Their key belief is that every single person is a human being and deserves to be treated with respect and dignity. This is one of the many basic principles followed at Atmavishwas, the Vocational Centre located at Verna that is inspired by a conviction that every human being, regardless of caste, creed or disposition are capable of making a positive contribution to society, if provided with appropriate resources.
At present Atmavishwas – The Vocational Centre has 8 students and 3 staff. The student trainees are all in the age group of 18-30 years of age. Each of the students trains in an area of mastery based on his or her individual capabilities. Most of their activities are group based so everyone works together to the best of their ability and capability.
“Most of these young people have a great sense of rhythm and music. We encourage this at the centre and give them platforms to showcase this talent. We have an Atmavishwas percussion band where one of the students, Savio leads with the guitar and the others each play their own instrument,” said a staff member.
The staff and students have travelled nationally and internationally to attend Conferences for People with Special Needs. Atmavishwas hopes for these young people to be their own voices and to be able to be independent enough to move further.
“Our immediate project that is taking shape is to introduce a Food Production and Bakery course for people with special needs. This is to create a possibility for employable skill training, ,” said Liane da Gama, Project Coordinator and founder of the vocational centre at Verna. Atmavishwas- The Trust was created in the year 2000 in Mumbai. Encouraged by activities in Mumbai, the Trustees decided to expand its reach and offer more services and Atmavishwas moved to Goa in the year 2005.
“At Atmavishwas we have been blessed with very proactive parents. There is an open line of communication between the parents and the staff and this facilitates healthy dialogue that in turn facilitates development for the child,” added Liane
Rather than working on the disabilities, Atmavishwas works on the abilities of each person at their centre. “If we look at the ability, we enhance that, and the disability then gets automatically helped in the process. It is not to deny that the person has a problem, but to rather not make the problem the end of his/her life,” added a staff member.
Staff members pointed out that these young people enjoy most activities like everyone else. “Our youngsters enjoy interactions with their peers and others in general. They are keen learners and observers. The students are an integral part of our planning, because we believe at the end, the sole beneficiary is our student with special needs. What we hope to achieve through our present programs that are offered is the possibility for our students to create home based work employment possibilities for themselves so that they are gainfully and meaningfully occupied,” said Liane.
When asked what it required to work with these young people, there is emphasis on the need to have passion and love for the work and for the other person. “It is not easy to sustain oneself as a teacher if it is only the ‘job’ that is looked at. Personally for me, being in this field for almost 15 years now, I believe acceptance and belief in the ability of the person along with looking at the humanity and not the disability as an important aspect for working with them,” she added.
Incidentally, Atmavishwas means ‘SELF-CONFIDENCE’. Atmavishwas believes recognition of a person’s unique characteristics is a way of enabling his or her individual creativity and innovation to be seen.
