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October - December 2021

Vaccination Camp

A COVID vaccination drive was organized on 1 October '21 by the Blind Relief Association in collaboration with the HOPE Oncology Clinic where 77 doses were administered to the trainees, staff of the Association, and outsiders. The outsiders were also provided a ration kit sponsored by The Akshaya Patra Foundation

Special thanks to National Association for the Blind, Delhi, HOPE Oncology Clinic, and The Akshaya Patra Foundation for their support in this initiative.

Gandhi Jayanti

In remembering Mahatma Gandhi on his 152nd birth anniversary, the Blind Relief Association organized a small event with the trainees on 2 October in the Gandhi Centenary Memorial Hall of the Association. The trainees participated in reciting prayers of

5 different religions, narrated events from the life of Mahatma Gandhi, recited poems and sang songs. Being also the birth anniversary of Lal Bahadur Shastri, the life and contribution of Shastriji were also fondly remembered. The students of the Department of Social Work, University of Delhi interning with the Association connected with the B.R.A. trainees in organizing the programme. The University students also held quiz sessions and shared life incidents, inspirational moments, and principles of Gandhiji.

Visitors from Nepal

The Blind Relief Association was happy to receive two special and surprise visitors from Blind Youth Association Nepal-BYAN - Mr. Ram Gaihre, General Secretary, and Mr. Vishwo Shrestha, Director on 5 October 2021. They went around and witnessed Association’s various educational & training units and interacted with Executive Secretary K.C. Pande and exchanged ideas and thoughts of mutual interest.

Diwali Bazar

The ‘Blind School Diwali Mela’ was back in 2021 as a somewhat shorter and smaller 5-day event held from 28 October - 1 November after a gap of one year owing to pandemic 2020 during which the Bazar could not be organized. Special thanks to the Chairperson - Mr. Arun Bharat Ram for having helped in obtaining grant of special permission from the authorities to hold the Bazar.

In what started as a small event to showcase the products made by the visually impaired trainees and staff of the Association, the Bazar has today grown into one of the biggest festive shopping paradise in Delhi. A wide range of stalls with vendors from across the country take part in it. This year, in accordance with the COVID guidelines, the scale of the Bazar was considerably reduced and the venue strictly compliant with the COVID protocols.

The Bazar is most popular for its colorful candles and diyas made by the visually impaired trainees and staff of the Association in more than eighty varieties. In addition, a range of paper products including bags, envelopes, papier-mache plates & cups and cloth products stitched by the trainees is a special attraction. The other stalls stock a range of eye-catching designer wear, home décor, traditional crafts, gift items, gardening materials, herbal products etc. The trainees undergoing Relaxation Massage Training had also set up stalls to offer hand, head, shoulder, and foot massage to the visitors at a nominal cost.

Online Sale

The E-commerce site which is active throughout the year was fully operational during the Diwali season. As a new feature, an "In-store Pick Up" option was introduced for the Delhi NCR customers who wished to pay online and pick their packages from the gate.

Helpline Get Together

The members of the COVID Helpline launched by the Blind Relief Association during the second wave of the pandemic gathered for a non-virtual get-together in the Association on 13 November 2021. After a time of casual interaction, the entire team consisting of the JPM alumni, B.R.A staff and the volunteers from the Delhi School of Social Work relished the special lunch. The JPM School alumni visited their alma mater with nostalgic memories and also toured the new building nearing completion. In sharing their experience of the day, the members expressed that the COVID relief work was only a beginning for the team that aims to work and accomplish much more for the visually impaired community.

Partnership with Pladis Global

For the Blind Relief Association to have Pladis brand involved in its Baking initiative is an unexpected yet perfect collaboration. Pladis Global, an international snacking company chose to celebrate their "Make Happy Be Happy" day with the trainees of the Blind Relief Association. On 18 November, a team of 30 staff members including Mr. Kemal Gul - Emerging Market, Managing Director; Mr. Abhishek Sharma - Emerging Market, General Manager – India and Ms. Bhawana Dhawan - Head – HR and Admin visited the organization.

The day began with an orientation session conducted by Mr. A. David, Deputy Executive Secretary (Operations) in which the team from Pladis were blindfolded and made to walk alone a certain distance. Then each of them was paired with a trainee to walk the same distance. This brought forward to them a glimpse into the lives of the visually impaired and their confidence. The team was also taught the basic etiquette while handling visually impaired persons in the public. Two of the Pladis officers Mr. Rajat Vermani and Mr. Anil Mishra presented stories to the trainees in a short storytelling session, followed by a group song and poem recitation by the Multi-Skill trainees.

Pladis Global entered into a partnership with the Association to assist in the Baking initiative by providing professional trainers. Mr. Rohit Shukla and Mr. Abhinav from Chandigarh initiated the training sessions. Mr. Gul handed over a cheque of Rs. 50k to Mrs. Benu Nath, General Secretary, and Mr. Pande, Executive Secretary, and as their contribution towards the Paper Craft Unit. In addition, they also donated 10 laptops to the Association. The team later visited the training units of the Association and purchased candles, paper, and sewing products made by the trainees.

Farewell to Mr. Nagar

On completion of 28 years of service as the Crafts Teacher in the JPM Senior Secondary School, Mr. Suresh Kumar Nagar attained superannuation on 30 November. To celebrate his contribution to the school, a warm farewell was given to Mr. Nagar. He was garlanded and presented a silver salver as a memento. Also staff members from different units of the Blind

Relief Association also presented gifts to him. The Principal Mr.Kuriyan and the School teachers recalled and narrated shared moments of joy and working together with a helpful colleague like Mr. Nagar. Almost all of them emphasized how resourceful and helpful he was to the colleagues and the young teachers.

This reminiscing and special moment for Mr. Nagar was made more special with the appearance of Prof.(Mrs) Prem Pal Singh, whose association with the B.R.A. dates back to 1970 when she was receiving training in the Training Centre for the Teachers of the Blind. A retired Professor in Hindi from the Delhi University Prof Singh is a celebrated poet and author, who has received National Award and several other decorations from the Government and organizations working for the blind. Prof. Singh gifted Mr. Nagar with a sapling and some books that she has authored. Mr. Nagar expressed his heartfelt thanks to the organization and his colleagues for all the support and love.

Send Off to the 7th Batch

The trainees of the 7th Batch (2020-21) of Diploma in Computer Education (V.I.) graduated and were given a warm and fun farewell on 30 November 2021. The 17 trainees included nine visually impaired. Due to the pandemic, the classes were conducted partly online and partly offline. At the farewell, the trainees shared their experiences and memorable moments over the

past year. The sighted trainees spoke of their learning of studying/living together with the visually impaired colleagues. As a part of this course, they could learn Braille, which none of them imagined they would. The afternoon was filled with music, dance, and countless photographs We wish the trainees all the best for a very bright future ahead!

Placement with Tangerine Design Pvt. Ltd

Five vocational trainees of the Blind Relief Association were recently placed with Tangerine Design Pvt. Ltd., Gurugram, a manufacturer of leather goods. Four visually impaired trainees - Umakant, Arvind Kumar, Ashish Kumar, and Ankit Kumar are working in the packing unit and the fifth, an orthopedically challenged trainee, Deepak, who completed his Electronics Training from the Blind Relief Association is also employed as an electrician in the company.

Japanese language trainees appear for JLPT

Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) is an internationally conducted examination to certify the proficiency levels of individuals in Japanese language. In the JLPT conducted this year on 5 December 2021, five visually impaired candidates who are studying Japanese language under the language training programme of the Blind Relief Association, appeared in Level 5 and Level 4 Tests. All of them are alumni of Association’s JPM School. They include Mr. Ramdas Shivhare, a Banker and Research Student in DU; Mr.Gaurav Kumar, a postgraduate student of Sanskrit in JNU; Mr.Ajay Gupta, Mr.Vidyanand, Mr.Nikhil Srivastava all undergraduate students in DU. All of them are conversant with Japanese Braille which is essential for appearing in the Test. Several Japanese and Indian volunteer teachers have worked hard online and offline to train the students. The lessons are painstakingly prepared in e-text by the volunteer teachers, which are then printed in Braille by the Association’s Braille Printing Unit.

Christmas Celebrations

The Youth Ministry of Prabhu Prakash Girja, Trilok Puri visited the Association on 23 December 2021 for the musical morning they presented in preparation for Christmas. The Hindi congregation team of DBF Central celebrated Christmas on 25 December with the students and trainees of the Blind Relief Association. The exuberant carols under the winter sun brought in joy and warmth of Christmas to B.R.A.

Updates

1. Due to the Yellow Alert announced in New Delhi, all educational services including the JPM School and Durgabai Deshmukh College of Special Education have been closed and switched to online mode.
2. 34 Teacher Trainees have been admitted in the College under 2021-23 batch.
3. The 8th batch of Diploma in Computer Education and 5th batch of Basic Computer and Office Operations course is expected to begin in January 2022, depending on pandemic situation
4. The 17th batch of Multi Skill Training and 39th batch of Relaxation Massage Training will also begin in January 2022.

That's a wrap of 2021!

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