A one-month long training programme for the visually impaired persons in West Jaiñtia Hills district to be conducted by an award-winning master trainer, Kelvin Suting began in Moosakhia village today.
The training programme is being organised by the Society for Urban and Rural Empowerment (SURE), which is the Training Partner of the Meghalaya Skill Development Society (MSSDS).
HH Mohrmen of SURE highlighted the uniqueness of the training programme. He said both the master trainer, Kelvin Suting from the District Commerce Industries Center (DCIC), and all seven trainees are visually impaired. This training, he said, challenges the statement, “the blind cannot lead the blind.”
Skill Development Officer (SDO) Lambormi Suchen expressed his pride that the district is the first in the state to provide training for the visually impaired. He said the training will cover broomstick making and mator or bamboo broom production.
Suchen also noted that this is the first time in the state that exclusive training for the visually impaired is being conducted, made possible by the efforts of SURE and Suting who worked tirelessly to prepare the syllabus, training manual, and the training proposal.
Kelvin recalled his past experiences with trainings and said trainers who were not visually impaired struggle to understand the challenges faced by blind trainees.
Based on this observation, the training was specially designed to cater specifically to this section of the population. The training has to be only by using sense of touch because the trainees cannot see, Kelvin said. The training syllabus has been tailored to meet the needs of the visually challenged, he added, emphasizing that “only the blind can teach the blind.”
Amlarem MLA Lahkmen Rymbui who inaugurated the training programme inspired all the trainees to draw inspiration from Kelvin and spoke about government schemes that visually impaired persons can avail.
