Empowering the Blind in all spheres of life!
A Small Initiative
“Big achievements come one small advantage at a time, one step at a time, one day at time”.
Yes, even a small initiative make a lot of change in the life of other people. Click to know more on how our empowerment training program has made changes in the life of blind people.
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https://www.worldpulse.org/story/a-small-initiative-57187
“Break the barriers and stereotypes” is what we teach our blind students.
We took our current batch students to GOGOLAND, located in the Poovar Islands, Trivandrum which is famous for adventurous sports.
Our blind students actively participated in rock climbing, trampoline and other play activities which was a very different experience for our students. It was a wonderful unique and exciting experience for the whole Jyothirgamaya team.
We thank GOGOLAND, team members and volunteers who helped us in making this trip a memorable one.
The famous magazine “The Grihalakshmi” is a women’s magazine in malayalam from Mathrubhumi. It has featured Jyothirgamaya and its activities towards empowerment of Blind people through various skills. It sheds light on our Founder’s journey and all the activities and services of Jyothirgamaya Foundation.
We sincerely thank “The Grihalakshmi” team for their support and encouraging us to empower blind people.
Our Founder participated in the Mathrubhumi International Festival, a literary festival organised in Kerala every year with eminent writers and literary personalities. Our Founder had an opportunity to interact with Sudha Murthy who is an Indian educator, author and philanthropist and chairperson of the Infosys Foundation.
What inspired our Founder was her love for fellow human beings, her zest and inner passion to serve the community. She spoke to our Founder about her encounter with many visually challenged people. She is also an ardent supporter of Khanthari, where our Founder marked her beginning.
Our Founder was honoured by “The Election Commission of India” as a state disability icon for spreading awareness about voter’s right and importance of inclusive elections.
Our Founder is indeed privileged to receive this honour from the Honourable Governor of Kerala, Shri Arif Mohammad Khan and the Election Commission of Kerala.
Our Founder, Tiffany Brar gave an insightful talk on “Disability and Inclusion” at the book festival conducted by Trivandrum parliament.
She told her story , the challenges she faced and stressed on the importance of “UNIVERSAL ACCESSIBILITY” of public spaces and digital information and urged all government officials to listen to the voices of the unheard and lift them up.
She enlightened them about the laws protecting the rights of people with disabilities. The honourable speaker presented memento to our founder.
Disneyland Paris has introduced audio description content across the resort, offering a more magical experience for visually impaired and blind guests.
Many locations at Disneyland Paris, including attractions, restaurants and hotels, are now equipped with audio description. This comes after the resort put in place a new accessibility programme in December.
“At Disneyland Paris, we are committed to providing a magical experience for all,” says a news release.
“Our approach to accessibility is intended to empower those with disabilities and special needs through a collection of offerings and services provided for guests.”
At Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park, audio content is available inside attractions and at the entrances so that visually impaired and blind guests can “live the experience in total immersion”.
Audio description and interactive audio menus can be found in restaurants at both parks, and a synchronised audio description of the Mickey and the Magician show at the Animagique Theater is on offer.
The new Avengers Campus has been equipped with audio description in its restaurants, attractions and Hero Training Center.
Disneyland Paris is using the AudioSpot mobile app and in-park installations to provide audio description information. AudioSpot is a start-up company located near Nice.
“Disneyland Paris is committed to listening and learning from our guests, cast members and accessibility experts to develop new standards of inclusion in the French theme park industry,” Daniel Delcourt, senior VP at Disneyland Paris, said in December.
Merlin is also giving vision-enhancing medical devices to people with visual impairments at its attractions across North America. The Chau Chak Wing Museum at the University of Sydney is offering special glasses for colour blindness.
The Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven recently opened a multi-sensory exhibition with texts in Braille. The Van Gogh Museum has introduced a touchable scale model of the building for blind and partially-sighted visitors.
Images: Disney
Our Jyothirgamaya Foundation is indeed pleased and overjoyed to experience a multi cultural interaction with the participants of Kanthari an international institute for leadership and social entrepreneurs, in Trivandrum, Kerala .
The Founder of Kanthari and Braille without Borders Sabriye Tenberken also visited us along with her participants and co-catalyst Andrea from Germany. Sabriye Tenberken has been a mentor to Tiffany Brar since her young days. Sabriye Tenberken is too a visually challenged and has sowed the seeds of inspiration for many Blind people to live independently.
She and the participants interacted with our students asking them questions about their learning at Jyothirgamaya Foundation.
They also asked the students what their future plans and dreams are.
We all had a wonderful interaction.
Arya Ketan Mishra
A life without eyesight seems to be very challenging and difficult for us. Most of us will agree that leading a normal life with a visual impairment is next to impossible. However, there are exceptions in our society who every day prove this notion to be completely wrong as despite being visually impaired they tend to live like every other person around them with a healthy vision.
One such personality is 53-year-old Anand Chandra Sahu, a visually impaired person who runs a snack shop inside the Utkal University campus in Bhubaneswar all by himself for the last 20 years.
Students who crowd his shop to get quick bites between the classes are often amazed when they see Anand nonchalantly recognise the currency denomination, returning exact change and operating the microwave, fridge and other electronic equipments in the shop just with his sense of touch and a rough idea of distance.
Anand, who hails from Nayagarh district, was just four-years-old when he lost his eyesight after suffering from typhoid for six long months that severely affected his corneas.
However, Anand had not lost his hopes after the tragic turn in his life and came to Bhubaneswar to complete his schooling in a school for the visually impaired. After that, there was no turning back for Anand as he not just completed his secondary education but also paved his own way to get an M. Phil from Utkal University.
“I came to Bhubaneswar in 1977 and joined Bhima Bhoi School for the Blind to pursue my secondary education. After completing my schooling there, I got admission in Ravenshaw University (then Ravenshaw College) in Cuttack to complete my +2 and +3. I then returned back to Bhubaneswar and Joined Utkal University where I did my post-graduation and M.Phil in Sociology. I have also won several awards in cultural events during my educational career,” claimed Anand.
However, Anand, with his wife and two children depending upon him, probably had ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time as despite having such high educational qualifications, he was unable to make a fruitful career out of it.
“Odisha was going through a critical economical crisis when I completed my higher education at Utkal University in the 90s. Due to this, the Odisha government had frozen most of the job recruitments in the state,” said Anand.
“People surely opposed me for starting a business in the campus. But once my shop was set up inside the campus, people were very cooperative with me. No one has ever tried to steal anything from my shop and harass me. However, negligible miscalculations of a few bucks is a common thing for anyone who does business,” he said while serving the students crowding his shop.
On being asked whether he has ever been ripped off by any customer, Anand said that no one in the university has ever wished ill of him and he has never been duped during the 20 years of business in the campus.
“I have never expected anyone, including the government to help me exclusively due to my disability as I have never considered the visual impairment as a weakness of mine,” Anand said proudly.
On being asked about his message to society, he said, “A life lived without hardships is not worth considering a life. Whatever life throws at us, we should keep going without losing our spirit.”
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