E
ver had a chance to meet Amitabh Bachchan or Raani Mukherji? Zamir Dahle, an individual afflicted with an impairment called ‘deaf-blindness’ has. Not only has he met them, but has had a chance to train them. He helped them understand and live under the circumstances brought about by the impairment, for the accolade winning movie ‘Black’.
It may seem that deaf-blindness refers to a total inability to see or hear. However, in reality, deaf-blindness is a condition in which the combination of hearing and visual losses needs severe communication, educational and developmental assistance that often programs for just blindness or just deafness cannot accommodate. There are over 450,000 deaf-blind children in India, and hardly any support systems to help them.
Born on 30th May, 1975, Dhale was already battling significant hearing impairment at a very young age. He attended a Hindi medium school in Pune, but found it to be too strenuous for him. An illness at 9 resulted in loss of vision as well. “I became very frustrated and angry with everyone around me, and life in general. My parents were unaware of the issue of deaf-blindness, as there was no school for deaf-blind children in Pune. They eventually decided that i should study at home”, he tells us with the aid of a translator.
Wanting Zamir to get an education no matter what, Zamir’s maternal grandfather took him to the Helen Keller Institute for Deaf and Deaf-blind. They met Mrs. Beroz N. Vachna, the first woman to start a school for the deaf-blind in India, and enrolled. Zamir had an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, and learnt the art of writing on paper as well as Printing on Palm (POP) enabling him to communicate with people having sight and hearing. He also learnt to type on an English typewriter.
With a red-white cane for company, Zamir ventured out after his education, to fulfil his desire of living independently. “Seeing my determination, my family began to trust me and leave me alone. Today I can travel independently, but it’s not easy due to poor accessibility and lack of any form of support and infrastructure available”, he says.
As Sense’s Chief Advocacy Officer, Zamir helps raise awareness about deaf-blindness in the community.
Looking to help more like him, Dhale joined Sense International (India) (SII), the only NGO in India working towards securing rights for those with visual and hearing impairments in India. Sense International works with partner organisations to run advocacy and training programs for deaf-blind children, support groups and networks for parents, as well as services for the deaf-blind. Sense works with over 40 NGOs across 19 states in India, providing services for over 32,000 deaf-blind people.
During the 2011 edition of the TCS World 10K Marathon, SII hopes to highlight the issue of deaf-blindness and raise funds for better education and other opportunities for the impaired.
Dhale is running the TCS World 10K, making him perhaps the first ever deaf-blind person to attempt it. He signs off with the hope that one day all deaf-blind children get access to education, and education in mainstream schools.