Mangalore: Visually Impaired yet Spiritually Sighted

By Dr Wong Meng Yee
Author is an intern working under Kasturba Medical College Mangalore.

Mangalore, Aug 11: Imagine you have to walk around with your eyes closed, scary isn’t it?  But my visit to “Roman & Catherine Lobo School for the Blind” here for health check-up changed my perspective on the blind and blindness.

The school houses 15 children who are visually impaired, but spiritually sighted. The principal of the school too though visually impaired is knowledgeable and gifted with awesome memory and amazing hearing ability. At the school, I first met two students in a classroom, who read the Braille script in lightning speed and I went dumbfounded and felt inferior of my ability seeing his speed of thought and hand movement.

The children here are taught to be independent. Hence, eating, washing, brushing teeth, toilet training and washing their laundry are part of the syllabus. Vocational practice is being taught to them as well. My professor and post graduates took history of each child with the help of the wise principal who could remember the background of each child as if they are his own children.

After meeting few children, I could sense their happiness. My initial fear was forgotten and I was engrossed in the work I was assigned. I realized that they were proud of who they are.

The scene of children playing cricket has been etched in my memory forever and felt fortunate that I was able to join my professor Dr Anita and senior postgraduates Dr Mona Lisa and Dr Niveditha, in their first health visit. The school has been newly taken over by Dr U V Shenoy in association with Seva Bharathi group.