Anna and I shall enter into the thirty-eight year of ASHIRVAD Christin Concern for Child Care on 14th November, 2021. We want to offer our greetings to all those who stood by us in this journey, the Bible Medical Missionary Fellowship (now INTERSERVE) and Friends of ASHIRVAD in India, Germany, England, Australia and other parts of the world.
The bird in this blog is calling us to go on to another phase of journey in pursuing this mission with children who have developmental challenges.
Anna and I have formally retired from our professional positions in the MOSC Medical College, although I am required to continue till the person who has gone for training returns in July 2022 to lead this specialty.
I sometimes have wondered what might be the next phase of ASHIRVAD's mission!
It seems that it might be to create a platform to offer Continuing Education in Child Development and Rehabilitation.
One step in this direction that has been reasonably effective is the weekly clinical meeting held in partner- ship with the Physical Medicine department of the Bangalore Baptist Hospital and Developmental Paediatrics department of MOSC Medical College. This weekly meeting currently in its eight month, is drawing professionals from five institutions now.
The clinical discussions on stories of children with Neuro-developmental needs is moving in the direction of proposing Practice Guidelines for common clinical conditions that children suffer from leading to developmental challenges.
The other components of the Continuing Education in Child Development and Rehabilitation are also in evolution, Follow Your Child, a booklet for parents with a proposal for home monitoring of children with developmental needs and Befriending the Child, a booklet for professionals to guide them in promoting Home Based Learning for developmentally challenged children are in the final stages of editing, due for publication in the next three months.
Hopefully this would lead to a formal Mentoring Programme in Child Development and Rehabilitation offered in a hybrid setting with online modular learn and contact programmes spread over two years. I look forward to see this happen before the 40th anniversary of ASHIRVAD. If we can focus on getting this process started during the next year, the prospects of this dream becoming a reality is strong.
So this November, 2021 starts us on another journey!
The bird call sets us on a pathfinding journey towards this possibility!
M.C.Mathew (text and photo)
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