Leading towards possibilities

Pankaj Kumar, a 19-year-old man from Bihar was born blind. He remained uneducated till 18 years; he sat idle at home not knowing how to live a life with blindness. Also, being born into a well-to-do family, he was ably supported and cared for by his parents and two siblings.

He never felt the need to be independent or gaining education till he heard the Eyeway radio promos for the first time in 2016. He contacted the Helpdesk in the same year and has been in constant communication with the counselor since then. Our counselor used this opportunity to mentally uplift Pankaj and also make his family aware of the education and rehabilitation opportunities for the visually impaired. The counselor suggested various training programs consistently but the family was reluctant to send him away from home. They cited many reasons in defense like Pankaj is physically weak, contracts illnesses fast, cannot adapt to unknown and new environments etc. Basically, the hovering concern of his parents kept him home for long making him an introvert.

Eyeway counselor seeing the need for changing the mindset of the family worked closely with them. They were made to understand that it will work against Pankaj if he were made to live a life confined to the house. Finally, through repeated counseling they agreed to enrol Pankaj in an NGO called Shubam in Bihar where he will pursue training in basic mobility skills, Braille script etc. for a period of three months.