Free Medical cum Awareness Camp for Persons with Down Syndrome organised by Home and Hope under the patronage of Rourkela Steel Plant

Rourkela : Free Medical cum Awareness Camp for persons with down syndrome was organised by Home & Hope Institute at Super Specialty Hospital and Ispat Post Graduate Institute Auditorium on 25th February under the aegis of SAIL, Rourkela Steel Plant. Mr. P K Satapathy, ED (P&A), RSP was the Chief Guest of the function. Dr. B K Hota, ED (M&HS), RSP, Dr. G S Das, CGM (MM-Projects) and Joint Secretary (Home & Hope) and Mrs. Chetavani Badaik, Block Social Security Officer (Bisra & RMC) were the Guests of Honour. Dr. Surekha Ramachandran, President (Down Syndrome Federation of India), Chennai was the Chief Speaker. Also present on the occasion were Medicine Specialists, Paediatricians, Ophthalmologist, ENT specialists, Speech, Occupational and Physio Therapists, Special Educators and Counsellors.
Speaking on the occasion Mr. Satapathy highlighted the importance of the role of parents, guardian, doctors, counsellors and society in taking care of the children and adults with down syndrome for a better life, opportunities and societal integration. Dr. Hota commended the contributions of Home and Hope towards the society in improve the life skills of differently abled persons. Dr. Das explained the connotations of Down Syndrome.
The Chief Speaker addressed the issue of down syndrome by sharing her own life experiences with her daughter who became a gold medallist in Bharatnatyam fighting all odds of down syndrome. Highlighting the importance of Smile against the normal phenomenon of depression and hopelessness she said ‘Smiling mother rears a smiling child.’
During the function Subhranshu Maharana, a student of Home and Hope and Aishwarya Rath from Noida, both effected with down syndrome spoke about their success stories. Aishwarya Rath also presented the dignitaries her paintings.
At the outset, Ms. Padmini Das, Principal In-charge (Home & Hope), Rourkela welcomed the gathering and presented a brief report about the institution. Mr. Susobhan Basu, proposed the vote of thanks. Subhranshi Moharana, a student of the institute was the master of ceremony. In all 64 persons with down syndrome accompanied by parents from Hope (Rajganpur), Asha (Sector-22), Sambalpur, Bolangir, Angul and Bhubaneswar attended the programme.