When 50 women from Self Help Groups and 100 students of a college in Pondicherry were shown the products made by youth with intellectual disabilities, they were amazed.
“I never knew they could make anything, forget something better than I can!” said one of the women.
For the youth who make the products, though, it is a normal day. When Kumar and Valli enter the vocational training centre of Satya Special School, they look forward to the day ahead.
“We always have something new to make, and we like it,” Valli, who has Down Syndrome, says.
More than fifty adults with intellectual disabilities train at the organization’s centre, working on various crafts: palm leaf crafts, coconut shell craft, and quilling, among others.
These crafts provide them with the critical motor and cerebral skills, along with a way to create a sustainable livelihood option for them to lead dignified lives.
