DILKHUSH SPECIAL SCHOOL

Dilkhush Special School is a school for children with intellectual challenges and special needs age from 6 to 18. The school was opened by the sisters of Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 1971. It is located in Juhu, Mumbai near the Juhu Beach. Dilkhush Special School is the very first and only school existed in Mumbai for the children with special needs at the time of its opening.

The first time I learned about Dilkhush was through my Japanese friends because the school and the church have fostered a relationship with a Japanese community in Mumbai for some time. I believe that this relationship started because of a Japanese sister, Keiko, also known as Sister Asunta in her church community. Sister Keiko was one of the sisters who helped make Dilkhush Special School. If you would like to know more about the school, please visit the Dilkhush Special School’s website.

DONATION & PRODUCTS BY DILKHUSH SPECIAL SCHOOL

There are two reasons why I came to learn about Dilkhush Special School and Sister Keiko. One is that Dilkhush Special School accepts any type of donation and I was looking for a place to send some of the items that my family no longer needed. I found it hard to find a place to send donation in Mumbai before learning about Dilkhush Speicial School. Many Japanese expats have sent second hand items to the school, so I felt comfortable doing so.

Another reason is because some of my friends have volunteered to sell products made at the Dilkhush Special School workshop at various bazaars. The school has a sheltered workshop where intellectually challenged adults make products. This workshop started as a vocational center in 1975 and was converted into today’s format in 1981. You can read about their workshop here.

NEED A PLACE TO SEND YOUR ITEMS?

When you move from one place to another, you end up with a lot of items that you don’t need to take with you to your new home. I’m sure every expat experiences this every time he/she moves. If you are in Mumbai and have items that you no longer need and are in good shape, you might want to take them to Dilkhush Special School.

Please contact the school for details and arrangement. I was told that you can donate pretty much anything. However, this may not stay the same forever, so I think it is safe to ask them before bringing your donation. One time I asked Sister Keiko if there was anything that they would not be able to make use of and the answer was that high heel shoes and sandals and bikinis. That makes sense.

Dilkhush Special School
Juhu Tara Road
Mumbai 400 049

When I looked up Dilkhush Special School on Google, it is marked on the wrong place. It is located across the street from Ramada Plaza Palm Grove Hotel. It’s in the south of JW Marriott Juhu which is on the same street, but on the opposite side. On Google Map, Dilkhush is listed as “Center of Special Education”.
TEL +91-22-2615 1304
Email info@dilkhush.org, dilkhushjuhu@yahoo.com

DAYCARE AT DILKHUSH

There is a daycare for moms in neighborhood slums so that they can go to work.

Dilkhush Special School has been visited by some famous Bollywood stars such as Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar and Twinkle Khanna.

SISTER KEIKO

I had a pleasure of getting to know Sister Keiko towards the end of my time in Mumbai. Sister Keiko moved to Mumbai almost 40 years ago and dedicated a half of her life there. When I met with Sister Keiko for the last time, she told me that she would probably have to leave Mumbai in the fall around October or November in 2016 because the working permit situation for foreigners in positions like hers in India changed and she could no longer extend her stay. Therefore, she was moving back to Japan after 40 years! Having gone through a transition in the recent past myself, I can’t imagine what would be like for her to leave Mumbai and go back to Japan after so many years. I hope she’s doing well and wish her the best in a new chapter of her life.