deccanheraldarticle1

Deccan Herald Article 1

Tuesday, July 13, 2004

A vision for compassion

The Samarthanam Trust for the disabled has been striving towards helping the visually challenged to lead independent lives.

BINDU GOPAL RAO

“There is no better way to thank God for your sight than by giving a helping hand to someone in the dark”. If you believe these words by Helen Keller, then the place to visit is the Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled.

It was with very little self-confidence that the visually-impaired Rajini first came to Samarthanam. But not for long, as she slowly learnt the nuances of working with a computer and went on to complete a course in Chartered Accountancy. Today, Rajini works for the Taj Group of Hotels.

A youngster from Bellary, Vishal was in Class IX when he was diagnosed with a condition that gradually impaired his vision. A bright student, Vishal had to discontinue his studies as his teachers were unaware of schools for the visually impaired. Left with nothing else to do, he enrolled for music lessons and over the next two and half years mastered the tabla, dholak and congo. It was then that he heard about Samarthanam and came to Bangalore. In no time he resumed his education and completed the tenth standard with bright colours. He now aspires to become a software engineer.

These are but two of the many scores of success stories at the Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled. The trust that was established by three visually challenged youth in 1997, aims to provide the best facilities available for the visually impaired and physically challenged. It aims to be the place that encourages the physically challenged to become economically independent and its activities encompass education and personality development. The various services like integrated education for the disabled, computer training, placement services and cultural events have helped most of the students to become more confident and self reliant.

Presently, the Institute provides shelter to 150 disabled people in the age group of 10 to 22 years. Most of them are visually impaired and continue their education using the software, Kruzweil that converts study material to text. The Job Access With Speech (JAWS) screen reading software is then used to actually listen to the text to enable learning. The trustees also intend to establish a CD library with the computerised version of textbooks to enable easy reference for the students.

The Institute also encourages higher education (post-matriculation) and provides a free hostel for college-going physically or visually challenged girls and boys. The trust has adopted the government higher primary school at Hulimavu and has been providing basic educational aids to the students and mid-day meals.

However, it is not all work and no play for the students, as the institute promotes sports like chess and cricket.

The strength of the organisation lies in the voluntary group that has been functioning with the management team. Many of them provide reader service to our hostel students and also other visually impaired students associated with Samarthanam. They also record/ type the class notes and edit scanned materials for students.

“The most pressing need at the moment is to own the building where we are housed. The owner has offered the same to us on a priority basis and we urgently need funds for the same,” says Mahantesh, one of the founders. In order to create employment opportunities, small-scale units have been started for phenyl making and screen-printing. There are also plans to start a high school for girls for both the physically challenged and economically backward students. This will be an integrated school to ensure that the physically challenged children do not feel isolated.

Source : http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/july132004/spt8.asp