Kerala school teacher builds Braille library on her own

Students at the Government Visually Impaired School in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala are always excited when its time for the library period. This is when they get to read stories and biographies about famous people in Braille, which is the language used by the blind.

Many of these students don’t have books in Braille at their homes. This means they do not get to reach anything given their vision impairments.

The library is the brainchild of Baby Girija, a teacher at the school, who has taken it upon herself to fulfil the dreams of these children who long to read, but don’t have access to books in Braille.

No government support for library

For nearly 10 years now, she has been typing reading material into Braille at her own initiative. So far she has been able to get 42 books ready for the children.Baby Girija keeps the Braille library project going with no help from the government. A few donors are helping her keep the dream alive.

She says that at first the project was just a way to pass time. It has now become a passion. People volunteer to read the books to her so that she can type. The papers are donated, as are the cupboards where she keeps these Braille books.

This is truly a labour of love given that there is just one Perkins Brailler, which is the braille typewriter, functioning in the school. The rest have got spoiled due to frequent use. Baby Girija hopes that in the absence of government support, someone will come forward and donate a a Perkins Brailler to the school.

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