Graham Bell Centre for the Deaf

Graham Bell Centre for the Deaf (GBCD), a non-governmental organization, was founded in 1991 in Pandua, West Bengal by a group of young and enthusiastic people of the area. We currently support  GBCD to implement project SWANIRMAN, a project for providing training and increasing the awareness of deaf children and their parents to empower them to make decisions for themselves.  


The project aims to:

  • Identify deaf children at an early stage to promote their social and educational inclusion
  • Work with local Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) workers who provide pre-school support to children ensuring that deaf children have fair access to social services
  • Provide training to parents to improve communication and allow parents to support their children's studies 
  • Train teachers in communication and good classroom management techniques
  • Provide specific training on deafness for Community Based Rehabilitation workers to maximise effectiveness of their weekly visits to the homes of deaf children
Boy wearing hearing aids © Deaf Child Worldwide