Changing Lives: The Positive Impact of Battle for Blindness Foundation on Visually Impaired Girls
“Empowering visually impaired girls through sustainable education and resources.”
The inception of the Battle for Blindness Foundation
In 2020, India was grappling with an intense wave of Coronavirus pandemic and the whole nation was under house arrest. As an army person, my duty was sanctioned in the Jammu division, India. Somehow, I managed to travel to Delhi and took shelter at my brother’s house. But, for blind people, there was no shelter. I witnessed a blind couple begging for alms in front of closed shutters. There were no people around that area. They didn’t know that there was a lock down In India. However, I managed to take them to the nearest hospital for treatment of their wounds and gave them food to eat.
………Quoted by Founder of Battle for Blindness Foundation, Dileep Kumar, Ex-Indian Army.
Eventually, I need a person that can support me with operations and recruitment work. I was busy channelizing various sources to get funds for my NGO. Ram Kumar Vats, joined as the director of our NGO. He really worked hard to visit rural areas of Indian states to know the apathy of blind people. He tried to understand the real problems of blind people. Ultimately, he found that lack of knowledge and training is the real hindrance to their growth.
Gradually, we have found blind girls are living in more pathetic and inhuman conditions. They are living under dual curses as being a girl and as being blind. The begging mafias can exploit them in the name of giving jobs and they can’t resist their harassment. So, for the last 2 years, we are primarily focusing on empowering visually impaired girls.
The mission of the Battle for Blindness Foundation
Last two years, we have witnessed many blind girls living in pitiable conditions. Parents think visually impaired girls are a burden for them. Sometimes, they exit their houses and they have no option left but to beg for their livelihood. Mostly, they broke internally due to extreme sexual, physical, and mental exploitation by the beggar mafia.
At that very point, we convinced their parents that they can do all sorts of work as normal-sighted persons can do. Upon continuous requests, they gave their guardianship to our NGO. Now, under the shelter of the ‘Battle for Blindness Foundation’, they are flourishing by leaps and bounds. We have given them Braille slates, walking canes, software for working on PC, and sports equipment. We also train them on how to qualify for government jobs under the visually impaired quotas. Some of them qualified too. This fuels our inspiration and vision on the acme and will accomplish our long-lasting dream to empower the highest number of visually impaired girls in India.
Next five years, our mission is to gather approx. 500 visually impaired girls under the shelter of ‘Battle for Blindness Foundation’ to nurture, thrive, and achieve their dreams.
Ongoing Projects for Visually Impaired Girls
Food and Shelter under one roof
According to an estimate, there are around 15 million blind women and girls in India. Out of them, only 5% of them can earn their livelihood. Rest 95% of blind women are compelled to beg for their livelihood. Food and shelter are the two prime elements, ‘Battle for blindness foundation’ has been facilitating for them. Lack of knowledge and awareness left them no option but to beg for their daily needs. Once they have a place for food and shelter, they can think of their career and life. We also provide rehabilitation for abandoned and exploited girls at our center. We provide a safe and secure environment to visually impaired girls with all the basic amenities. Donate to visually impaired girls so that they can live in a safe environment under the canopy of the ‘Battle for blindness foundation’. Sponsor one blind girl whole moth grocery kit by generously donating to our campaign.
Walking canes – an eye for the blind girls
“Being able to move through your environment and go places without having to rely on a sighted person is extremely important to someone’s independence and empowerment.” Quoted by Erin Fitzpatrick, supervisor of Orientation and Mobility Services at the Lighthouse for the Blind, Seattle, USA. Walking canes or white canes are the ultimate support for blind people to roam their surroundings without the help of a sighted person. At the ‘Battle for Blindness foundation’, we train visually impaired girls on how to use walking canes in busy streets and markets. Walking canes gives them a feeling of empowerment. Let’s enhance their empowerment by donating a walking cane for one visually impaired girl.
Scholarships, training, and retaining Govt. posts
You must know the amazing facts! The first blind school was established at Amritsar in 1887. From 1887 to 2023, in 136 years, only 50 blind schools have been established so far! However, blind girls are highly inaccessible for it because most of the blind schools are fully occupied by the male blinds. According to an estimate, 65% of blind women expressed their interest in learning vocational courses and 47% of them feel they require career counseling and guidance.
Battle for Blindness Foundation understands these issues and works on a war front to provide all the facilities to them. We hire trained professionals to train them for central and state Govt. exams under visually impaired girls. You can also volunteer as a teacher to guide them on how to succeed in top Govt. exams. We are also providing govt. and private scholarships for them to succeed in their life dreams. Under our guidance, some of the brilliant blind girls succeeded in the top govt. exams and many are in the process of achieving it.
Our renowned coaches give excellent training to blind girls so that they achieve excellence in sports. We are providing sports facilities for football, cricket, badminton, table tennis, kabaddi, and other sports. They like to participate in recreational activities and some of them want to follow their hobby as a profession. Some visually impaired girls achieved excellence at national and international levels. Your smallest to smallest contribution can change their life. So, contribute for the visually impaired girls to fulfill their dreams.
Braille slates – a first step towards blind-education
Braille slates are a tactile method of reading where each letter or number is represented with a series of dots. Readers can use their fingers to feel the raised bumps that represent a letter. The average Braille reader can read 124 words a minute. When blind people want to write they can use a Braille stylus to create indentations within each rectangle. Now, the Braille comes in various sizes from the size of your pocket to the size of a desktop.
Braille slates and stylus are the first step toward achieving ABC of education. As sighted persons start their journey from the alphabet, they start their journey with Braille slates. Braille slates and stylus can change their life. With the lack of awareness, they are termed illiterate. Without Braille slates, they can’t qualify for any exams. These are stepping stones that can change their motto of life. Visually impaired people can do any work with the help of adequate resources. Donate Braille slates for one visually impaired girl in her first step toward sustainable education.
Weighing machine – an alternative livelihood for the poor blind people
Besides visually impaired girls, the ‘Battle for Blindness Foundation’ pledged itself to initiate the end of begging from blind people. You can find many poor blind people begging for their livelihood. They are illiterate and they don’t know any govt. schemes. They are helpless, disappointed, frustrated, and abandoned people from their families. They lost all hope in life. Sometimes, they don’t want to live their life. We surveyed and found many blind people are begging for their daily means only in Delhi. So, the number is quite high across India. We have experimented to change their livelihood by providing a weighing machine. And, the experiment was successful. Hence, we want to proceed with our journey to the next level. We need your help to accomplish our mighty cause to eradicate the cancer of begging in India. Sponsor one weighing machine for blind people by providing an alternative source of income.
Battle for Blindness Foundation has been toiling its sweat to provide basic amenities to visually impaired girls’ hostels, food, education, career, and sports. Come and join our greater cause to change the perception of the world that blind people can do any work with the help of adequate resources. Volunteer yourself to achieve the long-term goal of the ‘Battle for Blindness foundation’.
The great and mighty cause can’t be completed without the association of our sponsors and partners. We are not only empowering the visually impaired girls but also changing the perception of our surroundings. Your collaboration and our work can change the lives of blind girls. Take an initiative to become our partners and sponsors by connecting with us.
The donation comes from our hearts. When you think from your heart and you really want to change something in the world, but due to lack of resources and unavailability of authentic platforms can hinder your mind and soul. Don’t worry, Battle for Blindness Foundation will not only please your mind and soul but also provides an authentic platform where your smallest contribution will give its justice. So, donate generously from your heart to the mighty mission of changing the lives of visually impaired girls.
