In finding answers to these questions is the way to understanding the ethos of Arushi.
Arushi grew as an idea, not as an organization. Our approach to helping the disabled is to take innovative ideas and run with them first and worry about the budget and project report later. We do our feasibility studies through implementation. While long term plans and studies have their own place, at Arushi we believe in diving into the deep end of doing. Arushi was and will remain a movement that was willing to accept new things and eager to innovate without fear.
We learned early on that in working with the disabled, professionals can’t fill the gap. Volunteers with drive and passion who shared our vision were and remain pivotal at Arushi. Perhaps this is the reason we are ‘Volunteer Lead’ and have a deep bond with people who kept joining us organically, often bringing their friends along, too. We look for heart, not qualifications and hierarchy and red-tape has to be checked in at the door. And then, we give them the keys to the house. If volunteers want to teach kathak to children who can’t hear the music, we say yes. If they suggest participating in a marathon, all we do is say yes and before we know it, our volunteers have managed all the formalities and logistics for us. If they had to pay for any of this or the time and skills our volunteers pour into their work, nothing would have been possible.
Also, Arushi is one of few organisations that welcomes people with disabilities across the whole spectrum. We see people who we can help, and we go ahead and do just that, growing our capacities to meet their needs as we go along.
However, the most important part of our approach is to take the disabled out of ‘special homes’ and bring them into the mainstream. Hence, the cricket, excursions and kathak. These interactions with the world at large throw up the underlying issues is attitudes and perceptions of both the society as well as the disabled person and their caregivers. In solving these challenges, we find our goals.
