Project Brief: Provide Universal Braille Kits to as many blind children as possible to the socially and the physically disadvantaged in the country.
Project Type: Children with Disabilities (description)
Primary Focus: children with disabilities (description)

Secondary Focus: other

Area: Rural
Supporting Chapter Contact:
Arizona

Status: CLOSED - ENDED
Project Steward: Nirmal Govind
Co-Steward: Krishnan Narasimhan
Project Partner(s): N. Krishnaswamy
Project Address: National Initiative for the Blind (NIB)
3, Tiruveedi Amman St, R.K.Nagar
Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600 028
Tel: (91) 44-4937926, 4936358
Stewarding Chapter: Arizona

Using a Braille Embosser donated to Vidya Vrikshah by Asha Seattle, Dhrushti, a monthly children's braille magazine in Tamil is being sent to 25 Blind Schools in Tamil Nadu since January, 2004. Trained two instructors of the blind of the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Institute for the Handicapped, Sikkim, at the instance of Asha Colorado. Funds requested to manufacture the UBKs'.

Blind literacy:
~ 4 Million Blind in India (~ 10% are kids)
< 1% literacy rate among blind

2004-2005 UPDATE
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NIB is a collaboration between Vidya Vrikshah and IIT Madras. Vidya Vrikshah (VV) is an association of people drawn together, by devotion, to the free spread of knowledge, devoid of profit. VV believes in implementing these objectives through community mobilization and participation. NIB?s long-term goal is to mainstream the disabled and bring about socio-economic change. By employing a unique methodology that uses simple and inexpensive tools, and reaches out to the mother of the blind child, the NIB project attempts to enable the blind child at a much earlier stage. It also has a software component that accelerates the learning process of the blind child. The NIB project has developed the Universal Braille Kit (UBK), which consists of innovative tools such as the Vasantha Cube and the Natesan Block that help the blind child learn the alphabet and one of several suppported languages. Asha AZ has funded the manufacture of 1000 UBKs, which will be distributed to blind children through several organizations and blind schools across the country.

Project II (Proposal submitted in September 05)
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Asha AZ is currently evaluating this proposal. The software solution from the IIT Chennai, makes it possible for anyone quickly learn to use computers, to create text in all Indian languages and produce them in local language or in braille versions on the screen for proof reading by the sighted. The text can then be transmitted as email attachments to Vidya Vrikshah or any other location where Braille Embossers are available and can be used to produce the text in embossed braille versions, which can then be sent free by post to whoever asks for it.

These facilities will be utlitized by Vidya Vrikshah to provide voice-enabled text books, magazines or news sheets, along with braille versions, for blind students in local languages (or also English). These possibilities have already been demonstrated by Vidya Vrikshah on its website. Importantly, anyone who does not have a computer or the above software, can avail of another related solution, viz. the proposed Online Braille Service.