NDB employees volunteer to empower visually-challenged

Sri Lanka has a population of over 20 million of which, over 150,000 people are believed to be blind and another 400,000 are having low vision. Unfortunately, most of such visually impaired people find it very difficult to gain employment in organisations as there are very few employment alternatives for them in the country. As such, most of them resort to begging or to live in poverty. Some engage in trading activities as door-to-door sales personnel which is not a sustainable livelihood.

Both options keep these people in paucity and without proper guidance they continue to live in such unfortunate circumstances, unable to lift themselves up from their situations.

Therefore, self-employment is seen to be the best suited vocation for this fragment of the society, which would not only give them a livelihood but also the dignity and self-satisfaction that they can independently support themselves and their families. This not only benefits them but is also vital for the nation to become poverty free.

Considering this to be a vital societal need, staff volunteers from NDB, conducted a training program on Self Employment Opportunities and Financial Assistance for start-up of business for the visually impaired. The Bank’s volunteers initiated the two day comprehensive resident workshop for 100 members representing several districts, nominated by the Visually Handicapped Self-employing Society (VHSS).  The workshop provided the participant with knowledge on vast areas, covering topics which focused on positive thinking and briefing on various self-employment opportunities available for blind people as well as the legal frame work including the registration process of a business, environmental laws, financial management and business etiquette etc.

NDB also facilitated the services of expert resource personnel who shared knowledge on relevant fields while the bank’s employees also contributed to several sessions, sharing their expertise and knowledge with the participants.A special hands-on work shop was also conducted covering five product categories where the participants were given practical training sessions by industry experts on manufacturing a product of their choice. At the end of the workshop around 50 successful participants were selected based on a point system on the practical training and the ratings obtained from an evaluation sheet based on the participants’ response. These selected employees were provided with seed capital to purchase the necessary tools and the initial working capital in order to start a self-employment project on one of the above product categories. The bank also opened savings accounts for them in order to inculcate the savings habit and introduce them to the banking system. NDB has taken steps to continue supporting these people by assisting them to link up with markets and introduce their own brand.

For a majority of people, employment is considered to be a major life activity that enhances quality of life, offers financial self-determination, improves self-esteem, gives feelings of contributing to society, and offers general life satisfaction. This is also true among people with disabilities where employment is an essential factor in the gaining of independence, achieving social inclusion and ensuring equal participation in all aspects of life. The unique initiative by NDB staff members will undoubtedly help them to build their lives up and become assets for the nation.