Partnerships Amplify Efforts Toward Inclusion in India

Partnership is an amplifier.  It multiplies possibilities, stirs creativity, pools talents, and makes us able to accomplish more than any of us ever could on our own. It can also humble us, makes us flex and bend, and can prevent us from narrowing our vision. When it comes to serving vulnerable people, partnership has a deeper level of meaning and impact. Partnership is only as valuable as the direct and indirect influence it has on the lives of people we wish to benefit.

Our first two weeks after opening our office in New Dehli has been full of new experiences, connections, and re-connections.  This week marks a much-anticipated planning retreat to be held over the next three days with The Hans Foundation leadership and program staff, and Keystone leaders.   In it, it is our intention to amplify the unique synergy and shared values that have drawn us together from our first meeting over 2 years ago.  Through our work in January traveling across India with THF staff talking with and listening to people with disability and their families and advocates, to our work studying the less formal community-grounded supports in the Republic of Moldova alongside THF staff, we have each grown from our work together. It is time to translate that growth into action.

Now is the time that we must turn our attention towards our combined impacts on people with disabilities and those who care about and for them. Our gathering begins tomorrow, and extends over the next three days. It is our intention to strengthen our commitment to our shared initiative, expand our vision, and think with clarity about the ways our work will impact some of India’s most vulnerable people.  Partnership has a payoff, and it matters.

Keystone Institute India is a national educational institute on disability, community, and innovation, strengthening the inclusion of people with disabilities in India. Formed in partnership with The Hans Foundation, this national institute exists to provide training and consultation related to the creation of responsive community supports for men, women, and children living in India with disability. It focuses on supporting individualized alternatives to congregate care and institutionalization. For more information about Keystone Institute India, visit www.keystoneinstituteindia.org.