30-year-old Ganesh Walpathar is a resident of Koppal district in Karnataka. He is blind by birth. Ganesh completed his Class 12 from an Open University but unfortunately due to financial constraints he couldn’t continue his education any further. He contacted the Eyeway Helpdesk seeking information on availability of manual labour jobs. The counselor called up EnAble India Candidate Support Team to get details on jobs available for visually impaired persons. However, such jobs were available only for those who had low vision. The counselor then explained to Ganesh that manual labour jobs for people with complete blindness were very few in number and that it was highly unlikely to find one within his district.
The counselor then spoke to Ganesh about the importance of education and other skills related to technology and mobility which in turn would lead to better employment options. At first, Ganesh was hesitant with the idea of continuing his education or joining a training program because of his financial problems. To overcome this challenge, the counselor informed him about an organisation, Snehadeepa in Ranibennuru, Karnataka that helps persons with vision impairment free of cost. They provide free accommodation as well as English and computer training. They also encourage visually impaired people to continue their education, providing them with adequate study material support. Ganesh was encouraged to enrol at Snehadeepa and pursue his graduation. The counselor felt that Ganesh would consider joining mobility training course once he meets other visually impaired people during his time at the organisation and also open up to more employment opportunities.
He was given the contact details of Snehadeepa and he was grateful to Eyeway for showing him a way to continue his education. Ganesh will be starting his training in June 2019.