National award for Catholic institution

Published Date: November 17, 2010

A Catholic institution gets national award for working for the welfare of hearing-impaired children

Email This Page

Print this article

Resize Font

Share this article

Sr. Merly Tom MSMHC, Director of the Centre, receives the National Award from the President of India, Pratibha Patil

Latest Stories

A Catholic institution working for the hearing-impaired children in Meghalaya has been conferred with the National Award for Child Welfare.

Ferrando Speech and Hearing Centre, run by the Missionary Sisters of Mary Help Christians (MSMHC), is among the five institutions selected for the award this year.

“I feel extremely happy at this recognition given to the institution, which I believe, is a true appreciation to the children who belong to the centre,” said Sister Merly Tom, director of the center.

“This honor inspires me to understand the nobility of the work and fills me with enthusiasm to work all the more harder,” she said.

Established in 1996, the center reaches out to hearing-impaired children from all over India, especially from the north east region.

Most children at the center now are from Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Nagaland. There are also a few children from Bihar and west Bengal.

The center helps in preventing and reducing the effects of hearing impairment in children through early identification, intervention and pre-school education.

It also helps the family members of such children to deal with their day-to-day problems.

The institution also provides education, rehabilitation, vocational training and manpower development for the hearing-impaired. It also has a vision unit (refraction and distribution of corrective glasses), orthotic, prosthetic and physiotherapy unit.

The center runs a special school for the hearing-impaired that accommodates 140 students studying in primary to higher secondary classes.

Source: donboscoindia.com