2011 onwards
2011 onwards
January’16 | |||
Date | Activity | Venue | Purpose |
9th Jan | Medicine Distribution | Jain Clinic | Anti epileptic medicines distributed to lower income patient members |
13th Jan | School Awareness Program | Rishikul Bandra | Epilepsy education program conducted for Teachers of the school. Helps stop discrimination and teaches appropriate management of child when seizure occurs |
16th Jan | School Awareness Program | BMC , Kalyan | Epilepsy education program conducted for Teachers |
23rd Jan | Support Group Meeting | Holy Spirit Hospital , Andheri | Focus of the meeting: Importance of Medicines in Epilepsy, Epilepsy & Pregnancy |
24th Jan | Rural Epilepsy Clinic | Pen | Neurologist, Psychologist, Special Educator & Physiotherapist attend the Clinic. 12 weeks supply of medicines given free or at nominal rate to the poor people of Raigad district. 90-100 epilepsy patients benefit |
30th Jan | School Awareness Program | KVM , Malad | Epilepsy education program conducted for Teachers |
February’16 | |||
Date | Activity | Venue | Purpose |
1st Feb | Digital Campaign | Website /Facebook | The new Website was launched and parallely a facebook campaign was done to increase Awareness about the website |
2nd Feb | School Awareness Program | St.Xaviers , Ville Parle | Epilepsy education program conducted for Teachers |
2nd-5th Feb | Exibition cum Sale | Government law college | Sell Products made by Patients/Caregivers & raise awareness about SammanAssn |
9th Feb | Awareness Program for Locals | Andheri Metro Station | An Awareness Program was done and Awareness was spread amongst local audiences via street plays |
11th Feb | School Awareness Program | KVM , Powai | Epilepsy education program conducted for Teachers |
13th Feb | Medicine Distribution | Jain Clinic | Medicine Distribution |
27th Feb | Support Group Meeting | KEM Hospital | Medical Compliance in Epilepsy, Lifestyle for Partients with Epilepsy & Marriage |
March’16 | |||
Date | Activity | Venue | Purpose |
5th – 6th Mar | Awareness Program | Ghatkopar Metro Station | Epilepsy education program conducted for Teachers |
11th Mar | School Awareness Program | Rajhans Andheri | Epilepsy education program conducted for Teachers |
12th Mar | Medicine Distribution | Jain Clinic | Medicine Distribution |
17th March | School Awareness Program | KVM Mankhurd | Epilepsy education program conducted for Teachers |
26th Mar | Support Group Meeting | Hiranandani Hospital Powai | Focus of meeting: Epilepsy Beyond Seizures |
31st Mar | School Awareness Program | St.Annes High School | Epilepsy education program conducted for Teachers |
Alongwith the above mentioned programs , the belowmentioned activities have also been done : | |||
 A new identity has been created for Samman | |||
A new Website has been created with contact details so anyone in need can email or call | |||
 on the numbers provided. | |||
An Office space has been rented at the ADAPT centre , Bandra Reclamation , Bandra West | |||
Counselling for Patients has started at the ADAPT centre. | |||
Visits made to two locations to start a Rural epilepsy clinic in one of those areas from June ’16. | |||
This is in adition to the one held in Pen every 12 weeks. | |||
A study to understand the effects of the Programs conducted in Schools has been initated | |||
 and work has started on the same from 1st April 2016 onwards | |||
A core team has been appointed to ensure the day to day functioning of Samman | |||
and successful implementation of all the programs | |||
Apr’16 | |||
Date | Activity | Venue | Purpose |
6th Apr | Counselling | ADAPT | For people with epilepsy & caregivers |
9th April | Medicine Distribution | Jain Clinic | Medicine Distribution |
12th April | School Awareness | JB Vaccha Matunga | Teacher education program conducted |
17th April | Medical Camp | Pen | Holistic medical team conducted the camp. 90 Patients attend |
23rd April | Samman Inaguration | ADAPT | Party for a large number of patients & families |
23rd April | Meeting | ADA[T | Meeting with doctors to discuss way ahead |
May’16 | |||
Date | Activity | Venue | Purpose |
9th May | Counselling | ADAPT | For people with epilepsy & caregivers |
14th May | Medicine Distribution | Jain Clinic | Medicine Distribution |
June’16 | |||
Date | Activity | Venue | Purpose |
5th June | Isha Yoga Program | ADAPT Centre | To conduct an activity for existing Samman members to teach them basic meditation techniques |
8th June | Counselling | ADAPT | For people with epilepsy & caregivers |
11th June | Medicine Distribution | Jain Clinic | Medicine Distribution |
19th June | Medical Camp | Plaghar | The first Camp at Palghar , Neurologist, Psychologist, Special Educator & Physiotherapist attend the Clinic.We had a turnout of about 25 patients |
25th June | Support Group Meeting | Bhakti Vedanta – Mira Road | Medical Compliance in Epilepsy, Lifestyle for Partients with Epilepsy & Marriage |
July’16 | |||
Date | Activity | Venue | Purpose |
9th July | Medicine Distribution | Jain Clinic | Medicine Distribution |
13th July | Counselling | ADAPT | For people with epilepsy & caregivers |
17th July | Medical Camp | Pen | Neurologist, Psychologist, Special Educator & Physiotherapist attend the Clinic. 12 weeks supply of medicines given free or at nominal rate to the poor people of Raigad district. 90-100 epilepsy patients benefit |
26th July | School Awareness Program | Don Bosco (Borivili W) | Teacher education program conducted |
Aug’16 | |||
Date | Activity | Venue | Purpose |
5th Aug | School Awareness Program | Don Bosco (NIOS school) | Teacher education program conducted |
10th Aug | Counselling | ADAPT | For people with epilepsy & caregivers |
13th Aug | Medicine Distribution | Jain Clinic | Medicine Distribution |
27th Aug | Hospital SGM | Jupiter Hospital | Epilepsy education program and a talk on living confidently with Epilespy |
28th Aug | Medical Camp | Palghar | Team of Neurologist, Psychologist, Special Educator and Physiotherapist & Samman members conducted clinic. 50 Patients attend |
30th Aug | AGM | ADAPT | Annual General Meeting |
Sept’16 | |||
Date | Activity | Venue | Purpose |
9th Sept | School Awareness Program | Children’s Academy School, Malad East | Epilepsy education for teachers approx 90 |
10th Sept | School Awareness Program | Sardar Valabhai Patel High School, Mira Rd | Epilepsy education for teachers |
14th Sept | Counselling | ADAPT | People with epilepsy and caregivers |
29th Sept | School Awareness Program | Al Barkat Malik School | Epilepsy education for teachers |
30th Sept | Hospital Fortis Hiranandani | Fortis Hospital, Vashi | Epilepsy education |
Oct’16 | |||
Date | Activity | Venue | Purpose |
1st Oct | School awarness Program | Ymca Ghatkopar | Epilepsy education program conducted for Primary Teachers |
5th Oct | Medicine Distribution | Jain Clinic | Medicine Distribution |
16th Oct | Medical Camp | Pen | Neurologist, Psychologist, Special Educator & Physiotherapist attend the Clinic. 12 weeks supply of medicines given free or at nominal rate to the poor people of Raigad district. 90-100 epilepsy patients benefit |
22nd Oct | School awarness Program | Adarsh Vidyalay | Epilepsy education program conducted for Primary Teachers |
29th Oct | Hospital SGM | Holy Family – Bandra | Epilepsy education program and a talk on living confidently with Epilespy |
December’15 | |||
Date | Activity | Venue | Purpose |
12th Dec | Medicine Distribution | Jain Clinic | Subsidized medicine for life members |
November’15 | |||
Date | Activity | Venue | Purpose |
1st Nov | Rural Epilepsy Clinic | Pen, Raigad district | diagnosis, follow up, and medicine distribution |
14th Nov | Medicine Distribution | Jain Clinic | Subsidized medicine for life members |
21st Nov | Epilepsy Awareness Program | Kokilaben D.Ambani Hosp, Andheri | Meet the Experts & have your queries answered |
21st Nov | Epilepsy Awareness Program | Hinduja Hosp | Childhood Epilepsy |
22nd Nov | Epilepsy Education Program | Fortis Hospital Mulund | Education program for nurses and doctors |
October’15 | |||
Date | Activity | Venue | Purpose |
10th Oct | Medicine Distribution | Jain Clinic | Subsidized medicine for life members |
24th Oct | Support Group Meeting | Jaslok Hospital, Pedder Road | Epilepsy Education |
September’15 | |||
Date | Activity | Venue | Purpose |
12th Sept | Medicine Distribution | Jain Clinic | Subsidized medicine for life members |
26th Sept | Support Group Meeting | Brahmakumari Hosp | Epilepsy Education |
August’15 | |||
Date | Activity | Venue | Purpose |
2nd Aug | Rural Epilepsy Clinic | Pen, Raigad district | diagnosis, follow up, and medicine distribution |
8th Aug | Medicine Distribution | Jain Clinic | Subsidized medicine for life members |
22nd Aug | Support Group Meeting | Kokilaben D.A. Hosp. Andheri | Epilepsy Education |
July’15 | |||
Date | Activity | Venue | Purpose |
11th July | Medicine Distribution | Jain Clinic | Subsidized medicine for life members |
25th July | Support Group Meeting | KEM Hospital Parel | Epilepsy Education |
June’15 | |||
Date | Activity | Venue | Purpose |
13th June | Medicine Distribution | Jain Clinic | Subsidized medicine for life members |
27th June | Support Group Meeting | Nair Hospital, Byculla | Patient education program |
May’15 | |||
Date | Activity | Venue | Purpose |
9th May | Medicine Distribution | Ecell | Subsidized medicine for life members |
10th May | Rural Epilepsy Clinic | Pen, Raigad district | diagnosis, follow up, and medicine distribution |
23rd May | Support Group Meeting | Ecell | Discussion on alternative office set up |
April’15 | |||
Date | Activity | Venue | Purpose |
11th April | Medicine Distribution | Ecell | Subsidized medicine for life members |
25th April | Support Group Meeting | Ecell, Mumbai | Review of activities and birthday celebrations |
Mumbai Marathon January 19, 2014
The Mumbai Marathon is a big fundraiser for us. We sold 25 bibs, 15 to GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Ltd alone and another 10 bibs bought from employees of Mindshare.
Feb 1st & 2nd Econ 2014 at Kolkata
Few Samman members went to Kolkata for Econ 2014.
Dr. Pradnya Gadgil held an awareness program with the BMC education officers which was very well received.
Rural Epilepsy Clinics held in Pen:
4 Clinics were held during the year on : 9th March 2014, 1st June 2014, 24th August, 2014 and 16th November 2014 – Approx 85 patients attended each clinic where medicines were given free or at a nominal cost.
Support Group Meetings were held every 4th Saturday. Topics covered during the meetings were:
- Understanding your blood report: Carol D’Souza – Jan ‘14
- Requirements for disability certification: Kavita Shanbhag & Dr. Bina Sawant – Feb ‘14
- Sharing on the women who have inspired us : led by Carol D’Souza – March ‘14
- 22nd March ’14 – visit to Sarah Sharma’s home to celebrate her birthday.
- April ’14 – birthday celebration at Dr. Shah’s home in Vikhroli
- May 4, Minal Mahesh get married
- Meeting organized at KEM Hospital – Dr. Sangeeta Ravat & Dr. Urvashi Shah – 9th May
- Needs & issues of people with epilepsy – Christopher Fernandes – 12th July
- Hypertension, thyroid & diabetes – talk by Dr. Swati – 24th July
- Employment – Kavita Shanbhag – 23rd August
- Trip to Mani Bhavan – led by Christopher Fernandes – 13th September
- Diwali Party – 18th October
- Visit to Borivali National Park & Kanheri Caves – organized by Christopher Fernandes – November 2014
- Christmas cum new year party held on 27th December, 2014
Epilepsy Awareness Week Programs:
Christopher organized 3 epilepsy awareness camps : the first on Tuesday 18th November at Siddhivinayak Temple, Prabhadevi, this was followed by a program at the Mumbai Metro, Ghatkopar on Thursday 20th and the third one was held at Haji Ali on Friday 21st. We were given a table to display our material and our members: Ashish, Kalpesh, Kavita, Manohar, Ignatius Misquitta, Nola Shah, Yogita Lad, Gia Lad distributed calendar cards and educated people about epilepsy. On 17th Nov, Kavita tweeted Krutika’s slogan “National Epilepsy Day – Don’t be scared, Let’s Care†which was retweeted by others.
We are also proud of Shenaz who was felicitated at Shree Chitra, Trivandrum, on 17th November, for winning the Outstanding Person with Epilepsy Award and Keyur who won the runners up prize for the Badminton tournament organized by Epilepsy Foundation. Congratulations to both of them.
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Exhibiton Cum Sale: We participated in the Indus Festival of Charities Exhibition cum Sale for NGOs held at YMCS end November 2014.
During the whole year every Thursday we had Divine Soul Healing
A Divine Soul Healing Teacher Sarosh Buhariwala spends an hour or two each Thurday afternoon for Divine Soul Healing for our members.
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During the year we have:
- Given information over the phone and to visitors
- Conducted counselling
- Given special / remedial education
- Given medicines at a reduced rate
- Had Support Group Meetings on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of each month.
- Conducted Awareness Programs
- Conducted rural epilepsy camps
DETAILS OF OUR MAIN PROGRAMS
RURAL EPILEPSY CAMPS, PEN
Five rural epilepsy camps were held at Pen, Raigad district on the following dates:
- 22nd December 2013 – Lupin Laboratories brought EEG machines & technicians to this clinic.
- 6th October 2013
- 14th July 2013
- 21st April 2013
- 27th January 2013
An average of 90 patients attended each camp where medicines are given free or at a very nominal rate.
E-CON 2013 – HYDERABAD – 9th & 10th of February
12 Samman members / caregivers attended this conference.  They performed a skit at the Patients’ session. Dr. Pravina Shah gave the Presidential oration and Carol D’Souza was invited to give the Bajoria Oration. 3 days, prior to the conference, we organized sight seeing tours which covered Salarjung Museum, Nizam museum, Birla Temple, Chowmohalla Palace, Golconda fort, Zoo Park, Lumbini Park and Ramojee Film City.
Support Group Meetings
12th April 2013 – Expression of self through song poetry and dance.
27th April, 2013 – Dr. Pravina Shah reviews members blood test reports and gives prescriptions.
11th May, 2013 – Celebration at Mukesh Shah’s home
25th May, 2013 – Carol D’Souza spoke about the A of Good Health. The bodily needs of Acid-Alkaline balance, Anti-oxidants, Amino Acids, ‘A’ foods that are good for your health and ‘A’ foods that are not good for your health were explained. At the end of the session we also had games to test their knowledge.
8th June, 2013 Keyur and his family welcomed us to his residence at Lalbaug. Kunal his twin brother a yoga teacher gave us a demonstration.
22nd June, 2013 – Carol conducted the B’s of Good Health such as the importance of Blood sugar, Blood pressure, Blood clots, bacteria and some B foods good for your health i.e. Bananas, beetroot & bran
10th Aug 2013 Dr. Shah attended meeting in Shetty’s restaurant. Discussed plans for Samman.
24th Aug, 2013 Carol D’Souza did the C’s of good health
14th Sept 2013 Carol D’Souza did the DE & F of good health
28th Sept 2013 World Human Development Center Lecture organized by Keyur Vaghela
14th Dec, 2013 through the efforts of Dr. Bina Sawant, Teachers from Dr. & Master Zhi Gang Sha’s came to ECell to lay their Divine Healing Hands for soul healing for our members.
30th Dec 2013 – Christmas cum New Year Party at Sudama, Krishna Palace sponsored through donations received from Sarah Sharma
11th Jan, 2014 – Support Group meeting held at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, Andheri
8th Feb, 2014 – Carol D’Souza spoke on ‘Understanding your blood report’.
22nd Feb, 2014 – Dr. Bina Sawant and Kavita Shanbhag informed our members on how they could obtain a Disability Certificate.
8th Mar, 2014 – Being women’s day we shared about the women in our lives who have inspired us.
22nd Mar, 2014 – We first met at ECell where Sarah had sent gifts for all ECell members. After that we went to Sarah’s place on Napean Sea Road to celebrate her birthdahy..
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Diagnostic Health Camp – 9th April, 2013
- At ECell in coordination with Thyrocare we had blood testing for complete health evaluation for our members and their caregivers. The cost of the test which included Vitamin D3 and B12 along with 48 other parameters was Rs.1400/-. People with epilepsy who were members were subsidized by 50%.
Teacher Training Course Muskan Foundation 5-7th June, 2013
Muskan Foundation that works for people with disabilities organized a 3 day refresher course (5-7th June 2013) to update their teachers on changing trends, understanding of associated disorders, technology and education of children with disabilities.
Professionals from various fields were asked to conduct lectures / workshops. Samman member and Epilepsy Educator Kavita Shanbhag spoke to the teachers about Epilepsy and understanding children with convulsions and its implications to teachers and parents.
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Exhibition cum Sale at St. Joseph’s Convent – 25th August, 2013
Once again we took part in the sale for NGOs organized by the ex-students of St. Joseph’s Convent at their Alma Mater. This year too we enjoyed the event, created awareness and made a good sale.
Awareness Program at UCB Corporate Office – 16th November, 2013 : Shenaz and I were invited to UCB India to talk to their employees about epilepsy. I spoke on ‘Understanding the challenges faced by people with epilepsy and caregivers’ and Shenaz spoke about her life with epilepsy. The audience was attentive and had a lot of questions. They appreciated that Shenaz was courageous enough to share with them about her personal life.
Patient Awareness Program at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital on NED 17th November, 2013. The program titled ‘Success Despite Seizures’ was organized by a team from KDAH headed by Dr. Jayanti Mani. IEA / Samman Association was given the opportunity to talk about the work we do. We were also given a table where we gave out our brochures and spoke to other people with epilepsy.
Epilepsy Education Program for General Physicians at Fortis Hospital, Mulund on NED 17th November, 2013 – This was organized by Dr. Pravina Shah.
Conquering Epilepsy Book Launch & AGM 21st November, 2013 – First let me thank Dr. Pravina Shah for taking a lot of effort to see that this book got done in the best possible way. And I also thank the Distributors Bhalani Medical Book House and Ashish Arts who were very pleasant and cooperative to work with. As you’ll aware the book launch and AGM took place at Krishna Palace and was well attended. As mentioned earlier both IEA and Samman have benefitted financially from this deal.
Press Club Meeting – 22nd November, 2013
We also took the opportunity of the book launch to have a press conference. Dr. Pravina Shah spoke on the medical aspects, Sujatha Gopalan spoke about difficulties faced by children and Carol spoke about the book Conquering Epilepsy.
Indus Festival of Charities Exhibition cum Sale 7th December, 2013
Every year on the 1st Saturday in December the Indus Festival of Charities organizes an exhibition cum sale for NGOs. This year too we participated and enjoyed the event.
Christmas Party – 30th December 2013
We celebrated with a lunch at the Sudama restaurant at Krishna Palace Hotel. The lunch was organized with the support received through the late Sarah Sharma.
Blog ecellin.wordpress.com
Carol D’Souza continues to maintain this blog for Samman Association.
Counselling & yoga are ongoing activities.
Topics covered during support group meetings were as follows:
Date   Â
14th January         Planning for Econ 2012
28th January             Income Generation Schemes
10th February        Income Generation Schemes
24th March                 Becoming an Avon Distributor – Priti Avon Bus. Dev. Mgr.
28th April                    Dr. Pravina Shah shares her important learning experiences
26th May                     ABT Games – Kavita Shanbhag
9th June                       Sharing stories with a moral – facilitator Salil Kulkarni
23rd June                     Changing habits that don’t work for us – Carol D’Souza, Kavita Shanbhag
14th July                      Understanding epilepsy – Carol D’Souza
The Chapter was invited to raise epilepsy awareness amongst employees of the Essar Group, on 3rd February and 10th February 2012 at their offices at Mahalaxmi and Bandra Kurla complex. Carol D’Souza conducted these programs.
E-Con 2012 – 25th & 26th of February : 15 Samman members / caregivers attended this enriching and well organized conference.  For 3 days, prior to the conference, we organized sight seeing tours for our members which covered Backwater Kochi City Tour, Cherai Beach, Athirampally waterfalls, the elephant training center and a visit to Kaladi – Adi Shankara’s birth place.
BLOG: Ecellin.wordpress.com set up and managed by Carol D’Souza is regularly updated and continues to receive good feedback.
Rural Medical Clinics at Pen   Â
Camp No. | 30 | 31 |
Dates of camps | 4.3.12 | 27.5 |
Total New + follow-up | 87 | 96 |
Total Non-Epilepsy | 3 | 4 |
Total Ep. + Non-Epilepsy | 90 | 100 |
New Cases | 9 | 12 |
Follow-up ep cases | 78 | 84 |
\E-Empowerment Program : We decided to support some of our members who have active seizures. These members who travel to ECell in spite of seizures, are given a token remuneration. They make paper bags and crochet items at ECell and also help in any routine work they are capable of doing.  This program started in April 2012 and continues to date.
At our support group meetings the following topics were discussed:
8th Jan (New Year Party)
22nd Jan Reactions to different situations using role play
12th Feb Discussion on trip to Ludhiana for ECon
12th March Discussion on my relationship with God
9th April “Our Best & Worst Holidays†– All Samman Members
23rd April Guest lecture by Orthapaedic Surgeon Dr. Milind Sawant on Arthritis Prevention & Management.
14th May “Let’s Change Our Lives†by Psychologist Carol D’Souza
28th May Guest lecture by Yoga Consultant Shilpaben Joshi on “Spirituality in Daily Livingâ€
9th July Carrom Tournament
23rd July Art Becomes Therapy Session – Kavita Shanbhag
13th August Friendship Day Celebration – A sharing of the good we see in our friends at ECell. We also tied friendship bands on each other.
10th September Ganpathi Painting Competition
24th September “From Helplessness to Control†– Carol D’Souza
8th October Sale of diyas made by our members. A game that helped us know each other better conducted by Carol D’Souza
22nd October Rangoli competition
12th November Training for the dance performance for epilepsy week conducted by Divya
10th December Christmas party
Counselling and yoga continued at ECell throughout the year conducted by Carol D’Souza and Sharvari Khot respectively.
We were deeply saddened on 26th January, 2011 when our member Sydney Joseph passed away after a brief illness.
E-STAR (Epilepsy Student & Teacher Awareness Reachout)Â : We had two school awareness programs for students of 8th & 9th standards at:
Seventh Day Adventist High School, Sanpada, Navi Mumbai on 7th January 2011 &
Podar International School, Nerul, Navi Mumbai on 10th January, 2011
Uttejan – (Positive Reinforcement) the Thane Epilepsy Support Group celebrated their 1st anniversary on February 6 2011. Many of our members joined them in their celebration.
E-Con 2011, 25th & 26th of February : 13 Samman members / caregivers attended this very enriching and well organized conference where Dr. Urvashi Shah was given the Bajoria Award. Members also enjoyed the visit to the Golden Temple in Amritsar and the trip to Wagah Border.
Disability in Epilepsy -As the Amendments of the Rights of Persons with Disability Act 1995 is being taken up again, Kavita Shanbhag and Carol D’Souza attended a meeting held for this purpose at Nagpur on 22nd and 23rd March.
Rural Epilepsy Camps, Pen :Â The comprehensive epilepsy team conducted 6 epilepsy clinics at Pen as follows:
Camp No. | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
Dates of camps | 13.2.11 | 10.4 | 5.6 | 31.7 | 9.1 | Â Â Â Â 18.12 |
Total New + follow-up | 94 | 82 | 84 | 75 | 91 | 99 |
Total Non-Epilepsy | 4 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 4 |
Total Ep. + Non-Epilepsy | 98 | 83 | 88 | 81 | 96 | 103 |
New Cases | 11 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 6 |
Follow-up ep cases | 83 | 76 | 80 | 72 | 82 | 93 |
Epilepsy Training & Awareness Programs for Health Workers: Training programs for health workers from different regions of India was organized by the National Association for the Blind. On 13th June 2011, 11th July 2011 and 7th November 2011 we were invited to educate them about epilepsy management and treatment. Dr. Pravina Shah, Dr. Sushil Tandel, Kavita Shanbhag and Carol D’Souza participated in these training programs.
Abbott India Ltd invited Dr. Pravina Shah and Carol D’Souza to educate their Sales Representatives on 5th August.
During the inaugural ceremony of the International Epilepsy Congress in Rome on 28th August Dr. Pravina Shahreceived the Social Accomplishment Award. This award is given jointly by the IBE and ILAE, every two years to an individual to recognize his or her outstanding personal contribution to activities that have resulted in a significant advance in the social well being and or quality of life of people with epilepsy. The Chapter was extremely happy that Dr. Pravina Shah who is well known as a humanitarian and esteemed neurologist, received this international recognition.
Art Based Therapy (ABT) : Using art forms such as music, drama and visual arts Kavita Shanbhag conducted 30 therapeutic sessions during the months of March, April, August & September 2011. Samman members enthusiastically participated and enjoyed the ABT sessions which helped improve their self expression and reconnected them with various art forms.
Sheltered Work : From April-September 2011 we received packaging work from a toy manufacturer. 5 of our members did this work at ECell for which they were paid by the toy manufacturer.
Epilepsy Month
15th November – Press Conference held at the Press Club of Mumbai on the latest on Epilepsy Management & Treatment and achievements of the Bombay Chapter. Press articles appeared in the Indian Express, Maharashtra Times & Sakal newspapers.
16th November – Interview with Kavita Shanbhag was aired on Rainbow FM News Channel which is a Marathi channel with a large rural and urban reach in Maharashtra.
16th & 17th November – epilepsy awareness drive at Highstreet Phoenix a large and busy mall in Parel.
19th November E 40-20 celebrations 40 years of IEA and 20 years of Samman
at Hotel Krishna Palace with the theme ‘Epilepsy & Teens’ – Dr. Joy Desai spoke about challenges faced by teens; Carol D’Souza presented on Bombay Chapter’s achievements; Dr. Ravin Thatte spoke on ‘How to refuse to be unhappy’ and Samman members put up a dance performance. Achievement Awards were given to Santosh Tholar and Keyur Waghela and Caregiver of the Year award was given to Sachin Khot. Samman members felicitated Dr. Pravina Shah for receiving the Social Accomplishment award.
Tamana Jotwani who interned with us from 19th October to 19th November 2011 organized an epilepsy awareness program at her college (Jai Hind) on 1st December, 2011. Dr. Pravina Shah and Carol D’Souza participated in this program.
Exhibition cum Sale – December 6, 2011 – Once again we enjoyed participating at the Indus Festival of Charities held at YMCA Colaba.