Mission

While working in the National Capital Region, Gurgaon, Dr. Narender Sharma, a clinical psychologist, was moved to see the plight of intellectually disabled children from remote areas of the Himalayas. They did not have any kind of professional support in their rural communities/region and their parents were too poor or ignorant or scared to send their kids to big cities. Dr. Sharma made the biggest decision of his life. He quit his cozy job in the metropolis and started Sahyog Schools for disabled children in the rural Himalayas in 1997 with five children.

Since then, his efforts have changed lives of over 2,000 children through Sahyog’s residential and home-based programs. However, there are thousands more disabled children in the region, who need professional care and support. Dr. Sharma’s dream is to reach out to these left out less fortunate children.

As the awareness about intellectual disability grows up among people, the demand for support services have arisen astronomically. However, there is still hardly any infrastructure and professional staff available in these rural areas. The governments are not in a position of meeting their specialized needs and the nonprofit sector is still very weak in this specialized field. In a small state, Himachal Pradesh, thousands of intellectually disabled children are still living marginalized and neglected. Even in urban areas, the situation is grim, as there is only one special educator per 7 schools here.

In recent years, Sahyog has not only expanded its operations for intellectually challenged people, but has also started a Half-Way Home for adults who are recovering from mental illness as well as has also opened up a Women Shelter Home.