An idea is a seed that first happens before any action. It took me some years to make my dream come true. And this is exactly how the seed of Tamahar was sown. ~Mrs. Vaishali Pai, Founder-Director, Tamahar Trust
Our Founder-Director Mrs Vaishali Pai
We completed 11 years this year, in January, just before the pandemic hit the world, we celebrated our 10 years, Dashanjali, a celebration of ten years of hard work, persistence, learning, and a never-give-up attitude. It was also an occasion for us to recognize the relations we’ve built over the years and an opportunity for us to forge new bonds
as we grow our Tamahar family. As we have begun our 12th year of working toward a better life for children with special needs and their families, we’re going on a small flashback to our humble beginning.
Our journey began in the year 2009 with just 1 program having 4 children, 1 employee, Tripti BG, and 1 friend, Sree Rao, who was hell-bent to help our Founder-Director, Mrs. Vaishali Pai succeed.
Our first employee and now, the COO of Tamahar Trust, Mrs. Tripti BG
From then to now, we’ve grown organically, through word of mouth and referrals. At 45+ employees across programs and operations teams, we stand strong as a family committed to ensuring the best for our children.
A session in progress at Tamahar Trust
A mission to empower as many children with special needs and their families as humanly possible.
Our staff who are our life force
This we do through our strong workforce – a group of almost all-women whom we hired simply because they had in them, the passion to learn and contribute meaningfully while carving a better future for themselves. So, apart from formally qualified professionals especially in physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and mental health spaces, occupational therapy, and mental health spaces,
we also employed women who had a high emotional quotient which held an extremely important place for us, over and above their formal educational qualifications. We were also looking for those women who were passionate about creating a better future for themselves and their families, had within them, an immense love for children, and caring nature. This we say with pride, we have managed to skill women who would have otherwise continued to do unskilled jobs and created job opportunities improving the lives of at least 40 families.
We have not restricted our training to just our staff but have ventured into awareness and advocacy programs as well. Mrs. Vaishali Pai and our COO Mrs. Tripti BG have taken the building blocks of the programs at Tamahar to various parts of the state as well as a few programs in other parts of the country. This has helped us train more individuals and organizations in the areas of special needs and disabilities.
Our children’s families are an integral part of our programs at Tamahar
As more children came in, the number of programs increased and we began services for parents as well, recognizing their individual needs separate from their child and the needs of the family to understand the child. In time, we found passionate partners to provide various therapies to our children and parents too. We think the best thing we did with Tamahar was that we never stopped
searching for more, for better. We have always strived for excellence, to be the best service provider possible for our beneficiaries, never afraid to take risks, sometimes when we were not sure where the next salaries would come from.
We are proud to say that Tamahar has come to be a nurturer not just for families, but for the employees too. Learning is in our DNA and each one of us is striving to be better in our individual way, and it all boils down to one thing – how can I help my children and parents better? They are at the core and WE are BECAUSE of them and FOR them! The road ahead is filled with more opportunities to make a difference.
After having taken the last year slow for a moment and basking in the warmth and success of the decade gone by, we catch our breath, and right after, we charge ahead, not letting COVID-19 dampen our spirits. There is much to be done. Bridging the demand-supply gap by creating more resources and contributing to the collective knowledge of the sector through research and training, creating more service opportunities.
“There are miles to go before I sleep, there are miles to go before I sleep.”
