Volunteer Organizations
(working closely with SDL)
During the
past decade (1997 and later), the idea of sharing resources towards education
and literacy for the people of India has gained significance, especially
after the lab announced the free availability of the software. Several
volunteer organizations and NGOs have joined hands with the lab in taking
the project forward to reach out to the rural areas of India. It has been
a slow but steady process where regional differences have disappeared once
the fundamental idea behind the IITM project became clear to a group.
The wholehearted endorsement
of the Multilingual software for bringing the benefits of IT to the disabled,
at the INTEND2001 conference has given the lab many more friends. A list
of volunteer groups that work with the students of the lab is given below.
The projects indicated at the right have been undertaken by some of the
organizations listed here.
The multilingual systems
project has gained addditonal visibility with the inauguration of the National
Initiative for the Blind. The number of persons who have recievced training
in the use of the software continues to increase. In 2005, the Rehabilitation
Council of India formally requested Vidya Vrikshah to conduct special programs
to train staff working in institutions for the Visualy Handicapped. The
Vikas project has also gained recognition on account of the broad issues
it addresses to provide help in a rural setup.
It is gratifying
to work with groups where people realize the merit of the use of Information
technology tools for the benefit of the disabled and the underprivileged.
The lab wishes to extend its appreciation to the groups, organizations
or institutions which have come forward to use the software and also promote
its use.
-
Vidya
Vrikshah - Chennai
-
Bala Vidyalaya: The school for
training hearing impaired children.
-
Madhuram Narayanan Center for
exceptional children. This is a center for children with learning disabilities.
-
National Association for the
Blind (NAB) - Trivandrum, Raipur, Delhi.
-
Delhi University group of Visually
Handicapped students. (Activity spearheaded by the veteran,
Prof. B.Vinod Sena)
-
Matruchhaya - Bangalore ( Volunteer
group running a Braille Transcription center)
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Content Creation
The following are examples
of pages created by volunteers. These pages are very effective in disseminating
the information relating to fundamental issues.
The examples are aimed at
helping rural people come to grips with the problems of the Society and
to some extent bridge the digital divide.
Focus
on the Girl Child
(Version
in Tamil)
Health Education
(Version
in Tamil)
The
Version in Tamil may require specific fonts to be installed in your computer.
On systems running Microsoft Windows, one may be able to see the text in
Tamil directly. If the text does not show up properly, then the following
font should be installed.
iitmtam.ttf
Programs of Special Education
and Training for disabled children
(The links below present
information in English. The corresponding multilingual pages may also be
available. These pages are hosted at the Vidya Vrikshah Site.)
Sanchar
(Offering training in Effective
communication skills)
Dhvani
(Training hearing impaired
children)
Upanayan
(Dealing with mentally handicapped
children)
Dhrishti
(Training the visually handicapped)
Chaalanam
(Helping children with locomotor
handicaps)
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