HOME	[ Search site: ] jump to navigational links

Employment > Awards > N.C.P.E.D.P. - Shell Helen Keller Awards 2004

Sachu Ramalingam: Dedicated specialist

Sachu's credentials are indeed impressive. She holds an M.Sc. in Rehabilitation Science, qualified the CSIR-NET exam for lectureship in the first attempt and is currently pursuing an M.B.A. with Indira Gandhi National Open University and a Ph.D. in Social Medicine from Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Sachu's saga of helping disabled people become more self-reliant started in 1998, when, as the Regional Director of Upahar, a consortium of NGOs in Tamil Nadu, she successfully worked towards making 150 people with visual and/or hearing impairments self-employed in Coimbatore.

In 2000, in her capacity of Project & Placement Officer at Ability Foundation, she placed 70 hearing- impaired youth at Food World and Rainbows. She also placed visually impaired postgraduates in executive levels in organisations such as the Schizophrenia Research Foundation (S.C.A.R.F.) India, Amway and Life Help Centre.

Since 2002, at Dr. Shroff's Charity Eye Hospital, Sachu has been heading the Vision Rehabilitation Centre which works with people with low vision and severe visual impairment. Her expertise lies in the area of helping people maximise their existing vision through a combination of training, low-vision devices and aids that help them perform essential daily activities. As she says, “in some children, vision can be so poor that they need to learn to use their residual vision as well as develop adaptive skills to be able to function normally”. About 400 people have directly benefited from this at the hospital.

She also increases her clients' chances of employment by teaching them MS Office with the help of special screen-reading software, Jaws. Vocational guidance, establishing self-employment and placing educated, qualified people in call centres are the other areas that she is active in.

Sachu is the editor of the first vision rehabilitation quarterly update in India – Netranjali – and has presented papers in various national and international conferences.

Head – Vision Rehabilitation Centre & Project Co-ordinator Paediatrics
Dr. Shroff’s Charity Eye Hospital
5027, Kedarnath Road, Daryaganj
New Delhi 110002.
Phone: 91-11-232 53880/1
E-mail: sachu@sceh.net

Printer-friendly version | E-mail this page to a friend

Main links in the Employment section: Placements | Job Opportunities | Schemes | Awards | Incentives | Issues and Trends | Success Stories

Other links in the Employment section: F.A.Q.s | Research Studies | What the Law says