Chasing her dreams

Twenty-four-year-old Shreya Deshmukh hails from a village near Amravati in Maharashtra. She was born with an eye condition called Retinitis Pigmentosa which results in gradual sight loss. She comes from a lower middle-income family, and two of her elder brothers are also visually impaired. Shreya’s parents encouraged all three children to study despite their blindness.

Her father passed away when Shreya was very young, and her eldest brother took up the breadwinner’s role for the family. He lives and works in Mumbai with a nationalized bank. After finishing her primary education from Amravati, Shreya went to Mumbai to pursue higher studies. But soon after completing school, the brother sent her back to Amravati assuming that the city would be too harsh for a blind girl. This when he is himself blind and financially independent.

Shreya was a quick learner and extremely good with extracurricular activities in school. Inspired by her classmates, she took up swimming and is a national level swimmer. But she had to forego her interests at that point. She however finished her graduation and MA in Political Science from Amravati University.

Recently her other sibling who is also blind, got a job with an IT company and moved to Mumbai. This inspired her once again, and she developed a desire to learn computers. When she called the Eyeway Helpdesk, our counselor realized how she simply needed an opportunity and a solution to move ahead in life.

She wanted to prepare for competitive exams to apply for jobs. The Eyeway counselor helped her choose a computer training program at the Victoria Memorial School for the Blind (VMSB) in Mumbai. She would learn to use screen reading software and basic computer application, which will boost her confidence and make her ready to engage with the mainstream society.

The Maharashtra State Certificate of Information and Communication Technology offered at the end of the course would also make her eligible for government sector jobs. Shreya has now moved to Mumbai, living with her brothers in Malad. She travels independently to pursue the computer training at VMSB, working hard to secure a bright future for herself.