Mental Retardation knows no national boundaries
That is why Lebenshilfe, the then West Germany gave initial support to start Lebenshilfe, Visakhapatnam in India. The German Lebenshilfe was founded in 1958 by Mr. Tom Mutters, a Dutchman with 15 parent-members.
In German 'Leben' means Life and 'Hilfe' means Help. Lebenshilfe thus means Life Help. Lebenshilfe, Visakhapatnam was founded in 1980, by Mrs. Saraswathi Devi Tallapragada (Sarah), a Special Educationist (USA) and an Intensive-In-service trainee of Lebenshilfe, Germany in the field of Mental Retardation. This institution was inaugurated by Tom Mutters with 12 Mentally Handicapped children as a private, voluntary and non-profitable organization. It is presently involved in imparting training to 415 mentally handicapped people of all kinds with different ages(age range 2-50 years) hailing from poorer sections of the society.
One hundred and fourteen dedicated staff is working with a greater commitment to transform their in-hidden abilities into meaningful skills which help them to command a life in the community with the same human dignity. This 28 year old service-oriented institution is situated in a building generously allocated by the Municipal Corporation, Visakhapatnam at M.V.P. Colony located on the sea shore and opposite to Lumbini Park.
Our Mission
To convert the mentally handicapped into useful contributors of the society.Main Objective
To enrich the lives of people with intellectual disabilities hailing from poorer sections of the society in order to enhance human dignity, human respect, human values, quality of life and possibilities creation for independent living.AIMS
- Promotion of mentally handicapped welfare, vocational skills acquisition & mainstreaming.- Empowering the parents and families to enable them face the challenging situations.
- Equipping the staff with update knowledge through workshops, seminars, roundtables and conferences with overseas experts.
- Involving charitable organizations to support Lebenshilfe’s humanitarian activity to build up their lives meaningfully.
- Inviting individual donors to become Goodwill Guardians by adopting mentally handicapped people to give them a life with reasonable quality.
- Undertaking research projects and partnerships with international organizations.
- Accepting internships for international students for 1-4 weeks stay for learning and sharing.
- Awareness creation among the members of the contemporary society using Tom Mutters Theatre by presenting various cultural programs basing on Indian culture and traditions.
- To organize exhibitions to display the products prepared by intellectually disabled people of Lebenshilfe.
- Services to the elderly with mental retardation.
