nurtured them for Special Olympics. The professional journey started in 2006 and she collected all the necessary qualifications required for the field.

At present, she is training nearly 35-40 children in the state. She says, it feels good when her children clinch state or national-level medals. “This is the only motivation for me to go forward with this profession. My aim is to train more children for the “Young Athlete Development Programme,” Rekha, who is presently the Special Olympics Bharat Programme coordinator, says.

A resident of Gopal Nagar, she was conferred upon with the best sports educator by the administration. In 2018 and 2019, she was awarded with ‘Best Unified School Award’ by Special Olympics Bharat.