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Tutu and the late Theo were no strangers to challenges: Theo had Polio and Tutu has Cerebral Palsy. They could therefore relate closely to the problems of the mentally disabled and build a rapport with them. Their work has been successful, and many individuals who were once looked upon as a burden to their families have returned home rehabilitated, and renewed with fresh direction in their lives.

Under their encouragement and guidance, the mentally disabled have proved themselves capable of rising above the challenges of their conditions, and have been successfully taking on various types of activities including cooking, handling machinery such as electric pumps, power tillers and the like. They are now capable, responsible and disciplined individuals.

The Institute is agro-based, and follows guidelines laid down by Dr. K.C. Marfatia, the former head of the Department of Psychiatry of the J.J. Group of Hospitals in Mumbai, who believed that the mentally disabled could best be rehabilitated at a sylvan environment such as a farm. The Institute has been built on a fourteen acre plot of land, which is designed to sustain itself to some extent on its farming activities.