By Matters India Reporter
Secunderabad, September 1, 2019: The Catholic Health Association of India (CHAI) in partnership with the Liliane Fonds (LF) of Netherlands organized the Mary Glowrey Liliane Brekelmans (MGLB) 2019 Disability Award.
The awards are instituted to honor exemplary work in the field of disability by individuals and organizations, said CHAI director general Father Mathew Abraham.
The August 29 award function was held at the CHAI Training Center, Secunderabad, in conjunction with satellite events to advocate the cause of the disability, including a national consultative workshop and resource mobilization training for partner organizations of the project.
CHAI in partnership with LF has empowered over 33,000 children and youth living with disability in the past 25 years. To mark this occasion and the platinum jubilee of CHAI in reaching the unreached since 1943, CHAI and LF instituted the MGLB awards.
CHAI is the Catholic Church’s premier healthcare organization in India. Sister Mary Glowrey, an Australian doctor founded it in 1943.
The awards are instituted in two categories; for individuals and for organizations who are role models in the field of disability. The awards are instituted separately for nominees from CHAI network and from outside the CHAI network.
Nominations were invited through the website www.chaiawards.org from across the nation – for organizations and individuals. More than 100 nominations were received across the four categories for a cumulative prize amount of 600,000 rupees.
The prizes were awarded in the individual category to Badugu Subbayamma from CHAI network and Doctor Satendra Singh from outside CHAI network. The prizes were given away in the institutional category to Kottayam Social Service Society from CHAI network and Enable India from outside the CHAI network.
CHAI president Jesus, Mary and Joseph Sister Victoria Narisetti, opened the award function. The event was graced by dignitaries including Balalatha, member of the Indian Defense Services and a renowned trainer for civil services aspirants, Steven Hendrik Berdenis van Berlekom, executive director, LF and Frank Bron, organizational development advisor, LF.
A spectrum of disability stakeholders was present, including nationwide experts from disability organizations, partners from the disability program, individuals and children living with disability and disability advocates from across the country.
The award ceremony was interspersed with spirited song and dance performances by children and youth with disabilities.
The ceremony closed with a vote of thanks from the CHAI director general with a renewed vigor and enthusiasm to work towards the cause of disability among all participants.
“CHAI has been working in the area of Disability for over 25 years. The MGLB Awards and the advocacy workshop are significant milestones in this journey as we look to a future with greater reach and accessibility,” Father Abraham said.
“With our mandate of ‘Leaving No One Behind,’ CHAI and its partners will continue to work in this area with renewed vigor and greater strength,” said Father Abraham.
CHAI is one of the largest pan Indian healthcare networks in the country after the government, consisting of 3,521 member institutions: 1,409 dispensaries, 913 health centers, and 928 hospitals – with more than 50,000 beds, 210 disability rehabilitation centers, and 90 holistic care centers for PLHIV (persons living with HIV).
Over 92 percent of CHAI members are headed by Sister Doctors/Nurses/Social Workers and 84 percent serve in the medically undeserved areas.
They operate under 11 regional units across India. CHAI members extend medical care to over 21 million persons in a year – with a team of 1000 Sister-Doctors; 25,000 Sister-Nurses; 10,000 plus Sister-paraprofessionals, around 40,000 Sister/Priest Social Workers and a huge number of lay employees.