City Pulse

Kilikili: Making parks accessible for kids with special needs.

October 12, 2015 By Team ICMYC

A stray comment by her husband compelled Kavitha Krishnamoorthy to think about the lack of inclusive public play spaces in India. Her quest for answers, and research led her to start Kilikili, an organization that is attempting to create inclusive play spaces that will be accessible to all children, regardless of their ability.  Started 10 years, Kililkili is the brain and hard work behind numerous inclusive parks in Bengaluru and continues to be an inspiration to many similar-minded organizations across the nation. 


“My son suffers from a development disorder, and years ago on a visit to a park my husband, rightly pointed out, that the lack of inclusivity in these play spaces discouraged children suffering from disabilities from visiting them. That forced me into thinking for a solution for this issue,” says Kavitha. 


During her research, Kavitha and her team realised that inclusive parks were unheard of in the country.  She understood that the problem dealt with two kinds of inaccessibility faced by kids with disabilities; physical and social inaccessibility. “It was difficult for kids to go to these parks as there were no wheelchair access, railings and the like.  And, social inaccessibility compounded the issue. Parents were unsure of letting their kids out because they were scared of the kind of treatment their kids will face. These barriers had to be broken,” says the 40-year-old. 


Kavitha and her team decided to take their plan to BBMP.  “The idea was to create inclusive public spaces. We had to work with the Corporation to achieve that”


The top echelon of the BBMP, according to Kavitha, was extremely supportive. “But things slowed considerably when the blueprint reached the mid-level officials. We had to do constant follow-ups to get the ball rolling,” she adds.


The team envisioned a park that would have modified play equipment encouraging children with disabilities to use them. “We also wanted other additions like signage in braille, two basketball hoops so that those on the wheelchair could also play, among other changes,” she says. 


After months of stalling, the team finally managed to create their dream park in Coles.  “Coles Park, Fraser Town was our choice for the first project. In collaboration with the local Municipal Corporation, the play space in Coles Park was made more accessible. The park was inaugurated by the then Municipal Commissioner, BBMP,  Jairaj,” says Kavitha.


“The park had a ramp at the gate, pathways in the play area, safe swings, a wheelchair accessible sand table, a tyre tunnel,” she explains.


Following the success of Coles Park, two more projects were sanctioned in South and West Zone to be made disabled-friendly. One of them was Gayatri Devi park, Rajajinagar where a unique play structure that is completely wheelchair accessible with a ramp, a merry-go-round and a slide has been constructed, along with other inclusive equipment such as wheelchair sand tables, safe swings, a sensory integration track, a tyre tunnel and an accessible basketball pole. 


Kavitha also comprehended the need to overthrow the cloak on invisibility that children with disabilities are forced to wear. “We wanted to create more awareness and integrate these children into the mainstream society.  To achieve that we hold events every three months in our park which are open to everyone.  These events, we hope, make other kids sensitive to those with disabilities,” she adds.  


Kilikili has been functional for about 10 years now, and Kavitha points out that she has seen that she sees a huge improvement in the attitude of people towards children with developmental issues. “Many a time, during the events, we would have walkers or passerby willing to volunteer at the event out of their own volition. These actions are extremely moving and are a testimony to how far we have come as a society,” says Kavitha.


 “Since we have been operational, about 2,000 children visit our park every year. One of the most heartening things is  to see a 10-year-old child with disability visiting one of our parks for the first time in their life,” she says. 


Kilikili’s future plans include documenting their work in a manual and collaborating with the ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to make the document public. “We hope to inspire others to create inclusive play parks so that every kid gets a chance to play uninterrupted,” adds the change maker. 


To contact Kilikili, log onto http://www.kilikili.org/