A place for the neglected

In 1992, an adolescent girl suffering from a severe phobia of mathematics and science tried to commit suicide. Her father took her to a centre called Kriyasheela Geleyaru (KG) in Dharwad. After being mentored for three years at KG, the girl passed out of tenth standard, scoring 96 in maths and 98 in science. Currently, the girl is well-settled in her life in the US.

The incident is a pointer to the work of KG, brainchild of environment activist Mukund Maigur. KG is a civil society organisation established in 1992, that works with rebellious teens, children with behavioural issues, slow learners, school dropouts and kids who don’t have any inclination towards studies. The Centre also works with children who suffer from health disorders like dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia.

For the future citizens
Initially, when parents approached the Centre with complaints of behavioural issues in their children, KG engaged with them for a period spanning from one to three years. The experiment proved successful and a substantial improvement was observed in them. During their stay with KG in Dharwad, the children were admitted to local schools, who noticed and respected the Centre’s efforts.

These developments encouraged KG to focus more intensively on the issues that affect children’s overall growth and it developed a strong network of experts such as psychologists, psychiatrists, sociologists, sportsmen, academicians, yoga and natural therapists, theatre figures, doctors and media professionals. The major aspect of their training involves motivating young minds and instilling the necessary confidence in them.

Vijayalakshmi Mirji of Shahapur near Yadagiri, Anup Yadav of Hubballi, Anusha Bhavi of Maski near Bidar, Vinay Pakal of Sedam near Kalaburagi, were struggling to cope up with the syllabus of tenth standard and were termed as slow learners by their teachers. But KG took them in and realised they weren’t actually slow learners. All they needed was the right training. After three years of rigorous orientation, these students proved their merit and are now perfectly in sync with normal-paced students.

Tapping into the potential
Apart from regular studies, the Centre also recognises the hidden talent and potential of children in the fields of sports, music, theatre, painting, dance and other fine arts and provides the right training and support for them. The resource persons also focus on bettering their psychological feel by helping them develop self-esteem, mutual respect, civic awareness, empathy and sensitivity towards living beings and environment. The Centre even engages parents in certain activities to help them understand why their children behave the way they do.

During the training period, the Centre provides kids with food and accommodation. The Centre also conducts orientation programmes to teachers of government as well as private schools in North Karnataka on various topics such as creative teaching, classroom management and conceptual teaching of science, mathematics, English and social studies too. So far, around 1,000 teachers have been trained. During 2014-15, about 250 teachers were engaged for the orientation workshop. The uniquely-designed residential camp of KG, called the Encompass Camp essentially has three stages — Vanavasam, Chintanam and Manthanam. Conducted twice every year during March-April and October, the camp also takes the children outdoors for 15 days. In some residential camps, resource persons come to the Centre and in others, the kids are taken to the training centres. 

Speaking about the future plans for the Centre, Mukund says, “KG has planned to set up an ethno-cultural park, in an area of three acres, at Devara Hubballi near Dharwad. The park will include a laboratory that supports children with learning disorders with the help of a team of experts. The park will also attract parents, teachers and other stakeholders and disseminate vital knowledge to them. Clinical research on certain issues will also be initiated this year.”

Apart from this, the park will also house a herbal garden, butterfly park, a space for science experiments and even a space wherein the kids could grow crops and learn the value of labour. As a part of the programme, the children will also be able to take up certain social service activities in around five villages surrounding the park. Kriyasheela Geleyaru can be contacted on [e-mail].