In the midst of the backwaters of Kerala, when you visit IISE (International Institute Of Social Entrepreneurship) you are sure that it is a perfect setting anyone could have imagined for an institute like that. Far from rat race of the cities, situated in Kochivelli, IISE campus is a perfect amalgamation of modernization, simplicity and technicality.

IISE was established as a part of BWB (Braille Without Borders) with an initial vision of finding visually-challenged children with a passion to grow and give them the tools to function independently in society. Sabriye Tenberken, the founder BWB, lost her vision at the age of 12. She went from Germany to Tibet after hearing the terrible circumstances in which the visually-challenged children there lived. She always felt stifled by the constraints on the visually-impaired in Germany and hence decided to work with others who were facing the same pressures but under much more extreme conditions. Sabriye met Paul Kronenberg while she was in Tibet who later went on to create BWB together.

The IISE Campus View

It began as an initiative to create Tibetan Braille and grew into a printing press for Tibetan Braille literature. Then a preparatory school for the primary education of blind children was established. To realize the idea of the blind as an independent section of the society, they opened a vocational training school which provided them employment skills and encouraged entrepreneurship. This included things like cheese farming, animal husbandry, gardening, theatre and painting.

After establishing the centre in Tibet, their objective evolved from empowering the visually-impaired to creating leaders within any marginalized group that would act as a catalyst for change. Hence they moved to this idyllic location in Kerala and started IISE.

BWB runs almost wholly on donations and grants. The ethos of the organization is to help as many people as rapidly as possible, and BWB believes that an open-source model is most effective. Naturally, there is some risk in relying on the goodwill of others to sustain it, so BWB focuses on maximizing its use of capital.

The impact that BWB has had on people can be seen on social, economic as well as the political front. Empowering blind people helps not only themselves but also every individual who interacts with them; the organization that employs them. BWB is demonstrating that not only can blind people be contribute significantly to the society, that they can infact be leaders.

Talking about the economic impact, tooling up 161 million blind people provides as an invaluable work resource. These marginalized groups are able to create assets and jobs as much as anyone else.

For more details on BWB/IISE, check out http://staging.bwb-iise.org/

To know more about Sabriye, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabriye_Tenberken

It’s a particularly fascinating idea – visually impaired taking photographs. Did this idea take you a few seconds to comprehend? This is one of the most wonderful initiatives that have broken the myths about limitation. Blind with Camera, a wing of the Beyond Sight Foundation, is an initiative that has empowered many a visually challenged individuals to use photography as a medium to express their inner self. Through the perception of touch, sound and warmth, we are now welcome to experience the world as the blind experience.

It was by accident that Blind With Camera took life in the mind of Partho Bhowmick. Partho came across an article about Evgen Bavcar who is a blind photographer based out of Paris. Deeply moved and startled, Partho, a photographer himself, started his journey towards understanding the world of the blind and how photography can be a medium of artistic expression for the visually impaired. In this pursuit, Partho founded Blind with Camera and has been tremendously successful in connecting the world of images and the world of the visually challenged.

How are the blind able to take pictures? How are they able to capture hues, tones and lighting? Partho Bhowmick explains – “Various tactile, audio clues, visual memories of sight, the warmth of light and cognitive skills are used by the visually impaired to create “mental image” before they make the judgment to take a picture. They use camera as an extension of their “self” to explore the visual world, gain deeper insight while recording their imagination and point-of-view.”

Blind With Camera organizes workshops for the visually challenged to introduce photography and help the blind transcend to this new realm of expression. Photographs taken by the blind are showcased in exclusive photo exhibitions which are not just a great exposure to their art but also a source of income to the photographers. Partho says that the exhibitions gave a feeling of pride and belonging to the visually impaired, which elevated their self-esteem, developed their confidence, personality and gave inspiration to achieve more.

Now, the blind cannot be deprived of the joy of cherishing their own artwork, right? To make this possible, Blind With Camera makes sure that the photographs are touchable raised images. The photos are supported by Braille notes, large prints and visual aids so that the blind can access and savor the photographs.

Blind with Camera is a momentous step in our pursuit towards an inclusive society. You can know more about the organization and see the pictures taken by visually challenged photographers at http://blindwithcamera.org/. Support the cause!

In our busy lives where our abilities are taken for granted, we forget that living along with us are challenged people who have special needs. Who could better understand the needs of the visually challenged than someone who has suffered it herself? Madhu Singhal is visually impaired by birth. Born into an upper middle class family in Haryana, Madhu had the affluence to lead a comfortable life. But she chose not to be laid back and wanted to do something on her own.

After completing her MA in Hindustani Classical Vocal Music, Madhu came down to Bangalore to undergo specialized training in communication and counseling. To her surprise and much difficulty, she found that there was very little support for her learning needs. In the North, audio recordings of text books were made available for students like her, but here in Bangalore Madhu couldn’t find any such help. Fighting this difficulty she completed her studies and got out only to find that it was extremely difficult for her to get a job. This is when Madhu decided that no one else should suffer what she suffered. And Mitra Jyothi was conceived.

Mitra Jyothi is aimed at empowering the visually impaired by supporting their educational needs, finding suitable jobs and making them independent enough to take charge of their lives. The organization’s most popular initiative is its Talking Book Library. Text books and books for general reading are given a voice by volunteers, and cassettes and CDs are recorded for circulation. Over 22,000 cassettes of more than 2000 books have been recorded till date. Mitra Jyothi set up its own recording studio to provide this service professionally. Notably, Mitra Jyothi’s effort in this front was the first of its kind in Karnataka and over 5000 people have benefited from the library.

The organization is also extensively involved in Braille transcription and providing computer education to the visually impaired. Mitra Jyothi runs a full-fledged job placement cell for its members, a service that has helped its members find suitable jobs in corporates and manufacturing units. Another admirable service is that the organization runs special courses for women to impart independent living skills.

Mitra Jyothi has been serving the needs of the visually challenged for over two decades now. It has extended its services to Kerala, Andhra and Tamil Nadu. Madhu Singhal has nurtured the organization with her selfless commitment that grew beyond her impairments.  Madhu lives independent, travels abroad on her own, spearheads an organization and chairs important positions in various social service organizations – a true role model. What she has achieved can be made possible for more visually challenged people. Help spread the cause.

Visit http://www.mitrajyothi.org/

When you think of eye care and restoration of sight, the first thought that comes to mind is of Aravind Eye Hospital in Madurai and its founder Dr. Govindappa Venkataswamy. The largest single provider of eye surgery in the world, Aravind has given sight to more than a million people in India since its inception in 1976. Having perfected the art of treating cataract and other eye problems to the point where any further improvements would necessitate a revolution in the field, the hospital and its team of dedicated surgeons and staff has achieved unimaginable economies of scale. A cataract operation that would cost $1,650 to perform in the US takes them about $10. Harriet Rubin has profiled the life and work of ‘Dr. V’ beautifully in his article published in FastCompany, from which here are a few excerpts:

How do you achieve perfection in the never-perfect and always-compromised world of business? It helps to have a service that you can’t sell. That way, you have to give it away. Your toughest customers are always the people who don’t need you. Many of Aravind’s patients can’t afford cataract surgery. Most don’t remember what good vision is — and don’t understand why it would offer any benefit. So Aravind has to keep educating them — and perfecting its own service.

On a slow day, Aravind treats 400 patients. Offering free services to all who need it, with absolutely no criteria for availing for free service, the hospital still manages a gross margin of 40%. This is despite the fact that almost 70% of its patients paying nothing, and it does not depend on donations or government grants. It has been achieved by constantly cutting costs, increasing efficiency, innovating and building a market. Most of Aravind’s potential beneficiaries are not even aware of such a service or their need for it.

“In the third world, a blind person is referred to as ‘a mouth without hands,’ ” says Dr. V. “He is detrimental to his family and to the whole village. But all he needs is a 10-minute operation. One week the bandages go on, the next week they go off. High bang for the buck. But people don’t realize that the surgery is available, or that they can afford it because it’s free. We have to sell them first on the need.”

Aravind has managed to beat costs in every area of its service: The hospital’s own Aurolab, begun in 1992, pioneered the production of high-quality, low-cost intraocular lenses. Aurolab now produces 700,000 lenses per year, a quarter of which are used at Aravind. The rest are exported to countries all over the world — except to the United States. (In order for Aravind to get its lenses approved for sale in the United States, it would have to pay for an FDA study and a clinical study, which the hospital cannot afford.) Aravind even has its own guest house, and students and physicians from around the world come to teach, study, observe, practice — and boost their training. Poles for stretchers? They’re made from bamboo that grows in Dr. V.’s garden. “We also have the $5 pole, which is bright and shiny,” says Dr. Natchiar, “but we prefer these bamboo poles.”

How many people knew that Dr V had studied to become an obstetrician but a crippling rheumatoid arthritis forced him to take an alternative path. If anything confirms the saying that ‘everything happens for the best’, this would be it. Rubin talks about the passion and leadership qualities of the humble man who has been inspired by Gandhi and Sri Aurobindo, but set his own standards.

You know he knows. He’s an eye surgeon — a man of vision. He has learned how to deliver perfection, and to do it despite crippling obstacles. As a young man, a brand-new obstetrician, he contracted rheumatoid arthritis and watched helplessly as his fingers slowly twisted, fused, and grew useless for delivering babies. So he started over, this time studying ophthalmology. He managed to design his own instruments to suit his hands, and these tools enabled him to do as many as 100 surgeries a day. He became the most admired cataract surgeon in India.

Twenty-five years later, he confronted another potentially crippling obstacle: retirement. In 1976, facing the prospect of social shelving at age 57, he opened a 12-bed eye hospital in his brother’s home in Madurai, India. Today, he runs five hospitals that perform more than 180,000 operations each year. Seventy percent of his patients are charity cases; the remaining 30% seek him out and pay for his services because the quality of his work is world-class. He is a doctor to the eyes and a leader to the soul.

Tossing all market intelligence to the wind, Aravind Eye Hospital has managed to create a huge demand by the quality of its service and the education its customers. This is one of the lessons that Rubin takes away from Aravind:

Give people a new experience, one that deeply changes their lives, make it affordable, and eventually you change the whole world. And your customers become your marketers.

In the end, to get more insight into the ideals of a great man, read Dr. V’s response to Rubin’s question:

I ask Dr. V. a simple question designed to get him to talk about his unique vision: “What are your gifts?” I ask him. Dr. V. replies, “People thank me for giving them sight.” This is no error of translation, no slipup of English. Dr. V. considers his gifts to be the things that he has given others, not what he possesses.

There are many lessons to be learnt from this single man and his shared vision.

Find the rest of the must-read article here.
Image Courtesy: World People’s Blog

How many people can undergo the loss of everything they love, and then convert that tragedy into an opportunity for helping others? Not many. That’s the stuff that heroes are made of. And that is the reason why CNN has honoured Dr. Chandrasekhar Sankurathri as a CNN Hero.

After losing his wife and two children in the bomb blast aboard a flight from Ottawa to Mumbai in 1985, Dr. Chandra could not find any reason to live further. However after three years of tortuous searching, he decided to pack up his job as a biologist in Ottawa, and returned to a small village in Andhra Pradesh, India.

Excerpts from the article in CNN:

“India has so many problems,” says Sankurathri, 64. Two in particular caught his attention: a lack of school attendance and rampant blindness. With the money he had, Sankurathri created a foundation in his wife’s name, and in turn, built a school and an eye hospital in the small rural village of Kuruthu, not far from his wife’s birthplace. Today, his foundation’s efforts to empower the poor through education and health care are having significant success. Since its inception in 1992, Sarada School, named after the 4-year old daughter he lost, has grown from one to nine grades and graduated more than 1,200 children. It boasts of a zero drop-out rate as against the national average of 50%. The fees, books, uniforms, meals, even medical checkups are all provided free of cost by Dr. Chandra. All the students need to contribute is discipline and a keenness to learn.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has also written this excellent article on Chandrasekhar:

The Sarada school represents a ticket out of poverty for these kids, and there’s no fooling around at morning assembly. If you show up late, you’ll stick out like a sore thumb standing there with your backpack until it’s over. The children solemnly pledge their loyalty to their country… to their teachers, to their neighbours, and to their gods. After the assembly, there is a ritual walk around the statue of the goddess who is sometimes also known as Sarada, the name of the school and of the girl who inspired it. As the school day unfolds underneath the huge mango trees, you get a sense of what education means to these kids. Ask them how many have parents who cannot read and write. Most of the hands go up. For themselves, they have bigger ambitions. What do they want to be when they grow up? They answer: English teacher, doctor, teacher, police officer.

And this is not all. The same school buses then ply to bring in the blind and half-blind to the Srikiran Institute of Ophthalmology, named after his lost 7-year old son. Since its opening, the hospital has performed more than 137,000 cataract operations, 90% of them free. The article goes on to say:

Cataract surgery is a life changing experience whatever country you’re in. But it still inspires awe to see its impact on people who couldn’t possibly pay for it and who otherwise would be condemned to darkness for the rest of their lives. The blind watchman can see. “I can work as long as I want now because I can see, two grandsons, grandchildren, so I’ll be happy to see them again,” he says. “It’s really gratifying to see that satisfaction, the feeling on their faces, the elderly people. Those who thought they’d reached the end of their life, end of the tunnel,” Sankurathri says.

And how does he manage to run all this?

It’s all funded by donations from Dr. Chandra’s network around the world, a little from the Indian government, a little from charities like Help the Aged, and a little from CIDA, the Canadian aid agency. He gets a little, too, from strangers on the other side of the world. Like school principal Theresa Crisky and her students at St. Gregory’s Catholic School in the Ottawa suburb of Nepean. The kids have been raising money through bake sales and the like every year, a total of $14,000 to date.

Find the CNN Videos of Dr. Chandra and his work at this link.

It is remarkable indeed to see the difference one man can make in the lives of many. Even more so after having suffered such pain in his life. The Better India salutes the spirit of Dr. Chandrasekhar. Read the complete CNN article here and the CBC feature here. Image Courtesy: CBC News