Bajrang’s story

Living with parents and a younger brother in a village called Budhwadangal in Jharkhand, 20-year-old Bajrang had been confined to his house since childhood.

Reason? Bajrang was blind since birth and thus his family would not let him do things on his own. They feared that Bajrang would hurt himself if he ever stepped out of the house.

Bajrang’s mother would never let him do the chores or any kind of physical work. This over protectiveness prevented in building Bajrang’s self-confidence.

One day, a cluster coordinator from Chetna Vikas, Sightsavers’ partner visited Bajrang and his family. Eventually, the entire family went through a series of counselling and Bajrang started receiving training on daily living skills. In due course, after witnessing a certain amount of progress in Bajrang, his parents allowed him to join the skill development camps. Since then, there was no looking back for Bajrang.

After the exposure to the trainings, meetings and skill development camps, Bajrang decided to open his own shop. With the help of Sightsavers and its partner Chetna Vikas, Bajrang started running a general store in his house.

Today, Bajrang earns around 100-150 INR as a shopkeeper on a daily basis. He even plans to expand his shop and the variety of items in it in the near future. “Without your help, I wouldn’t have come this far,” he says.