Twenty-nine-year-old Manoj Kumar lives in Sultanpuri, Delhi with his wife and ageing parents. Caught up in a familial property dispute, Manoj unfortunately became a victim of acid attack from his cousin. In addition to permanent damage to his face, Manoj lost his hearing and eye sight.
His parents struggled to find a cure, draining out lakhs of rupees from their household savings. But no medical intervention was helpful, except some restoration in his facial features. The young boy was stigmatized by society, lacking equal opportunity of education or employment. He yearned to find some source of livelihood to ease the family’s burden.
When he contacted the Eyeway Helpdesk, he was desirous of any job that could help him contribute to the family income. Our counselor helped Manoj enroll for a training programme at the National Association for Blind in Chitra Vihar, where he learnt to make paper products and garment packaging. Despite the support from excellent trainers, Manoj failed to secure a job on grounds of his physical appearance. No one wished to hire an acid attack victim.
Disillusioned, he turned to Eyeway once again. The counselor reached out to our network of supporters and a generous donor helped Manoj setup a petty shop to earn a livelihood. He is also receiving constant guidance on how to scale up the business.
Finding comfort in some stable income, Manoj and his wife are expecting their first child. Mindful of his increased responsibility, he is exploring ways of taking up extra work to secure the child’s future.
Team Eyeway
For any information related to living life with blindness, please visit -http://eyeway.org.in/
