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Technology today plays an important role in every area of our lives.  So, it is not surprising that today there are products and services in the health industry that are very technologically based, such as, TeleMedicine, which is the newest technology that transfers information instead of patients.  This system uses virtual communication and real time audiovisual information to treat patients in remote areas, as well as treat the chronically ill and/or elderly patients who live at home, but require care and medications.

Introduction

People With Disabilities Are People With Different Abilities. As our Mahatama Gandhi said: A Small Body of Determined Spirits Fired by an Unquenchable Faith In Their Mission Can Alter the Course of History.

Defining People with Disabilities

People with disabilities are not conditions or diseases they are individual human beings. The Definition of Disability Is If a Person Has Physical or Mental Impairment That Substantially Limits the Person to Perform One or More Major Life Activities Such As:

• Caring for Oneself

• Performing Manual Tasks

•  Walking, Seeing; Hearing

•  Speaking; Breathing; Learning, Working

•  Physical, Sight, Speech or Hearing Impairments.

Some of the most common disabilities include the following:

    Down Syndrome, Epilepsy

     Speech and language impairments

      Muscular Dystrophy, Paralysis

      Mobility impairments

       Multiple Sclerosis

       Deafness and hearing impairments

       Cancer

       Heart Disease

       Diabetes

       Chronic Illness

        Blindness and vision impairments

        HIV and AIDS

      Cognitive and psychiatric impairments

      Learning and developmental impairments

"The creation of a thousand forests is in ONE ACORN." By Ralph Waldo Emerson. 

As you maybe aware, the People with Disabilities are the "Forgotten Ones".  There is really no "Big Voice" for them, and are extremely neglected and abused.  I would also like to invite Celebrities and Leaders to become voluntary Ambassadors of "New Independence New Abilities" dedicated to the People with Disabilities.  Let us together join hands and uplift them, empower them, and free them from their horrific existence. Freedom is priceless.  Without providing them with Rehabilitation and the right products and services, these people will keep on living a dying death every second of every day.

Whether an individual has been injured, or had a heart attack or a stroke, or something similar which will inevitably produce some form of a disability.  This disability can range from a minor to a major disability, as well can be either a genetical disability, a temporary, a long term disability or a permanent disability.  Regardless of the type of disability, if Rehabilitation is not provided, these people become invalids and suffer in silence all the abuse, the neglect, the deprivation of the basic needs, and die a lonesome, horrific living death daily every second of every day. "Being Unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat." By Mother Teresa. Can you imagine that?  Even the wealthy people are just left alone in a room, and suffer all kinds of abuse, because they cannot fend for themselves.  Unless we can provide them with the necessary tools, how can these people live their lives with dignity and productivity? 

Whether an individual is living in North America or in India, the Corporate/Government world does not recognize the person with disability as a productive person.  All people with disabilities are lumped together in one category - USELESS.  They are not given jobs based on their ABILITIES and QUALIFICATIONS, but jobs are given due to their disabilities with minimum wages. Only less than 1% of people with disabilities in India are employed. Then we wonder why we cannot eradicate poverty?!!  Automatically, people with disabilities are labelled as: DISABLED = USELESS = MINIMUM WAGES/OR UNEMPLOYMENT = POVERTY.While North America is slowly waking up, the progress is extremely SLOW.

Let us wake up everyone, let us face up to these harsh realities.  India is the second most populous country in the world, with over one billion in Any One City and growing, alongwith the seniors and the disabled population growth.   "Concern for man and his fate must always form the chief interest of all technical endeavors. Never forget this in the midst of your diagrams and equations."  Albert Einstein.The process of rehabilitation is providing assistance to an individual to achieve the highest level of their independence and regain the quality of life - physically, emotionally, socially, and spiritually.  Although it does not reverse the damage caused, it does assist the individual to restore to optimal health. Population growth does not equal to growth in resources though.  We need to concentrate on keeping up with the population growth by increasing our resources, and the most neglected one is Rehabilitation for the People with Disabilities.

These people suffer abuse, because they are an added cost to the family, which reflects the true burden of the population, since there is a lack of awareness, and understanding and a lack of funds, equipment and services  As the population increases, so do the numbers increase in the people with disabilities. 

Nina,  President of New Independence New Abilities, (a Registered Non-Profit organization) Facility has worked during her private schooling in Calcutta, India, with Mother Teresa as a volunteer going to villages and teaching the basics of hygiene and education, as well, is the granddaughter of a doctor who was honored for his Humanitarian Work by the President of India, therefore, Nina’s life is aimed at providing help to people with limitations of body or mind and thus helping them realize their potential for work and life through adaptive aids technologies. This will be achieved by providing the necessary Medical Rehab services and equipment to Handicap people, such as, wheelchairs, electro magnates treatments, physiotherapy, water therapy (wherein the person in the wheelchair will be able to go into this specially designed and equipped pool while sitting in their wheelchair), orthosis, limb braces, special software for the physically disabled people, voice recognition software, specialized switches, print magnification systems, Braille production systems, and computer magnification systems, mobility products, special furniture and clothing specially designed to meet the unique individual needs of the person, ramps, and Handi-Bus system. These services will enable the Handicap person to be Free and Independent. And by providing them with these components will foster confidence, dignity, mental peace and a better quality of life. This will then assist these people to re-enter society and become a contributor and a participant in life. This in turn, will enable faster economic growth, promote the exchange of ideas, thus fostering understanding of different cultures and recognizes the global nature of co-existence, in any industry or environment.  Far too often we have heard that rapid population growth of the past few decades has deeply undermined our potential for social and economic progress.  We cannot despair, nor can we look away.  We must address and fix the problem.  Population growth and the disabled population growth is a drain on the economy.  Instead of meaningful and healthy 2400 calories a day lives, far too many Indians lead lives of mere subsistence, at far lower levels of nutrition, medical care, and sanitation than even basic considerations would dictate.  So how can they afford the equipment and the services?  Procrastination is fuel to fire. The disabled children cannot attend school, or obtain education due to their disability, since the schools, the parents, do not have the necessary equipment/transport.  The women with physical disabilities are treated very badly from their doctors, who do not address them directly, do not perform pap tests, etc.  They face many barriers in society due to the lack of awareness, knowledge, equipment, and services.  The schools do not even have basic ramps for wheelchairs nor do the resorts or the health centers have any facilities for the disabled population.This project will create thousands of jobs in India, as well in Canada, and the transfer of technologies from Canada to India, will generate millions of dollars for both the countries, while providing the necessary services and equipment to the handicap people.

By recognizing that to achieve real progress, it requires shared responsibility and a commitment to action, and commitment to work toward a clear outcome, linked to significant priorities.These technologies will benefit millions of handicap people as well the transfer of technologies to India, and specially  will benefit both the countries.

We require funds for the expenditures for purchasing, marketing, and implementation of the necessary components in order to launch this Medical Rehabilitation Facility, so that we can have the required impact.

NINA is presently working to identify humanitarian funding for this project, so that the implementation has a direct impact.there are over 750,000 remote villages in India which have absolutely no medical assistance available to them, and many die an unnecessary painful death.  These remote villages are untouched by India's prosperity and progress, it is here where over two-thirds of the population live, and endure back breaking, empty-stomach poverty.  In order to accomplish all of this, first and foremost we require substantial amount of funding, which will assist us in promoting awareness regarding People with Disabilities, thus enabling us to address their issues:                                                                                                                
      a)    Mobile Tele Health Ambulances and Fire Trucks, so that lives can be saved and rehabilitated. 
      b)    In the Facility, the process of rehabilitation includes various assistive aids, accessibility products, specialized transportation, education, skill training, and mainstreaming support into the work force.  
      c)    Removing barriers to the participation for the People with Disabilities is another basic  step, so that these Special People can once again savor Freedom and Life. 
      d)    All of these components will empower and enable these People to become Participants in Life with Better Attitude, become More Productive, and as a result these Special People will become Happy and Wholesome Individuals.
      e)   Due to the disabilities, a large number of people with disabilities are more than often denied education or jobs, which has a rippling effect on the family, and thus they become a drain and an added cost to the household finances, and the Society at large, which in turn manifests poverty. 
      f)   Unless Rehabilitation and Education takes place, this cycle will continue.  The process of rehabilitation is extremely essential, since this will assist an individual to achieve the highest level of their independence and regain the quality of life - physically, emotionally, socially, and spiritually.  Although it does not reverse the damage caused, it in fact does assist the individual to restore to optimal health.
      g)     Education for women is lagging behind in these progressive times.
      h)    Old Age also produces disabilities. Senior population is also growing, producing various disabilities, along with the related issues and problems.
      i)    India is the world's second most populous country in the world;  In any given large city, the population is over one billion, and along with the population growth, there is the growth also of the People with Disabilities of every age, race and class.  It is estimated that in any given city, 90 million people are suffering from one or other type of disability to various degrees.
      j)    91% of its population lives on $1.00 - $2.00 a day according to the U.N. Population reference bureau report.
      k)  According to a survey done by McKinsey & Co. in 2003, one bus served 1300 people, two public parking spots were provided for every 1000 cars, 17 public toilets for every million people, and one civic hospital for every 7.2 million people, over two-thirds of the people lack clean drinking water, and over 2 million have no access to a toilet, in any given city.  Every day over 150 year old drains, sewers collapse, the trains are cramped with over 4500 people, although their capacity is only 1750, therefore, over 3500 people are either injured, or die simply by falling off the trains, buses and buildings.
      l)    The percentage of disabled people that are employed in India is only 1%, as compared to other countries, which range from 40% or higher.
      m)   The women and children that are disabled - 40% had been raped, abused or assaulted, 64% had been verbally abused; girls and women and children have  little to zero access or escape route to services for the victims of violence. (sobsey 1988 a:1).
      n)    The epidemic of HIV/Aids is highest here, and the raped People of Disabilities are at a very high risk.
      o)    80% of all of the expenditures related to healthcare are borne by the patients, while only 12% is borne by the state, and the 3% expenditure is covered by insurance claims.  Therefore, it is out of reach of the majority of the public to have access to the high level healthcare facilities, making the pricing a sensitive issue.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
    We can direct our entrepreneurial energy toward lifting these people in despair, whether they are living in poverty, or are disabled without any resources, or are uneducated, or unhealthy. Instead of year round fund-raising to meet operating costs and other associates expenses, it can be achieved in one swoop by collaborating with several key funding partners, thus producing a collaborative approach to funding, allowing no one to carry the entire burden or risk, since they become like a donors circle tied to each other, allowing each side to work towards each other thus allowing them to emerge with meaningful relationships.  The people who are wealthy will be invoiced the appropriate amounts for their products and services.  These funds will also enable us to provide free products and services to the poor and the disabled.

    We, at the "New Independence New Abilities" urge you to please extend your hand, as a colleague, as a peer, as a leader, instead of extending a handout of Pity.  This attitude will ultimately accomplish more for the growth, eliminate abject poverty, and provide awareness for People with Disabilities, thus producing solutions for the ultimate sustainability of every human being.  We are forward-looking, thus we are able to concentrate on creating opportunities and ideas so as to enable business growth, and health improvement.  We now require the bloodstream (funding) to give this unique Rehabilitation Facility a Life.

    While nationally, India is now becoming health conscious, those out in the "trenches" of human need and spiritual despair, witness the deterioration of family life and its most precious part - children - work silently .  I dream,  plan, collaborate and create models to harness the resources and unique strengths of both the Global and National people to work synergistically toward the reunification of the family with their Disabled family member which will break down the barriers and stigma associated with the Disabled.

I look forward to hearing from all of you and your kind co-operation, generous assistance/support of all our learned public, leaders, and celebrities in assisting us to implement and operate this one of a kind, state of the art, equipped with the latest technologies and equipment, this most wonderful healing Medical Rehabilitation Facility in India for the People with Disabilities. As Helen Keller said "Until the great mass of the people shall be filled with the sense of responsibility for each other's welfare, social justice can never be attained."

Thank you.

In the Spirit of Humanity,

Nina As Mahatama Gandhi said: "A Small Body Of Determined Spirits Fired ByAn Unquenchable Faith In Their Mission Can Alter The Course Of Humanity."

I would like to nominate "New Independence New Abilities" dedicated to the People with Disabilities.

Thank you.

Submitted by NINA on March 22, 2007 - 10:40pm.

would like to nominate New Independence New Abilities for the People with Disabilities.  I have a younger sister who has Down Syndrome, and I love her with all my heart and soul.  It was a beautiful feeling when I came to know that NIna Nath was reaching out to help individuals who need love, attention, and someone to care for them and their future.  It can be a lonely life when one does not get the love and attention they need, and I want for all of us to encourage others to recognize the importance behind this wonderful organization New Independece New Abilities.  I salute all of you who have made this organization what it is today. 

Submitted by Sabita Kamnani (not verified) on April 9, 2007 - 9:16am.  

I would like to nominate New Independence New Abilities for the wonderful work they have done. 

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on April 9, 2007 - 9:20am.