Around 8.30 a.m., a lull usually prevails on Elliot’s Beach after the city’s morning walkers and fitness enthusiasts leave.On Tuesday though, the beach resonated with the laughter of children, including those with special needs, who took part in an inclusive beach walking programme.
Around 300 children, including 150 children with disabilities, took part in the two-hour event organised by Nandavanam Centre for Excellence for Children with Development Challenges (a CSR unit of Newgen Knowledge Works Pvt Ltd) on the occasion of the International Day of Persons With Disabilities.
Volunteers, including college student,s helped carry the children with locomotor disabilities onto the beach. The programme began with children gathering on the beach holding placards with benefits of beach walking written on them. They then started walking barefoot on the sand for close to 20 minutes led by a parai band from the Pulinathope government school. The children held hands together and performed the exercise. The children’s joy knew no bounds when they started playing games such as lemon and spoon, hopscotch and tyre rolling.
“Walking on the beach has immense benefits, especially for children with disabilities. We have been making children with special needs in our school walk on the beach for the past five years and have seen improvements in their speech, movement and other abilities,” said Preetha Srinivasan, managing trustee of Nadavanam.
Micky Joseph from Nandavanam said they have been conducting inclusive programmes, including beach walking events, for the past two years.
A. Mahalakshmi, mother six-year-old Jaswanth, who took part in the programme, said that after beach walking she has seen remarkable improvement in his motor skills. “He has started cycling now,” she said.
