International White Cane Day Observed by Amway

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Ahmedabad, October 10, 2018: Amway India, the country’s largest FMCG direct selling company, celebrated International White Cane Day with 11 NGO partners for the 18th consecutive year by organising myriad initiatives at Ahmedabad, with an aim to encourage and build confidence amongst the visually impaired girls by showcasing their distinctive capabilities, Amway in association with its NGO partner – Andh Kanya Prakash Gruh (AKPG) organised a special talent show – The Rising Stars of Andh Kanya Prakash Gruh.

Chief Guest – Chiranjiv Patel, young entrepreneur, motivator and philanthropist, presented white canes to the visually impaired girls of AKPG and encouraged them to follow their dreams with passion and dedication.

Individual and group performances by 27 visually impaired girls of AKPG were displayed, showcasing their talent in singing, music, drama, dance and comedy. Each one of them executed a superlative performance. The competition was adjudged by Jigna Gajjar, a former women cricket player & coach, and Tushar Trivedi, renowned singer & musician from Ahmedabad.

Commenting on the occasion, Sandeep Prakash, Senior Vice President, West Amway India, said, “Amway has been supporting and promoting the welfare of the visually impaired since 1999. Our experience of close to two decades of working with this special group has made us realise that an individual’s ability is always stronger than his disability, and physical limitations can be overcome with the right education, knowledge and guidance. We have been providing avenues for the education and empowerment to help them discover their abilities by organising such interesting activities. For us, the International White Cane Day holds great significance and multiple initiatives are being organised across the country to celebrate their progress and achievements. We are delighted that we could contribute to their growth and shall continue to provide much needed support in the future.”

Mr. Kantibhai, Principal of AKPG, said, “I am delighted to see that our girls have performed all the activities with such aplomb. I am sure this exposure will definitely help them in the long run. We are extremely proud to be associated with Amway India and have been consistently celebrating International White Cane Day together, year after year. Our relationship has become stronger with a clear focus of enabling the visually challenged to have a better future.”

Amway, under the National Project for the visually impaired, has undertaken various initiatives to support the cause, including:
– Braille textbooks across 12 States for more than 85,000 children
– Provided computer training since 2008 and has set up 15 computer centres across the country. A total of 1000 visually impaired individuals are benefited from the Amway- supported computer centres annually
– Setting up of 33 audio/braille libraries across India; launched a travel and tourism course in Kolkata; set-up a BPO in Madurai; set up music academies in Chandigarh, Raipur and Guwahati
– Supported the digitisation of Class XII educational material for National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), as well as select graduation and post-graduation educational material for Delhi University, Mumbai University and Hyderabad/EFLU University, which is helping different abled especially visually impaired students across the country
– Launched an android-based application – Accessible Reader, which leverages available text-to-speech engines and makes it convenient for the visually impaired to read digital documents.