From April onwards, we have started Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) programme for the incurably blind people in Mandvi taluka. Population covered is nearly 2 lacs in 133 villages of Mandvi taluka. All the incurably blind persons will be trained in Mobility and Activities of Daily Living. Those in the economically active age group (between 15 and 60) will be trained in vocational activities also. School age children will be enrolled in regular schools in their own village. Our braille teacher will teach them braille at home. We will help them procure the benefits of the Govt. schemes also. We are planning to set up a hostel also for blind children from 1st to 5th std. from this academic year. A blind person experienced in working as rector for the hostel has also agreed to join us.
| Project Objectives | |
|---|---|
| Specific Objective | Measurable Indicator and Timeframe |
| 1. All identified visually impaired children of primary school going age within the project area are mainstreamed into education by the end of the project period. | 1.Number of visually impaired children mainstreamed to the existing education facility during the project period. 2.Number of visually impaired children received active guidance and support from either special education teacher or trained class teachers during the project period for their psycho-social and educational growth. |
| 2. By the end of the project period all identified beneficiaries having irreversible blindness and low vision are provided with social and economic rehabilitation services. | 1.Number of beneficiaries provided blindness certification during the project period. 2. Number of irreversible blind and LV taught with O&M and DLS during the project period. 3.Number of blind/LV persons linked to Govt. and other agency supported benefits/services during the project period. 4.Number of blind/LV persons from the project area economically rehabilitated and sustaining their livelihood by the end of the project period. |
| 3. By the end of project period all the beneficiaries identified for provision of curative services (cataract, Glaucoma, Refractive Error and other eye diseases) are offered with appropriate counseling and treatment at affordable and quality eye care service providers. | 1.Full time MLOP is recruited and trained to deliver the primary eye care services for the project covering refraction services, referral for surgery, post surgery follow up etc. 2.Number of children & adults with RE, glaucoma, cataracts and other eye diseases provided with appropriate counseling and treatment during the project period |
| 4.By the end of the project period a sustainable mechanism is in place to address the eye care, rehabilitative and education services by raising community knowledge and information, creating cadre of trained manpower and developing leadership among blind/LV persons and actively involving PRIs, Govt. functionaries. | 1.Project staffs recruited and trained on eye health and rehabilitation services to work for the successful project implementation. |
| Project Activities. | |
| Specific Activity | Milestones |
| Activities related to objective 1 | |
| 1. School admission of visually impaired [blind/low vision] children. | 1. School admission completed of all (estimated 20) identified visually impaired [blind/low vision] children by end of 1st year of the project. |
| 2. Assessment of all identified children | 1. Low vision and functional assessment of all children completed by the end of the 1st year of the project. |
| 3. Braille teaching to the visually impaired [blind/low vision] children. | 1. Facilitation of Braille teaching at schools to visually impaired [blind] children continues in 1st and 2nd year of the project. |
| 4. Purchase of Braille equipment, low vision equipment and other equipments for impaired [blind/low vision] children as per requirement. | 1. Provision of Braille equipment, low vision equipment and other reading equipments for visually impaired [blind/low vision] children from SSA and other sources as per requirement completed by end of the 1st half of the 2nd year of the project. |
| 5. Active support and guidance from school teachers and members of family | 1. Recruitment of special teachers or orientation to class room teachers to teach VI/LW children under SSA during the project period. 2. Families with blind and LV children are aware about and responsive to all the aspects related to the education of their children during the project period. |
| Activities related to objective 2 | |
| 1. Govt. officials contacted and camps organised for screening and providing blindness certification to irreversibly blind and low vision persons. | 1. Estimated 180 beneficiaries are provided with blindness certificate by the end of the 2nd year of the project period. |
| 2. Government officials contacted for providing required equipments to irreversibly blind and low vision persons. | 2. All beneficiaries of blindness certificate in the project area are provided with available aids and equipments from Govt. depts./agencies / other source by the 2nd year of the project period. |
| 3. Training for orientation & mobility and daily living skills of irreversibly blind and low vision persons. | 3. All identified Blind/LV persons in the project area are completed with O&M and DLS; strengthened for their daily functioning as a first step towards socio-economic rehab. by the end of the project period. |
| 4. Family counselling towards creating an enabling environment for irreversibly blind and low vision persons. | 4. All families [Estimated 180 hh] of the identified blind/LV persons are contacted and given appropriate counselling related to vocational education & economic rehabilitation of the blind/LV persons by the end of the 2nd year of the project. |
| 5. Training for economic rehabilitation to suitable irreversibly blind and low vision persons. | 5. Identified Blind/LV persons with productive age group [< 55 years old] are trained with special vocational/ entrepreneur skills to start income generation activities. |
| Activities related to objective 3 | |
| 1. Recruitment and training of Ophthalmic Assistant. | 1. One trained Ophthalmic Assistant is recruited in the 1st month of the project and oriented on CES activities to offer his clinical service (Refraction, referral and follow up) during the project period. |
| 2. School screening camps organised for identification of refractive error in school children and providing adequate counselling and treatment. | 2. By the end of the project period a sum total of 133 schools are covered for identification of refractive error in school children and all children identified with RE are provided with adequate counselling and treatment. |
| 3. Refraction of all children identified with Refractive error for prescribing them with spectacles. | 3. By the end of the project period an estimated total of 1500 children with RE are prescribed specs and counseled enough to use specs. |
| 4. Out reach diagnostic camps organised for identification of adults with refractive error, glaucoma and cataract and providing adequate counselling and treatment. | 4. An estimated 4100 adults above 35 years identified with refractive error, 150 adults above 40 years identified with glaucoma and 1500 adults above 45 years identified with cataract are provided with appropriate counselling and quality treatment during the project period. |
| 5. Post surgery/ treatment follow up | 5. All persons supported with curative services in eye care are followed up during the project period. |
| Activities related to objective 4 | |
| 1. Advertisement in newspaper given for the selection of suitable candidate for the CES team. | 1. 10 persons selected as field executives and 2 persons for Project Supervisors from the project area before the initiation of the project. The IA will post its suitable experienced staff as Project Director. |
| 2. Capacity building of the selected candidates done. | 2. Training and capacity building events organised for all the CES staffs periodically during the project period. |
| 3. Training of teachers on aspects of Comprehensive Eye Services | 3. All teachers of 133 schools from the project area are oriented on all aspects of CES and in specific to vision screening of school children during the project period. |
| 4. Awareness and sensitization campaign at community level | 4. All 133 project area villages/ population are covered with adequate awareness, sensitization campaign, observance of important days and IEC activities on all aspects of Comprehensive Eye Services involving Eye Care Committees, PRIs, local health workers etc during the project period. |