In India, visually impaired children are often considered a burden by their families, neglected or used by their parents to beg. These children have no access to education as very few schools cater for them.
In the state of Jharkhand, we support a center for 65 visually impaired children. The home is run by nurses and specialized educators. The children receive comprehensive care and support.
The visually impaired children receive educational support, are trained to read and write in Braille in Hindi and English with the aid of appropriate special equipment. They are also taught all the skills to manage daily life tasks such as orientation and mobility in all kind of situations and places, recognition of objects, tidying up, etc. Extracurricular activities such as music and dance also have an important place in the centre, the children all turn out to be very talented and quickly learn to play instruments. They play sports every day, including cricket, football and volleyball. All these children also receive regular medical care.
Since June 2024, an ambitious digitalization project has been launched within the center, in partnership with Mjunction (Tata Group) and the organization Benetech.
The goal is clear: to empower visually impaired children to become more independent in their learning through new technologies.
The pilot phase has delivered very encouraging results: the children have gained confidence, made faster progress, and discovered new subjects such as science, which were previously inaccessible to them.
Building on this success, the project is now gradually being rolled out across the entire center. Children are being trained in digital tools, specialized teachers are being integrated, and a partial transition from Braille to digital formats is underway.
This initiative opens up new educational perspectives, strengthens social inclusion, and prepares the children for a freer, more connected, and more fulfilling adult life.
