Last Thursday was Holi in India, the religious spring festival celebrated by Hindus, also known as "festival of colours". As the Wikipedia encyclopedia states: “One of Holi’s biggest customs is the loosening strictness of social structures, which normally...
I am writing this blog on the first rainy day of winter, which also happens to be Disability Day at the Unit. Balloons and streamers decorate the Unit and now we wait for children, though it’s been raining hard throughout the night. Due to the dust, we...
Dear friends, For those who can read French, I am happy to communicate the programme of the festival organised by our mother NGO "La maison des Himalayas" for its 20th anniversary. A unique opportunity to discover unknown aspects of life in various communities...
I am extremely happy to publish today the first pictures received from Samantha, our current OT volunteer in Kullu, of the wooden chairs designed for Aastha and Chanderkiran, two children who have been following rehabilitation therapy sessions in Manali...
Dear friends and supporters of the Handimachal project, We all have been busy and there were little news posted on our blog but, believe me, there are indeed interesting news we want to share with you, so I propose a quick summary… Our « dream team »...
My maiden visit to Kullu back in August 2011 was to begin the mountain biking expedition to Ladakh. Little did I know that Kullu was soon going to be my home. My first impression of "Handimachal" was the beautiful blue house across the busy street of...
Necessity is the mother of invention as the saying goes, how true is that. Need of splinting for the children like Sonali and Sagar was a major necessity to prevent further development of hand deformity. Lack of resources led to difficulty in making the...
While Samantha, our latest OT volunteer, left Kullu more two weeks ago already to continue her adventure travelling in India, and Denise (speech therapist) has just flown back to Canada, Clarisse (APA volunteer) is now heading back to France. A few days...
Dear children, dear parents, dear friends! This year, students from class 7 in Sainte-Marie secondary school in Montpellier (France) decided to organise a small solidarity project in order to help the development of the Handimachal Kullu Therapy Unit....
It is hard to believe that I only have a week left at Handimachal. What a wonderful experience it has been…. living in the beautiful Kullu valley, getting to know the lovely families of the children of Handimachal, working with the therapists and Auntie...
This post was written by our local Speech Therapist, Ajay Kyashap, before the Christmas holiday. I would like to share with my friends the techniques that I have learned from Denise who came all the way from Canada to Handimachal to enhance my skills...
Arriving in Kullu at the beginning of February my first impressions were slightly skewed as the entire first week was spent with non-stop heavy rainfall, snowfall on the upper valleys, occasional bouts of electricity and hardly any children coming in...
The difference Handimachal Kullu Therapy Unit has been bringing to the differently-abled children in the community through its weekly programmes has been impressive and we start planning to reach the unreached hundreds in the remote areas of Himachal...
‘The Handimachal Therapy unit gives a ray of hope, a new way of thinking, a new goal’ Above is just one of the positive comments provided by patients and their parents, at the Handimachal Kullu Therapy Unit. Evaluating and improving our own work is something...
A parents' workshop was organized at Handimachal on the 26th October, the topic being “Making Sense of the Senses’’. The target audience were parents of the children who have been diagnosed to be on the Autism Spectrum and children with Sensory Processing...
Annual Day Celebrations - Day Star School Manali Day star school, Manali had their annual day celebrations on the 30 September. Handimachal was honored to be a part of this extravaganza by holding a disability awareness stall and a special dance performance...
This is a summary on the activity of the Handimachal programme over the last months, translated from the newsletter published by our head association “La maison des Himalayas” one month ago, and adapted to recent developments in Kullu. Since the beginning...
As part of Handimachal's awareness programs, we have been conducting disability seminars in schools for over a year now. We have covered over 10 schools so far, situated near Kullu. The main aim of these camps is to educate the population about disability...
The youth services and sports Association, Kullu, conducted the annual District Sports Festival for differently-abled children, on 25 November at Dalpur grounds. There were about 80 children participating in various competitions. The various competitive...
The Handimachal team is preparing a big event: for the first time in four years, they will be holding a disability awareness camp out of Kullu valley, in Lahaul district, on the other side of famous Rohtang pass. These three camps are being organised...
A beautifus post by Shakuntla, Special Educator: the original text in Hindi is followed by the translation into English made by Shruti - thanks to both of them. A Special Journey Working with special need children is a special experience, which makes...
Do you know what APA means? It means Adapted Physical Activities. APA was first started in Canada during the seventies. The idea of APA is to use different kinds of physical activities and exercises which are adapted to a person with special needs to...
Our young friend Saggar is probably our most regular patient in the Handimachal Therapy Unit, always smiling and active in his sessions - and still, his family story is quite sad. Discover Saggar's stody, told by our permanent OT Shruti More, during Dennis...
On the occasion of 8th World Autism Awareness Day, a painting and awareness program was held for special children and their parents nearby Kullu town. Handimachal, in partnership with Dahuadhar Nirmal Chhya Parents Association, Nav Chetna School, Kaar...
“Anything is possible” – this is the mantra that I have chanting since being in India. I have discovered it is possible to squeeze 10 persons into a taxi, a shared taxi as they call it here. I have hair-raisingly discovered it is possible for two buses...