Only if people and policy makers understood the world of the physically challenged better, they would have a greater incentive to make the environment more inclusive and friendly for them.
This is the idea behind a three-day workshop being conducted by volunteers at Jawaharlal Nehru University starting tomorrow with support from the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment.
Called 'Antarchakshu-The Eye Within', the workshop will create a simulated environment to give participants a chance to be in the world of the disabled and go through their day-to -day experiences.
The hour-long experience will make you traverse the environment the way physically challenged persons do, thereby enabling you understand the problems they go through in a physical space that is not one bit friendly to them.
More importantly, the workshop will also showcase how the use of technology and a little sensitivity towards the differently abled can make the world an easier place for them.
This is the first time such a workshop, that has been organised by the Xavier's Resource Centre for the Visually Challenged (XRCVC), Mumbai for the last six years, is being held in New Delhi.
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"For now, the workshop focuses on the visually challenged as we could not immediately find resources for including other activities. Moreover, since this is the first time this is being held in Delhi, we would like to see what response we get from the people," said Wafa Hamid, one of the organisers.
The event will be opened by Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, Mukul Wasnik, at the JNU Convention Centre tomorrow.
As soon as they enter the workshop, the participants will be blindfolded and provided with a white cane.
They will then get to navigate through an obstacled path using the cane before going further to other activities like aiming for a football goal using sound directions and choosing the right item to eat in the dark.
The event aims at reaching out to educators, government officials, employers, students, corporates, media, social workers and the public at large to spread the message of inclusiveness.