Breaking Barriers for the Visually Impaired

Be the source of their smile!

Ann Foundation’s effort to mentor visually challenged students has always been a great success. The first quarter of this academic year has been a smooth sail at IELC. Thanks to our expanding volunteer network. We appreciate our volunteers’ dedication and enthusiasm; as a result of their efforts we have initiated computer classes for the sixth and seventh graders as well. This is a new territory for these students, they are learning with utmost curiosity and excitement. We have introduced monitoring techniques such as, weekly reports to understand each student’s progress, and class performance, which are useful to assess the impact of our efforts. 

One of our tutors, Srivardhini who has been associated with us since June 2016 says the experience has been an “eye opener at a personal level”. In her words, “teaching visually-children has made me more sensitive to the needs of the differently-abled.” Shobana, one of our tutors teaching the intellectually challenged students, feels that it is a two-way street. She is imparting English knowledge to these children; in return she is learning the art of perseverance from them.

Dheelapan, grade 5, (Bhoopathy’s younger sibling- mentioned in our previous report) dreams of following his brother’s path to become an IAS officer with the help of Ann Foundation and you, the donors.

Benjamin Franklin says that “An investment in education pays the best interests” and this is what our mission is. For us to do a better job we need you. With your help, we will be able to ensure that these children will be better equipped to face life. And you can rest knowing well that it was because of you.

Links:

• Check out this video of the impact you are having!

“An infinitesimal effort can cause large impact”. The small effort of donors and volunteers is reflected through the academic success stories of our students. Here is a glimpse of how you have touched several lives.

Pavithra, Grade 12: Hailing from a remote village in Vellore district of Tamil Nadu, Pavithra joined our online ESL classes when she was in sixth grade. Her command over the English language has tremendously improved over these years. In grade 10, she scored a total of 420 marks, making her one of the highest scorers in the state of Tamil Nadu. She says “the online classes have helped improve my communication skills, confidence and knowledge”. She is a true shining star, now working hard to secure a good rank in her grade 12 exams as well. 

Eshwari, Grade 7: Earlier, she had to travel a long distance from a remote village in Krishnagiri district to the IELC school. Now the hostel facilities on the campus provide a safe environment for this low vision student. She mentions “Initially I was very shy to speak in English, now online classes have helped me to communicate without fear”. 

We are boosting their confidence to dream, to achieve higher goals, to face any challenge in life. On learning about how a visually impaired candidate recently cracked civil service exam in India, our student Bhoopathy of grade  aspires to become an IAS (Indian Admiinistrative Services) officer. His classmate Aarti dreams of pursuing a career in music. 

Your little light of hope as donations and volunteering shines through their smile. :) 

The next academic session starts from June 2017, we look forward to sharing many success stories.