APD community in Bengaluru & SERVE volunteers create SDG mural

MURAL 1

India

Founded and based in Bangalore in 1959, the Association of People with Disability (APD) is an NGO which aims to create an inclusive society where individuals with disabilities are accepted, and they can earn, live, and thrive with dignity and respect. The SERVE volunteers who worked in APD the past Summer were Ellie; an Occupational Therapy student, and Therese and Jane, both Speech and Language Therapy students. The SERVE volunteers saw how APD’s mission is being achieved through their programmes raising awareness about disabilities, providing a range of therapeutic therapies, providing education and livelihood support to people living with disabilities.

Mural created with friends and staff at Association of People with Disabilities and SERVE volunteers (2023)

How We Did It

The blog below is written by SERVE volunteers of the Overseas Programme (2023).

We first began planning our mural on the last day of our training in Cork, Ireland, just before we embarked on our journey to India. Our initial plan was to depict two hands shaking, symbolizing the unity between Ireland and India. We also wanted to incorporate handprints to emphasize inclusivity. Once we arrived at APD in India, we began looking for the perfect location for our mural. With the guidance of the principal and the art teacher at the disability integrated school in APDs main campus, we found our canvas – a wall situated at the entrance of the school. This ensured that every child and staff member would encounter our mural every day, becoming a source of inspiration and reflection.

In the evenings leading up to the day we started creating the mural, we gathered around a table in Nava Spoorthi Kendra (NSK) where we were staying, brainstorming and adding more details to our initial concept.

Alongside the two shaking hands, we decided to incorporate a tree, symbolizing the disability integrated school. The leaves of the tree would be formed by the handprints of the students and staff, showcasing their unity and diversity.

We also chose to highlight SDGs that we felt were integral to APD’s work – quality education, good health and wellbeing, gender equality, and reduced inequality. On the bottom of the mural, we drew people with varying disabilities.

It was a real highlight of our entire time in India experiencing the excitement and camaraderie among the students, each with varying disabilities helping one another paint each other hands and getting to leave their handprint up on the wall.

Above the mural, we included a quote that would serve as a daily reminder to every student: “There is ability in every disability.” We felt it encapsulated the essence of APD’s mission – to recognize and nurture the potential within each individual.

On our first day of creating the mural, all of our 8 volunteers took part, including those who were working in our partner organization, Sumanahalli as we did this on a weekend. We sourced our paint locally, and with the assistance of the art teacher and a bus driver from APD who had a keen interest in art, we began sketching and painting the initial design.

We completed a lot of our work on that first day with everyone’s help however, one challenge we faced was finding time to continue working on it and complete it as the wall was situated in a busy location to work on during the school day. So the SERVE volunteers working in APD; Ellie, Therese, and Jane, stayed after work on numerous nights to continue painting and sketching ones school was finished.

On our second last day in India, we arranged a special session with the art teacher and the students of the school to complete the mural. Ellie, Therese and Jane spent the afternoon painting the students’ hands and printing them on the wall.

It was a real highlight of our entire time in India experiencing the excitement and camaraderie among the students, each with varying disabilities helping one another paint each other hands and getting to leave their handprint up on the wall. They not only added vibrant colours to the mural but also demonstrated the unity among all the students.

Our Goals

As volunteers, we aimed to emphasize the inclusivity, symbolized by the collaborative handprints that would make up the vibrant tree at the mural’s core. By involving the students and staff at APD we wanted to highlight the unity that APD envisions and create a symbol that celebrated their inclusivity. We also wanted to show our appreciation for APD’s dedication to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and provide a daily source of inspiration with our chosen quote, “there is ability in every disability.” We wanted to created a mural that would bring a little joy and colour to everyone’s day as they passed by walking to their class.

The response from the students and staff in APD was very positive. The mural’s vibrant colour and design was appreciated by everyone. By involving everyone in taking part in creating the mural also provided a little sense of pride in everyone themselves and was a very happy activity for everyone to get involved with. A few asked us about the SGDs while we were painting the mural, which gave us the opportunity to explain to those who weren’t aware about APD’s commitment to a number of the SDGs and discuss the ones we were including on the mural. The positive comments we received while working on the mural were really reaffirming and we always really appreciated it.

We hope that the mural will serve as a daily reminder to everyone at APD when they walk through the door into the school that there is potential within each individual regardless of their disability. It will serve as a reminder of the unity of the integrated school and a tribute to APD’s incredible work towards the SDGs. We hope it will bring a little happiness as they will remember the day they were part of its creation and search for their own handprint on the wall.

I think creating our mural brought our SERVE group closer together. It allowed us to reflect on our time and experiences at APD, deepening our understanding of the organisation’s impact on the lives of people with disabilities. Painting the students’ handprints was definitely an unforgettable happy experience that will remain in our memories.

A few asked us about the SGDs while we were painting the mural, which gave us the opportunity to explain to those who weren’t aware about APD’s commitment to a number of the SDGs and discuss the ones we were including on the mural.