Vol 9 Issue 11 | Oct to Dec 2016 SAMHITA A SAMARTHANAM PUBLICATION 03 The 12th Bengaluru Walkathon supporting “Cricket for the Blind” a big success 04 Samarthanam joins hands with Citi Foundation to empower youth with disabilities 04 Samarthanam School staff receive various Awards COME FORWARD & JOIN US for the 2nd T20 World Cup Cricket for the Blind 2017 SAMHITA www.samarthanam.org From the FOUNDER’s desk Mahantesh GK Founder Managing Trustee We have reached the end of the year and I am glad to close the year with an amazing event like Walkathon. The 12th Bengaluru Walkathon, organized every year, holds high significance at Samarthanam and this year we walked to support ‘Cricket for the Blind.’ As we step into the New Year our first mega event is T20 World Cup Cricket for the Blind 2017. We have chosen to close 2016 and greet 2017 with cricket for the blind, an initiative which was affectionately nurtured by Samarthanam. We are glad to receive mammoth support and encouragement from every person and public across various sectors. As we move on with the preparations for the 2nd T20 World Cup, scheduled from 29th January to 12th February 2017 the energy that is going into the groundwork is huge. I am thankful for the support and relentless hardwork Samarthanam and CABI team is displaying towards making the event successful. I am happy to hear that Government and associated personnel have offered to support the event and the bringing together of various necessities for the tournament. The support from corporates, fellow organizations, followers and other firms, as always, is extremely commendable and I am glad that cricket for the blind is garnering such mammoth encouragement. While Cricket for the Blind was always fostered at Samarthanam, we believe that cricket for women is also equally important and needs nourishment as well. Hence Cricket Association for the Blind in India (CABI), the cricketing wing of Samarthanam, launched its women’s wing to encourage women cricket aspirants to take up the sport and be a part of the Blind Cricket. Sports and education go hand in hand at Samarthanam. Our kids portray amazing potential be it studies, games and other extra curricular activities. The interest and brilliance demonstrated is admirable and this New Year I wish all the children are bestowed with lots of success, good health and happiness. On the same road, to provide livehood and employment opportunities to many young aspirants out there Samarthanam Delhi centre was set up this quarter, with support from Citi Foundation and inaugurated by CEO of NASSCOM Foundation. My immense gratitude to Citi Foundation for the generous support extended for training the youth with disabilities under the programme “Amita- Empowering Youth with Disabilities.” Their support was essential and pivotal in taking the initiative to the final stage. By end of the program, 450 youth will be skilled as per industry trends. I would like to extend my gratitude to Amway who is providing support for the setting up of Samarthanam Digital Libraries in all capital cities of South India. Their help would pave way to the taking of Digital Libraries to every person with visual disability and making book reading a hassle-free practice. Samarthanam’s cultural interest takes the name of Sunadha who excel in arts and dance, be it any stage. The troupe has taken their excellent dance performances across borders many times. Sunadha is dedicated towards taking the troupe’s talent to a wider audience and as part of the effort the dancers have travelled all the way to USA and are portraying magnificent performances. I am proud of the artists from Sunadha who display abilities beyond expectations and receive admiration for their cultural prowess. I wish them all the good for their future programmes. As all goes well, I wish to extend my heartfelt appreciation to my team at Samarthanam and CABI for take the organization successfully to the end of another year. The journey has been long and productive and I wish to go along many more years together. This January, I invite each and every cricket enthusiast out there to come join us in the 2nd T20 World Cup for the Blind. The World Cup launching ceremony is being held on 29th January 2017 at New Delhi and the cricket fervor is building with each passing day. The Tournament would close by 12th February with a grand closing ceremony in Bangalore. Join us to be a part of the cricket journey all along! Let us convey our support to the Indian blind cricket team. Come aboard and enjoy the game! Mahantesh GK Founder Managing Trustee 01 SAMHITA www.samarthanam.org Events at Samarthanam Kannada Rajyotsava Utsav Kannada Rajyotsava was celebrated with much gusto by each and every one at Samarthanam HSR premises on 5th November 2016. The event was to commemorate the State formation and express utmost gratitude to the Government of Karnataka who has been supporting the organization all through. The Guests who were part of the event included Mahantesh GK, Founder Managing Trustee, Samarthanam, Vimala Hiremath, Sripathi and Raghavendra. Students from Samarthanam High School, Primary School and JP Nagar have put on stage the history of the State, the importance of the occasion and the regional culture through their song and dance programmes. Samarthanam North Karnataka also celebrated the occasion at their respective centres where everyone participated with lots of enthusiasm. International World Disability Day Samarthanam, being in the fore front of empowering people with different ability it is imperative to commemorate the world disability day. The occasion serves as a platform for the entire Samarthanam family to exhibit their talents and convey support. Samarthanam North Karnataka Centres organized Graduation Day on the World Disabled Day where the Ballari Centre program was inaugurated by N.Suryanarayana Reddy, Ex.MLA, Ballari; Vasanthi Savanur, Trustee, Samarthanam; Sudha, Yoga teacher; Somanath, State Awardee; Haribabu, teacher and Abdul Saleem . Students have actively participated in the sports competitions held on the day and received various prizes. Dharwad center in association with District Disabled Welfare Office organized District level Chess Competition for visually impaired students on 9th December 2016. Amaranth (DDWO, Dharwad) was the Chief Guest for the function. Students from Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled, Chikkenakoppa Blind NGO, Amar Snehi NGO Navanagar, Anthakarna Foundation participated in the event. World Disability Day events at Gadag, Ballari and Guntur 02 SAMHITA www.samarthanam.org Samarthanam LRC at Ananthapur organized a rally to mark the World Disability Day and was flagged off by Sri Krishnadevaraya University (SKU) Rector Sridhar, SKU Registrar AV Ramana, JNTUH Vice Chancellor MMM Sarcar, Inner wheel club members, NSS students from SSBN college, Dr Akbar Khan Eye Specialist, RDT cricket team, District Rotary Governor and school children. Skill development AP Head PVK Srinivas initiated the rally along with more than 300 members marking the World Disability Day. The event was conducted by Samarthanam Trust Bangalore and Ananthapur where Project lead Mounesh, Bhargava, Placement officer Shafi Ulla with Pothanna and Venkatesh initiated the event with a motivating message of “you are also able to live in society equal to normal.” Samarthanam 12th Bengaluru Walkathon - An astounding success The 12th edition of Samarthanam Bengaluru Walkathon 2016 organized with the theme, “I support Cricket for the Blind... Do you?” was held at Kittur Rani Chennamma Stadium on 10th Dec 2016. The objective was to support cricket for the visually impaired and promote the upcoming 2nd T20 World Cup Cricket Tournament for the Blind 2017. The event was launched by Shri Mahantesh G.K, Founder Managing Trustee of Samarthanam trust for the Disabled & President of Cricket association for the Blind in India and Mr. Ramalinga Reddy, Minister Transport, Govt. of Karnataka. Other guests included Vijayakumar, MLA Jayanagar, Nagaraju, BBMP Corporator Byrasandra ward, Vasanth Kumar, Executive Director, Lifestyle International, Indumati Netimi CFO, Time Inc, India and Srikanata S Narayan, Vice President & Head, Ciber India. As part of Walkathon 2016, a Blind Cricket demo match was played by the Indian Blind cricket team players and wheel chair distribution programme was also held. Around 10,000 people including disabled persons, politicians, corporate heads, corporates, NGOs, schools, students and public participated in the walkathon making it a remarkable event. Cricket for the blind is a great platform to encourage visually impaired players and to witness such solidarity among people to convey their support is appreciable. Samarthanam is thankful to all the participants who have joined hands for Walkathon 2016. 03 SAMHITA www.samarthanam.org SAMARTHANAM News Corner Citi Foundation Funds Samarthanam LRC at Delhi Under the programme “Amita- Empowering Youth with Disabilities” Citi Foundation supports Samarthanam by funding its LRC initiative by donating Rs 2.8 crore. Under the 2016 India Innovation Grant Program, Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled, aims to enable 600 underprivileged mostly disabled youth through a vocational skills program and facilitating higher education for program participants. This program is a blended direct service and capacity building program. Samarthanam Delhi Centre was set up and inaugurated by NASSCOM Foundation CEO to put the program into action. Samarthanam will deliver a vocational skills training component to youth participants, which will include: mobilization, training, placement, and post- placement support. The program will also focus on facilitating higher education for employability, targeting 150 differently abled and underprivileged students. Samarthanam also aims to build its’ capacity through training, hiring key talent and leveraging technology to further strengthen the implementation of this youth empowerment program. Citi Foundation funds will be used for direct service program implementation in vocational skills training and higher education, as well as to support building the capacity of Samarthanam. By end of the program, 450 youth will be skilled in trades as per industry trends.