32-year-old Santosh hails from Bangalore, Karnataka. Despite his low vision, he finished Class XII from a mainstream school. As he prepared for higher education, he was advised to undergo a surgery that could improve his eyesight. The reverse happened, and Santosh went completely blind. This forced him to drop his studies and confine himself to his home. He sat depressed and idle for eight years. 

The Eyeway helpline was set up in response to a flurry of calls from people across the country, sharing their respective challenges due to vision impairment. Callers asked us about ways to restart their education, how to secure a job, what provisions were available for their social security, ways of operating a phone or a computer and so on.

Sharing information and guiding them to lead independent lives despite blindness, established a credibility for the Eyeway team among the community. Often beneficiaries would spread the word, channeling new clients to us.