Thursday 6 March 2014

AMHA !!



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Aah ! Is there anything in the world around , that doesn’t inspire us in some way ? I guess not. From the tiny ant to the mighty elephant, from the shaking leaf to the large tree, inspiration comes in all possible ways. Most of the time we aren’t aware of it, but the truth is that our subconscious learns a lot from the world around, and that influences our lives in many ways. We all have something to learn from each other, the hows and how nots, the whys and why nots of life.

When the Write Tribe challenged us to tell an inspirational story, I thought of many people I knew, who could be spoken about. And I came to rest at the thought of one person.

I belong to Thrissur, the perfect centre of Kerala. In this small city built around a 65 Acre hillock, lives a strong willed woman, a teacher, who has made and continues to make a big difference in the lives of the mentally challenged.

Meet Dr Bhanumathi, Professor of Zoology, Sree Kerala Varma College, Thrissur  - the founder of AMHA ; Association for Mentally Handicapped Adults.

Born as the youngest child to an affluent farmer-father, Dr Bhanumathi was well aware from very early that she had to take care of her mentally challenged siblings once she grew up. Her mother took care of them when they were young, and the young Bhanumathi knew that one day she will have to take over the responsibility from her mother. She was also aware that even though her family could afford to employ a help to take care of her brothers, many families couldn’t do that because of financial, emotional and social constraints. So, she had decided early in her life that she would start a home for the mentally challenged people, once she gained financial independence.

The triggering point was, however, personally painful for her. One of her mentally challenged brothers died on her lap, after being rejected by a doctor who seemed to think that he didn’t deserve human consideration because he was mentally challenged. This hurt Bhanumathi and strengthened her resolve , which ultimately resulted in her founding AMHA in 1997.

She began the institution as a school  with just 3 students, and as word spread around, it increased to 18.

None of the initial crunches like lack of support or funds affected her strong purpose of mind, and things started getting better in some time when the newspapers and television channels started showcasing her efforts. Slowly, AMHA started gaining strong ground in the society.

From a small classroom with 3 students, AMHA has grown into a Charitable organisation, with 55 mentally challenged students getting help, love, care, recognition and on-hands work experience. Dr Bhanumathi decided against having her own children, treating every single child who came to AMHA as her own. Her brothers are also among the inmates of AMHA.

Even though AMHA functions at my hometown, I hadn’t heard of AMHA till I reached college. I knew Dr Bhanumathi as a teacher in one of the best colleges in our town ( though I was a student in another best college :D :D ) but more knowledge about AMHA came later.

Since then, she’s inspired me, to believe that nothing is impossible  and in the big wide world, every single human being deserves to be treated with equal respect, love and care.

Give love in plenty, and you’ll receive it back in abundance, so that you can give more !

Gulf News , the leading daily in UAE highlighted her and AMHA in 2010. Read the full story here.

And yes, AMHA is on Facebook, too !!

I wish her all success in the years to come :-)

   
That’s the story for the day, hope you found it as inspiring as I did.

Stay blessed !
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The Write Tribe Festival of Words 3 is on ! Join us in this wonderful journey through words !!

Linking this to Day 5 , the challenge being sharing an inspiring story.

Read some wonderful entries here.

31 comments:

  1. wonderful story to showcase... have heard of her before and I'm glad to see it here. Sharing.

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    1. Thanks a lot, Doc :)
      Thanks for sharing too !

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  2. now guess which part of kerala am from! She is indeed doing such a benevolent task!!

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    1. Any brownie points for guessing :D ? Yup sure she is ! Thanks !

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  3. Awesome one Sreeja, you have conveyed a really interesting, unique, and inspirational post.

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  4. Kudos to Dr Bhanumathi for doing so much for the mentally challenged adults!! May her tribe increase. Thank you for sharing her story, Sreeja :)

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  5. Dealing,caring and training such differently-abled people call for tremendous dedication,patience,perseverance and empathy.We do not come by such compassionate people so easily.Hats off to Dr Bhanumathi for her admirable work done with no eye on publicity save support

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  6. Great work by Ms Bhanumathi. Hats off to her

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  7. Sreeja tears came to my eyes ! What a great lady! I read about her in the 'Week' magazine (published from Kerala). She has the blessings of innumerable people. God bless such a great lady!!

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    1. Yes, The Week had covered her sometime back. True, Ma'm. Thank you :)

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  8. Such good people we have around. This truly was inspiring.

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  9. This is such a differently inspiring story Sreeja particularly because she converted her own troubles into her idea of strength. More power to such people always..

    Richa

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    1. yes, more power to her, always ! Thanks dearie!

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  10. She is doing an amazing job. Our society needs more people like her.. Thank you for putting up her story Sreeja :)

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  11. Wow Sreeja thank you for sharing this! Hats off to Dr Bhanumathi...her work truly inspires!

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  12. Wow!! What a superb lady she is!
    Thank you for introducing us to her Sreeja! :)
    she and her work are really inspiring

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  13. This is one amazing, inspirational story. Managing and taking care of challenged people is tremendously difficult job. Salute to her.
    Thanks for sharing Sreeja

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  14. Thanks for sharing. It's an inspiring story. Two years back, I was fortunate to interview Dr Uma Tuli of Amar Jyoti and it's been an inspiration to meet the lady dedicated to the education of the differently abled:)

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    1. Wow, Thanks for telling me about her, Vishal ! Thanks a lot :)

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  15. ശ്രീജയുടെ ബ്ലോഗ് എനിയ്ക്ക് പല പുത്തന്‍ അറിവുകളും സമ്മാനിയ്ക്കുന്നു. താങ്ക്സ്

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    1. അംഹ യെക്കുറിച്ച് കേട്ടിട്ടുണ്ടോ ? ഇതിനെക്കുറിച്ചും FBയില്‍ പറയൂ. കുറേപ്പേര്‍ക്ക് ഒരു പുത്തന്‍ അറിവും, പ്രചോദനവും, ഉപകാരവും ആകുമല്ലോ. നന്ദി അജിത് ഏട്ടാ :)

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  16. This was touching and inspiring ... thanks much Sreeja , all though im reading this an year late !! Got the details and contct of AMHA through the fb link. Bhanu M'am was our class in charge during my predegree at SKVC.

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Speak to me here :) :)