Twenty-six-year-old Kush Verma has many aspirations. After an oxygen overdose at birth left him blind, his wealthy parents from Ahmedabad, Gujarat tried everything in their reach but didn’t succeed in restoring his vision. With no awareness on raising a blind child, they confined Kush to home till he turned ten.

A resident of Ernakulum district of Kerala, 27-year-old Amitha was diagnosed with a degenerative eye condition in Class 5. At school; she mostly occupied the front seat in her classroom to have clearer access to the blackboard for reading. Despite facing challenges while studying in a mainstream school, Amitha with the support of her family went on to complete her Master’s degree in English. She even cleared the UGC’s National Eligibility Test (NET), becoming eligible for an Assistant Professor’s post. Unfortunately, she was not selected by the college where she applied for a job.

Blind by birth, 23 -year-old Vinayak from Karnataka has braved many odds to compete in the upcoming Common Entrance Test (CET), so he can pursue his dream of becoming a Biotechnology Engineer. He relied on his friends to read and research study material for his preparation.

When coronavirus pandemic hit, 26- year old Babloo Kumar worked as a call center executive in Delhi. He enjoyed living independently and paying for his expenses with the monthly remuneration he earned.  This included visiting banks and withdrawing money from an ATM when needed.

18-year-old Tirupati was born in Andhra Pradesh to poor parents. At an early age of 3, he lost his vision to an unknown medical condition. Lack of awareness on blindness and ways to raise a blind child, Tirupati’s childhood was a challenging one.

It was only after his family migrated to Maharashtra for work, Tirupati was admitted in a hostel for blind boys where he learnt mobility skills. After studying in the school till Class 6, he was then put into an inclusive school.

Through his school years, he learnt to operate computers with the help of screen reading software.

Forty-year-old Gangadharappa lives in Chikkaballapur district of Karnataka. He worked as an Assistant Manager in a garment factory for fifteen years before a road accident in 2015 resulted in his vision loss.  This life-changing event left him unemployed and devastated. He struggled to come to terms with his loss of sight and remained confined at home for the next three years.

As Covid-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc across the country, the blind community continues to be the worst hit. With social distancing becoming mandatory to contain the deadly virus, blind people are forced to stay at home. This means that many of them, who previously worked in the unorganized sector have now lost their source of income.
 

64-year old Bhasker from Bangalore was gradually losing his vision due to Retinitis Pigmentosa.  By the time he retired from the State Electronic Development Corporation in 2015, he could barely see. After undergoing a cataract surgery in 2016, he was able to move around a little on his own. Heavily dependent on his family for assistance, Bhasker now missed reading the newspaper in the morning, a habit he had cherished for many years.

A radio promo about Eyeway Helpdesk made 29 years old Vijay Pathak call our toll free number in the month of January. He was seeking information on employment opportunities for people with vision impairment. Having passed class 10 through open schooling, Vijay had been working for many years with a packaging company. The commute to his workplace was a long one and he was barely getting paid for it.