After attending reading sessions for a year, a visually-impaired student of Government High School in Poonamalle scored 960 in his class 12 board examination.

This was an eye-opener for S.N. Barath. He now realised that a little help could go a long way in helping such students. In 2012, he joined with a few of his colleagues and started Lit the Light, a volunteer-driven organisation that offers scribe service and reading sessions for the visually-impaired students in schools and colleges.

“I started with just one student. The results of the reading session were very encouraging. When the student scored high marks in the board exam I knew I had to take my effort to the next level. Along with my friends, Ramkumar, Ravikanth and Adhiyan, I conducted reading sessions for 11 more students in the same school,” says Barath, about the beginning of the organisation, which is based out of Porur.

The initiative received a shot in the arm, when the school secured cent percent result that year. The news spread by word of mouth, says Barath, and slowly lot of college students started approaching them for help. “Some 400 volunteers scribed for the visually-impaired in this year’s annual exam,” the team says, adding that it is still not easy to get people to scribe on weekdays.

The organisation regularly arranges volunteers for colleges such as QMC, Presidency, Loyola and others. Their reading sessions are not limited to studying. It is a time to identify talent as well. “We conducted Chennai district level cricket tournament (Blindfold Cricket Tournament-2014) for the visually impaired. We have also organised other sports events such as volleyball and athletics. Ramesh, the only visually-impaired player from Tamil Nadu, represented India in the Blind Cricket world cup last year at South Africa. We helped him get sponsors and also presented him with playing kit. In January this year, we felicitated Ramesh, who was a part of the winning team along with other visually-impaired achievers,” they add.

The team also helps their students get jobs. “Twenty-five of our students have been placed. We are always ready to provide them with job assistance,” says Barath.

All working IT professionals, members of Lit the Light are looking for more volunteers to help them out in this free service. Reading sessions are conducted every weekend at Government School in Poonamallee.

To join the team, call 98949 49878/ 80562 07601

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-downtown/techies-take-time-out-to-serve-as-scribes/article7828010.ece