Page 40 - TMF AR 2021-22 Final html

WINNING IN AN

INCLUSIVE WORLD

KEY HIGHLIGHTS
Amrapali Gautam Kharat, Mumbai
(2021-22)
What can be more difficult than growing up with a

jobless father, the absence of a mother and the

■ New collaborations provided fresh employment responsibility of four younger sisters?
avenues for SMART+ students In the case of Amrapali, it was her disability.

■ ‘Wonderbook-A Mosaic of Visual Expressions’ featuring In a world where disability is seen as a stigma, being
contributions by ARISE+ students was released hearing-impaired since childhood compounded her

troubles. Life only took a turn for the better when she
■ Distributed assistive technology including tablets and started her education at an ARISE+ project.
Braille devices in partnership with GE Power
Here she was encouraged to learn beauty and jewellery-
■ Provided Mental health counseling to teachers and making. She was also given financial support to complete

students and piloted Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) a course in Information Technology.
sessions with students with visual impairment
Armed with her knowledge in basic computer skills and

■ In Jan 2022, the Foundation conducted a third-party education upto Class 10, Amrapali was keen to start
impact assessment of ARISE+ and SMART+ projects for working immediately, and it has now been a few years

persons with Speech and Hearing Impairment. 10 projects since she has been gainfully employed - an inspiring result
across 3 cities were evaluated, resulting in useful insights of her journey from being an ARISE+ beneficiary to a

about our impact and learnings for the way forward SMART+ trained individual.

Today, Amrapali is a proud and independent contributor to
her family and society. Thankful of the support she received,

she says, “The guidance and training by my teachers have
helped me to be on the right track in life.”

37 38