Thirty-one-year Phooljahan lives in Thane, Maharashtra. She was born to a low income family with six brothers and six sisters. She developed a fever at the age of four, which resulted in sudden sight loss. But the doctor at the time gave some hope to the family, saying Phooljahan could possibly regain vision at a later stage. She would need a surgery five years later for the same.
But due to poverty, her parents never took her for a follow-up to the ophthalmologist and the faint hopes of the girl regaining her eyesight were lost. Phooljahan because of being blind remained uneducated as her parents didn’t know any means to school her. She remained the only illiterate child among all her siblings.
In 2018, she married a sighted man in her hometown in Uttar Pradesh, who worked as a daily wage labourer and they both moved to Thane. Phooljahan used to follow Radio Udaan and learn about various channels of information that could empower blind people. She was facing a challenge with her disability pension disbursal after changing states, so she shared her concerns on Hamari Vaani, an audio channel for the blind community.
Here, she learned about the Eyeway Helpdesk, and she connected with the counselor for adequate support. During the course of interactions, the counsellor apprised her of various possibilities she could explore still. Phooljahan was encouraged to pursue her education through open schooling. Completing Class X would make her eligible for several government jobs. Seeing a future in sight, she applied for tenth grade immediately.
To help her study through audiobooks, Eyeway got her in touch with National Association for Blind’s Talking Library. Now she can listen to her course textbooks on her phone easily.
Phooljahan intends to also finish Class XII after this. Eyeway will continuously support her through her education as well as in finding employment opportunities so she can once again become independent.
Team Eyeway