Gubbara, our assessment and diagnostics centre, is meant for children from birth to the age of six. We keep hoping for younger and younger children to come in, but the fact is that many parents wait for years before accepting that their child needs help. Our average age of assessment is still around five, and that’s just not good enough.
We can make such a difference in children’s lives if we start working with them before they turn three; if we reach them in their first year, the results can be nothing short of miraculous.
But we’ve got to reach them. We’ve got to make it easy. Ordinary. Just another thing you do as a parent. Breast milk. Immunizations. Follow-up.
Chota Gubbara is Gubbara Small Size. It’s for those babies we know are at risk for developing a disability because they were born too soon or their birth was difficult or their Moms had some problem (high blood pressure, anemia, whatever!).
By definition, these babies are high-risk. We need to work with them as standard operating procedure. Maybe they would be fine even without our help. And that would be great. No harm done. But maybe they wouldn’t. Maybe they need what we have to offer. Why take a chance?
Today, we opened Chota Gubbara. It’s our way of reaching out to the tiniest ones among us; our way of saying “Oh little baby! We’re here to help your parents help you make it through.”
Our small Help Station is colourful and fun and designed to support parents as they navigate the new world a preemie or a baby in trouble has catapulted them into. It’s funded by the National Rural Health Mission and staffed by our own amazing people:
Sunita and Omi. Dedicated, passionate, creative professionals. Determined that the babies they work with will get the best possible start in life.
We cut the ribbon today and we began a new chapter in the life of the Latika Roy Foundation.
Remember the smallest among us! Remember their promise, their potential. Remember the hope and joy their parents greet them with. In the end, it all comes down to this overwhelmingly familiar scene of aching pride and endless promise:
A new life. A new start. A little girl or a little boy. It’s all ahead of us and the road is long. We have to travel it together. Bless the babies.
Jo, You are absolutely right when you say the earlier the intervention starts the better it is. The sooner a parent realizes that their child needs some therapy the chances of that child’s improvement grow multifold. My bests to Team Gubbara!!
M Bit lucky to witness the inaguration ceremony of “Chota Gubbra” …all the best to the team who made it possible and jo ….best of luck.