Securing a job for independent living

Rajib Giri was born to a low-income family in Midnapore, West Bengal. Even though he was blind by birth, his parents wanted to give him a normal childhood like any sighted kid. He was admitted in a regular school, and he studied in mainstream institutions all the way up to his graduation.

But he faced a lot of challenges as the mainstream mode of teaching was not conducive to someone with sight loss. He faced difficulty in reading, note taking, writing exams and so on. However, he managed to get a bachelor’s degree.

Rajib was clueless after this point, he wanted to get a job like everyone else but lacked proper information about the possibility of mainstream employment. That’s when he reached out to the Eyeway Helpdesk.

The counselor apprised Rajib of the various options available for employment to persons with blindness. He was also informed about the various skills that he would need to acquire before applying for a job. As a blind person, Rajib needed to learn mobility to navigate the world independently. He also had to learn using computers with screen reading software so he could navigate the digital space, without which it’s hard to sustain any job function.

Following Eyeway’s advice, Rajib enrolled in a computer training program at Prerna Education Center. He also learnt mobility at EnAble India and is now attending an Advanced Employability Training there.

Rajib not only hopes to train well and secure a good job to support his family, but also wants to use these skills to guide other visually impaired people like him, towards building a successful career.