In January, Pramod and I had the pleasure of visiting two Vision-Aid centers – one in Hyderabad and one in Chennai, and we’re pleased to share our experiences and observations with you. 

Hyderabad visit 

It was really heartwarming to see how the rehabilitation programs for persons who are visually impaired are run at our Hyderabad center which is run in partnership with the L.V.Prasad Eye Inst. (LVPEI) which is one of the top eye hospitals in the world. We are grateful to Dr. Deiva and Dr. Deepak who spent over 2 hours with us to give us the tour of the facility and for the explanation of all the wonderful work that is being done for the rehabilitation of Visually Impaired and Blind. Our center at LVPEI (like all our other centers) offers free or highly subsidized and high quality services to persons who are poor and cannot afford to pay for services, and sees a large number of such patients.  

It was great to meet the knowledgeable staff who actually conduct the programs and see them first-hand. Although we knew about the different programs being conducted there - visiting the center in person was a very special experience and both Pramod and I walked away thoroughly impressed with the programs that are being run there. We found the entire LVPEI team working so diligently and to heard directly from the counselors who answer the calls from the visually impaired and their families. It was really touching and inspiring to see some of the students going through the testing which determines their limitations so that they may be assigned to receive the most appropriate devices and training programs. Just as an example, we observed a 5 year old boy being tested for his vision so he can be helped by different assistive aids which will help him become more independent and functional in his studies and day to day activities.  

Another interesting program which was great to watch was some volunteers narrating various books with their voice which were being digitally recorded.  Their voices helps Blind and Visually Impaired learn from printed books by listening to the recorded audio.  

Another program which really impressed us was our visit to the Vocational Center  where some of the visually impaired students were sewing large and small bags which are sold at a nominal price to hospital staff and visitors so they can earn some money. We are very thankful for a beautiful bag gifted to us from this workshop, that was made by a Visually impaired student and which I will cherish forever.   

Finally we had the pleasure of visiting the Palakurthi Vision-Aid Center of Excellence and It was amazing to learn about the many advanced training programs, innovative high-tech devices, cutting edge research and development and innovative work going on, and we felt this was truly a model center made possible through a very generous donation by the Palakurthi family and we thank them for their generosity.  

Chennai Visit 

In Chennai, Vision-Aid runs two major centers – one at Sankara Nethralaya and the other at Voluntary Health Services. Due to the short trip and time constraints, we could visit one of them – the Vision-Aid center at Sanakara Nethralaya which is also a leader in the field of eye care in India, known for its service to the poor.  

We were delighted to meet not only the members of the Sanakara Nethralaya team but also our own Vision-Aid India team from Chennai – notably Mr. V.L.Narasimhan ( VLN) who is the volunteer Executive Director and leads the entire operations of our India team, Ms. Vineetha, our Head of Training programs. From Sankara Nethralaya we were happy to meet Rainy, Nirmala and others 

We are thankful to them for giving us the tour of the center at Sankara Nathralaya in Chennai.  We learned that one of the strengths of this center is dealing with very young children. Nirmala and Rainy did an excellent job explaining how they apply occupational therapy exercises which they developed, with children based on the child’s need and capacity. Pramod and I were so impressed with the knowledge they reflected in explaining each and every aspect of the therapy and the tools that are used.  

We also visited the play area which is built for the visually impaired kids so they can play with full consideration to safety.  

It was so nice to meet some of the students as well who were learning how to use Computers. One of the student was almost blind but through audio tools, is able to hear and work on writing letters and documents. Persons with low vision are taught how to use screen magnification and using such tools they can learn to work on computers independently.  

We also saw a small child only one year old with multiple disabilities and low vision who was being helped through colored objects and a flash light so she can learn about different objects and colors.  

It was great to also get to know some of the key members of our India team - VLN and Vineeta in person and it was nice of them to come and meet us at the Center, even though they had to travel all the way (almost 2 hours commute) just to meet us there. VLN also kindly gave us a ride back to our hotel. We had a very nice conversations all along the way about the different programs that are being run at different centers all over India which he manages so capably as a dedicated volunteer leader. We missed seeing Rashima  the head of our programs there - as she was at a conference but thank you so much Rashima  for organizing our visit logistics. The whole team was so inviting and Pramod and I were really touched by all the warmth and the hospitality they expressed towards us. We have no words to express our gratitude for making our visit so memorable. We enjoyed every moment of it. We are grateful to our Boston donors like Dr. Kastoori and Ranga, and Pratima & Venkat Srinivisan for their support to the centers in Chennai, and to many of our other friends from Boston who support programs all over India. They will be happy to know that their support is really making a difference to the visually impaired.  

We had not been to India for a long time and our visit this time was so delightful not only because we could meet many family members in Delhi, after a long gap but because we could also connect with our Vision-Aid families in Hyderabad and Chennai. I already knew about the programs with my involvement in the Board of Vision-Aid for many years, but I could not really imagine the breath, depth and the dedication off the staff at both centers which we had the opportunity to visit, and the huge impact which each of these programs are having every day. We are happy and grateful that we got a chance to visit the Centers and will treasure these memories forever.  

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