BANGALORE – Tata Coffee Limited today felicitated the winners of the Special Olympics Asia Pacific Games held in Newcastle, Australia in December 2013. The winners are children from Swastha, a rehabilitation center for differently abled children located in Coorg district of Karnataka.
Swastha is promoted by the Coorg Foundation, an initiative Tata Coffee began in 2003. The three winners were congratulated by. Mr. Sirshendu Mookherjee – Senior General Manager Human Resources, Tata Coffee Limited.
The Special Olympics Asia Pacific Games was held at New Castle Australia, between December 1st to 7th, 2013 and had 29 countries participating with 2200 athletes.
India emerged as a winner, bringing home 387 medals with three students from Swastha contributing to the big win. Swastha also had their special educator Biju representing India as the assistant coach for cricket at the Olympics.
Speaking at the occasion, Ms. Ganga Chengappa, Director from Swastha, said, “We are proud of this achievement by the children from Swastha.
With their will-power and strong determination, they have proved nothing is impossible. At Swastha, it is our endeavor to empower differently-abled children and help them realize their potential”.
Mr. Sirshendu Mookherjee – Senior General Manager Human Resources, Tata Coffee Limited said, “ Through Tata Coffee’s Coorg Foundation, we have an opportunity to work towards improving the lives of the coffee growing communities in the State of Karnataka.
The children from Swastha have made us proud and we are very happy to celebrate their victory.”
Winners:
- Mandanna M.P: Gold medal, for 100 meters sprint, Silver for 4 x 100 meters relay and a Bronze for 200 meters run.
- Gautama: Silver and a Bronze for Bocce*
- Arun: 4th and 6th place for Bocce
*Bocce is an Italian game. The basic principle of the sport is to roll a bocce ball closest to the target ball, which is called a pallina. Booce as a Special Olympics sport provides people with special needs the opportunity to have social contact, develop physically and to gain self-confidence
About Swastha
Swastha is a center for special education and rehabilitation started in 2003 with the sole aim to cater to the needs of differently abled children.
The institute is funded by the JRD Tata Trust and Coorg Foundation, an initiative by Tata Coffee limited.
The main aim behind starting up Swastha is to educate, train and rehabilitate those children who are kept away from the mainstream society because of mental and physical impairment.
Swastha started with 20 children and is now providing the required care and training to 125 special children at their centers in Suntikoppa and Pollibetta.
The center at Suntikoppa functions in two areas – special school and rehabilitation center focusing on the functional academics and vocational skills.
The center at Pollibetta is a rehabilitation center unit focusing on skill development and product making.
Source: Tata Coffee – Tata Global Beverage
