22/10/2009 ExpressBuzz-Print

By Express
ews Service
16 Oct 2009 01:11:00 AM IST

Computer world for Devnar children

HYDERABAD: The s tudents of Devna r Founda tion for the Bl i nd had s omethi ng to cel ebrate on the Internati ona l Whi te
Ca ne Day. A new computer centre. The centre a ims a t providi ng vocati ona l trai ning i n Informa tion Technol ogy to the
vis ua ll y i mpa i red al ong wi th various s oft s kil l modul es .
“In toda y’s times , computer knowledge i s vi tal s o tha t the vis ua ll y cha l lenged too have a cces s to computers , pa vi ng wa y
for thei r integra ti on i nto the s ociety. I wil l defi ni te ens ure my s upport to s uch a ca us e,” s ai d P Sa tya na nara ya na ,
Mi ni s ter for Hea lth, who i na ugurated the centre.
Amway Opportunity Founda ti on (AOF), a regi s tered Non Governmenta l Orga nis a tion (NGO) tha t l ooks a fter Amwa y
Indi a ’s Corpora te Soci al Res pons i bi l ity (CSR), s et up the computer centre for the vi s ua l ly chal l enged i n pa rtners hip wi th
Devna r Founda tion for the Bl i nd. Additi ona ll y, to ma rk the Internati ona l Whi te Ca ne da y, AOF donated 150 whi te ca nes
to the vi s ua l ly chal l enged s tudents of Devna r Founda tion.
“Devnar Foundati on i s one of the bes t ins tituti ons recogni s ed by the Andhra Pra des h Government, s houl d work towa rds
excel l ence wi th the gi ven opportuni ty,” s a i d Cha ya Ra tan, Secreta ry, Women Development, Chi ld and Di s abl ed Wel fa re
of AP. She added tha t the government wa s wil l ing to gi ve recogni ti on to the vi s ua l ly impai red s tudents who were wi ll i ng
to work hard.
The Sta te Government ha s ea rli er come out wi th CDs and CD pla yers to a s s is t i n thei r lea rni ng. It wi l l a l s o provide s oft
l oans for l aptops to the bl ind s tudents to promote educati on.
The computer centre wi l l offer vari ous computer cours es to the s tudents a part from 24‐hour Internet fa ci l ity. The 10
computers that wi ll be s et up here wi l l ha ve a s peci al s oftwa re JAWS tha t i s s pecia l ly des i gned for the vis ua ll y i mpa i red
to fa ci l ita te better computer l ea rni ng.
“We ha ve grown from a s ma ll orga ni s a ti on to a s trength of 400 s tudents today. We provi de chi ldren with educa ti on,
boarding a nd l odgi ng,” s ai d Dr Sai Ba ba Goud, Ma nagi ng Di rector, Devna r Founda tion. “We have a ls o opened a hos tel
for Intermedia te s tudents to encoura ge further educa tion among gi rls . One of our s tudents wa s admitted i n
Ma s s achus etts Ins ti tute of Technol ogy (MIT), United Sta tes .”
One of the s tudents of Devnar Founda tion ha vi ng compl eted hi s Ma s ters i n Soci a l Work i s currently employed at
Genera l Electroni cs (GE) was a l s o pres ent for the event. “Computer knowl edge a nd a dvanced technol ogi es wil l ena bl e
us to become a s ocia l boon,” he s ai d.
Ra jat Banerji , executi ve s ecreta ry of AOF s ai d tha t the objecti ve of this venture was to genera te empl oyment through
vocati ona l trai ning a nd educa tion.
“Our s tudents ha ve proven thems el ves a nd contri buted s i gni ficantly to the s oci ety. We beli eve i n them a nd when gi ven
a res pons i bil i ty they wi ll perform to the bes t of thei r a bil i ti es ,” s a id Li l y Albert, pri nci pa l of Devnar Foundati on.
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