Daily activities

Divya Jyoti is a centre of knowledge allowing students with mental retardation and other development disabilities to acquire more socio-economical independence. So every activity aims at sharing and transmitting specific knowledge required for everyday life and prepares them for a vocation or a career, always taking into consideration the student's specific needs and abilities.

Everyday tasks consist in all the activities needed for the centre to correctly run, just like in a family home: cleaning, cooking, washing dishes, shopping... these tasks are fulfilled by students who volunteered and according to their physical abilities. Solidarity is at the heart of Divya Jyoti's philosophy and values and this way of functioning allows everyone to participate and feel they are useful to the group.

Exercise: students physically capable of following this morning activity enjoy stretching and undertaking a bit of workout.... It also teaches them different parts of the bodies and helps them to discover and become conscious of their body.

General teaching for everyday life: According to the students' needs and abilities, they are taught basic hygiene gestures such a teeth brushing and hand cleaning, basic and indispensable vocabulary (parts of the body, their name and address...), elementary knowledge such as reading, writing and counting (and recognising the value of coins and notes), recognising items such as fruit and vegetables... All these activities help the students to acquire more autonomy and responsibility in their lives.

Handicraft : One of Divya Jyoti's main activities is to produce handicraft, a way to teach the students a vocation or a job and to ensure a small income to the most productive students. We have at heart to pay the students in order to contribute to their financial autonomy and acknowledge their work and know-how.

Each step of the handicraft production is given to a student according to his or her abilities or know-how and is supervised by the special educators who teach and help them through the process. The students learn various techniques such as sewing, batik making, stitching, drawing, tie-dying...

Other activities are proposed according to Divya Jyoti's financial situation and the volunteers’ skills. Students sometimes follow music lessons or yoga, painting, singing, circus arts...