Sense Insights

Tete-a- tete with Deepakbhai

#Ambassadors of Change

(Contributed by Sheryl Shiju Sam, Communications Officer at Sense India)

“I am also a polio affected person so I understand how they feel”. These words from a gentleman I met shook me to the core.

Dressed in dull colored clothes, with a satchel bag hanging from one shoulder, a cap as a shield from the scorching sun, he totally blended in the crowd. He is a common guy, easy to miss in the horde, had no one been searching for him. These were my first impression of Deepak bhai, a special educator from Surendarnagar... An exposure visit to document a story of Hansa (young girl with deafblindness) chanced my meeting with Deepakbhai. He joined us in the car looking a little uncomfortable sitting next to a ‘new madam wearing sunglasses’. He had almost pulled himself into a corner so as not to accidently touch a stranger sitting next to him (coincidently a girl!). I found his manners making me conscious of myself yet endearing that he was so thoughtful towards a lady.

As the day progressed I got more and more curious about this person who was proudly showing us the little shop that had been setup for Hansa under an initiative of income generation activity. He had been working with her for the past 14 years.

(L-R) Hansa and Deepakbhai

As we got chatting on our way back I started to ask him some questions in an effort to know more about his work.

Here are some excerpts from the dialogue:

I: So Deepakbhai, are you married?

D: Yes!

I: Do you have children?

D: Oh Yes! Three in fact! I had twins and then one more kid. (Proudly smiles)

I: How come you are in this profession and that too for 14 years?

D: Actually I am slightly affected from polio in my leg. I relate my disability with these children. It’s my driving force. And today after so many years of working with children with deafblindness it has become a way of life for me.

I: Have you ever felt like quitting in the past 14 years?

D: No. I understand how lost these children feel. So I don’t give up on them... It gives me immense happiness to see them progress day by day, little by little. Faith matters.

I: Don’t you get disheartened when you face tough situations?

D: No. But I do get worried when a child is making good progress and suddenly due to some other impairment all the training given to them is rendered useless. Like I had trained a 9 year old child, who was deaf but had some vision to do activities using her vision and suddenly she loses eyesight completely. Now we are teaching her again everything from the start. It’s also hard to see these children in distress as we get very attached to them. They become like our own kids and their pain becomes ours.

I: There might be difficult situations on the job. How do you handle those situations?

D: The most difficult part is getting the families to trust me enough to work with their children even when there is no one at home. Especially with girls, safety is a natural concern and it heightens because of their limitations. So when I started to train Hansa (the girl we went to visit), I used to take an elderly lady from the neighborhood to sit with us while I trained her. It took some time for the family and community to accept me as a trainer and a friend.

I: What happens when these girls attain puberty? How do you explain it to them?

D: It’s a very sensitive issue and being a male educator adds to the difficulties. I always ask my wife and two of my female colleagues to help me in situations like this by accompanying me to the children’s house. They help them to understand their body cycle and needs. Slowly with the help of my colleagues, we train mothers or sisters to support children with deafblindness through this period of needs on their own.

I: So how do you travel in the district to train so many children with deafblindness?

D: I travel by local transport. My house is 30km away from where these children live. So every day of my week is spent with a different child.

As I was talking to him, I felt a great deal of respect for this guy who was narrating his life’s work to me with such conviction. Honestly speaking, all my day’s fatigue felt worth it because of his dedication to the cause of deafblindness. Hats off to such #Ambassadors of Change!