We often receive donation requests so we were thrilled to get this great letter from the recipients of one such request. Check out Emily’s experience in Ayikudy.

The village of Ayikudy is a small, rural community in the heart of Southern India. Throughout my time there, I experienced the way people live humbly and work diligently to support themselves and their families. Culture and religion are rich in Ayikudy, and the people there are friendly and honest.

In the heart of the community exists an organization that seeks to enable and engage those with differing abilities. Amar Seva Sangam-Ayikudy (ASSA), referred to as “The Valley for the Disabled”, is a rehabilitation and development center committed to empowering individuals with disabilities to live with equality and ability.

ASSA provides many services including physiotherapy, outpatient medical treatment, orthotic manufacturing, spinal cord injury rehabilitation, vocational rehabilitation, and a new occupational therapy program. There are pediatric programs, including special and integrated schools on campus and early intervention programs. The health care staff also provide disability education and community rehabilitation services to the 800 surrounding villages for those who are unable to travel to ASSA to access services.

ASSA is supported primarily by Handicare International (HCI), a Canadian charitable organization based in Toronto, Ontario. HCI provides financial support and organizes occupational therapists from Canada to travel to ASSA throughout the year to lend their much-needed skills and expertise to the institution and village based rehabilitation programs.

I traveled to India in February 2015 to complete a practicum rotation for my Master of Occupational Therapy program at UBC. Throughout my time at ASSA, I practiced a wide range of occupational therapy (OT) skills, from creating dressing aids and trialing adaptive seating, to working on fine motor skills and problem solving around eating and feeding issues. It was the experience of a lifetime with many opportunities to do unique OT work, and my time there was greatly enriched by the relationships I formed with the staff, patients, and residents of ASSA.

However, one thing that stood out to me was the lack of appropriate equipment and the impact this had on the patients’ recovery and development, especially the pediatric population. I remember spending days scrounging for equipment to make a button hook aid, while being keenly aware of the accessibility and affordability of such items in Canada.

This thought stuck with me when I returned home to Vancouver. I reached out to a former preceptor from an earlier practicum rotation who had frequent dealings with equipment vendors through his work as an OT. I explained that I was writing a proposal for equipment donations and support and asked for his help. He kindly gave me the contact for a board member who brought the proposal forward to the Home Medical Equipment Dealer’s Association (HMEDA) for Vancouver, and offered his assistance if I needed any further help.  As HMEDA was already well involved with supporting local organizations around similar issues, they graciously offered to put the information for HCI on their website for anyone who had equipment to donate or who was interested in supporting this cause. They also connected me to other organizations that were involved in collecting and distributing equipment to those in need. Through these conversations, Macdonald’s Home Health Care generously offered to donate various items from the ASSA equipment wish list.

These items were brought over to ASSA in February of 2016 by UBC Master of Occupational Therapy Students. These students were able to bring this much-needed equipment to the patients at ASSA as well as into the surrounding villages, facilitating people’s independence and enhancing their quality of life.

With long handled reachers, people living with spinal cord injury were able to dress themselves independently. Children with congenital conditions were able to sit in ways that facilitated proper development of muscles and tendons. Individuals were able to strengthen their fingers and hands so they could progress towards brushing their teeth. One patient was able to use the equipment to write independently for the first time in 10 years! Tubing was added to wheelchairs to enable people to wheel themselves, and special air pumps were handed out to spinal cord injury patients so they could independently manage their pressure-relieving cushions.

My experience and the continuing work of professional and student Occupational Therapists at ASSA has invigorated my belief that with a little creativity and a lot of teamwork, we can help all individuals achieve meaning in their everyday lives. Even with what many of us would consider simple equipment, these individuals in India were given hope and the opportunity to work towards independence and autonomy despite what may have seemed like hopeless and tragic injuries.

This process with HMEDA and Macdonald’s Home Health has spurred various other opportunities to collect and distribute much needed equipment to the patients and residents of Amar Seva Sangam. The generosity of organizations throughout Vancouver has been so encouraging and inspiring, and the donated equipment is changing lives in beautiful ways.

If you would like to find out more information or provide monetary or equipment donations, please contact me at emilykwee@gmail.com. More information about Handi-Care Intl. and Amar Seva Sangam can be found on their websites: www.handicareintl.org and www.amarseva.org.

Emily Kwee
Volunteer Occupational Therapist, Handicare International

Thank you to Dave Robens for his invaluable help in this process, and to HMEDA, Macdonald’s Home Health, and the various other equipment donors.

We received another fantastic update from the group of students who delivered the donation package earlier this year!

Kendra, Elyse, and I returned from our travels to India one month ago today.  What an adventure it was!
From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU so much for taking the time to respond to our donation request, and for coordinating the equipment donations from Macdonald’s Home Health Care.  The patients/staff at Amar Seva Sangam benefited and will continue to benefit greatly from the donations, and it enabled us as occupational therapy students the opportunity to learn and provide quality care for the patients.

Attached is a collage that illustrates just some of the ways that the donations from MHHC allowed the patients at Amar Seva Sangam to engage in rehabilitation, and get back to the activities that are meaningful and important to them!

Warm Regards,

Alison Wright, Elyse Stokley, & Kendra Nimmo

Occupational therapy students-University of British Columbia