Kakamada Ganga Changappa

Kakamada Ganga Changappa is a special educator with over 28 years’ experience in special education and over 38 years in social work. In 2003, she set up an institution in Coorg called Swastha, a centre for special education. Her core Mission was to educate and empower the differently abled.

Family

Husband

Kakamada Changappa

Education

Ganga Changappa holds a Master’s degree in English

Achievements

• She found her vocation – the welfare of women and children among the Tata Tea estate workers, teaching them skills which they could turn to profit.
•  With the active support of Tata Tea, she set up a special school and rehabilitation centre in Munnar for children with disabilities – Dare School
•  She was with its Principal for nine years and with her innovative ideas imparted specialised skills to her students in order to make them independent and earn a living.
• Ganga was determined to work for disabled youngsters. Tata Coffee, as part of their corporate social responsibility, set up a school on the lines of the Dare School, in Kodagu.
• The school, Swastha, a special school for the differently-abled was set up in Sunticoppa in 2003. It is partly residential and offers free education. Swastha, a centre for rehabilitation of special children on Sunticoppa-Madhapur road in Kodagu, is a “home sweet home” for 101 such children.
• In Swastha, special children undergo training under the watchful eyes of specialists. As many as 18 children have found placements in Kodagu and elsewhere. Some have been self-employed. Swastha, an institution for the mentally and physically challenged children, helps them express their special creativity with vocational training in informal skills.  
•  She has worked tirelessly for eleven years taking the school to great heights. Tailoring, screen printing, offset printing, bookbinding, paper bags and candle-making are a few of the skills being taught there.
•  Some of the youngsters from the school even got a chance to represent India at the international level in the Para-Olympics.
• Special skills are needed to handle such children, and the faculty at Swastha has them in abundance. The faculty deals with children with cerebral palsy, autism, mental retardation, and epilepsy.
• Swastha had also brought the parents of the children under one roof. The parents had formed a self-help group
• They have conducted several rehabilitation workshops and succeeded in rehabilitating 150 children by imparting job-based skills.
• They have successfully trained children for Special Olympics and 10 children represented the country in Australia, the Netherlands and the US and won several prizes.
• They have also conducted Go-Get in – a sports meet for abled and differently abled children every year.
• They have two centres – one for special education and rehabilitation and another for training and rehabilitation for boys above 18 years. Initially, they started with 20 students and, in 14 years, the number has grown to 375.
• Swastha is funded by the JRD Tata Trust and Coorg Foundation, an initiative of Tata Coffee Limited, Polibetta.

Awards

• Gandhi Manav Seva Award for her outstanding contribution towards child welfare.
• She received the FICCI award for her dedicated work in 1999.

Ganga Changappa, trustee and adviser to The Coorg Foundation, Tata Coffee Ltd., talks about the empowerment of women workers, skill development, Swastha and further plans for the development of the community.