Do you remember the first time your child scribbled or drew something on paper? Have you saved that piece of paper like a great treasure? I am a very “sentimotional” person (that’s double the dose of sentimental and emotional.) I too had big plans of treasuring all the little creations by babyT. But mommying is hard and down the line, I just could not keep track of those pieces of paper. I tried taking pictures of them, but they were all over the place in my phone’s picture gallery. I then heard of Plowns – an online platform for parents ( and children) to share their creative works in picture format.
The Plowns tool works via an app on Android. Once you have registered, you can upload your child’s art or essays in picture format under various categories such as Paintings/ Drawings, Craft Works, Writings, Achievements and more. These pictures can be viewed by any other Plowns user and they can also “Star” them to show that they like it or leave a comment on the image. You can also share the images with your friends and family. It’s like a social media tool exclusively to showcase your child’s creative works. How cool is that?
What makes Plowns special is also their association with the Inclusive India initiative. The Inclusive India initiative has been launched by the current Government of India to include differently abled people in the fields of education, employment and wider society. Launched in June 2017, the “initiative is an attempt to facilitate the realization of equal opportunities, protection of rights and full participation of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities into the fabric of society. ” (ET: June 7, 2017)
The long term goal of such an initiative is that we will have a society where people with “Intellectual Disabilities and their families are valued and can participate equally and all persons with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (PwIDDs) can live an independent and dignified life with equal participation in all activities of the society.”
With this view in mind the Inclusive India initiative has these 3 pillars as its foundation:
- Inclusive Education
- Inclusive Employment
- Inclusive Community Life
What does Plowns do for the #InclusiveIndia initiative?
For starters, Plowns has been the web partner to the Inclusive India team and has helped set up their online presence. Plowns also is an initiative partner. Via their app, they organize monthly art competitions for all their subscribers. The topics are wide and give ample opportunities to the children to showcase their talents. The idea is to include all children irrespective of their physical and mental abilities.
A positive step has been taken by the government with the Inclusive India initiative. Slowly and surely with the help of businesses and organizations like Plowns, a change will come about in our society where people of all skills, abilities, and gifts will come together and work as one.
