3 December – World Disability Day – is a huge day for us because it’s that one day a year the world dedicates to thinking and talking about what we’ve made our life’s purpose: disability rights and the wellbeing of disabled children and their families.
This year, it was made extra special by the presence of the team from Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) – Anshul Jain, Country Head and Managing Director; Vibhor Jain, North Head and Lead of LEAD-ERG that works towards awareness and education; Deepti Kapoor, India HR Head; Awantika Mohanty, Head of Communications; Manuj Sharma, India Legal Head; Anand Gupta, CFO; Manish Goel and Aditi Vij, as well as C&W’s local team comprising Gurmeet and Rajkumar. The Latika attendees at this ‘Different Kind of Sunday’ comprised a group of our trainees and their parents; Mamta Govil, President of the Board; Jo Chopra, Executive Director; Sandeep Khanna, Director, Therapy Services; Prem Singh, Head, Latika Training; Garima Sen, Head, HR; Rashmi Baruah, Director, Fundraising; and Nikita Mishra, Fundraising Associate.
The day began with Jo’s talk, ‘Who Needs a Special Day’ (the jist of which you can read here) and an inspiring slideshow at our current location in Vasant Vihar. We then moved to our upcoming premises on ITBP Road, where we met the trainees and their parents, and walked through the site. “Our school will be India’s first universally designed center for disabled children and adults. Anything a kid can dream of in a school will be included. You name, it’s there,” Jo said.
It thrills and amazes us every day that we’re finally going to have a center custom-designed for our kids and their families after 30 years, and that the ones spearheading the dream are C&W, offering pro bono project management services. They’ve been staunch supporters for several years now.
As Anshul says, “The school is a testament to the power of collaboration and the importance of inclusive education. Incredibly proud to be a part of this project and grateful to the organisations and individuals who have joined us in our journey”.
Keep up with what’s happening on the literal ‘ground’ with updates from our construction site on our building blog. Help us rise, #BuyABrick. We’ve come a long way but still have a way to go!
