Pavan was born visually impaired. His father – a farmer – found it hard to accept his son. Pavan, thus grew up stigmatized.

Pavan joined a training programme by Enable India, which helps people with disability, acquire skills that would help them in getting jobs. Initially, Pavan was very hesitant to even hold a cane and move around. He did not like to be referred as visually impaired. However, as the training progressed he started coming to terms with himself. The counselling and life skills sessions helped him change his perception about himself and how others perceive him. This helped him advocate himself better.

He also pushed his boundaries by doing a volunteering project along with farmers, sorting grains, carrying loads. During the recruitment drive, he was able to crack interviews with élan. He was a different man—he talked about himself and, his disability with confidence. He even talked about how he tries to work around his disability to work effectively. Recruiters were bowled over. Pavan was shortlisted by companies like JP Morgan and Magna InfoTech. Today he works with Magna InfoTech as a recruiter.

“Before joining the training, I used to feel sad about my disability as I constantly had to depend on someone for any kind of assistance. The training gave me the opportunities to understand my strengths, build my skills not only in English and Computers but also in Mobility. The counselling sessions helped me build my confidence. Earlier I wasn’t able to talk to people during an interview. The training helped me bridge those gaps and during the interview, I was able to advocate about myself, my disability and let the employer know the solutions that work of me. Today, I feel more confident and believe that I have the potential to find solutions to my challenges”.

The skill development programme by Enable India is being supported by the employees of CISCO, who enrolled under CAF India’s payroll giving programme –Give As You Earn (GAYE)