Amway Opportunity Foundation Celebrates Birth Anniversary of L.Braille

Kolkata, February 3: Amway Opportunity Foundation, a registered non-profit organization and the corporate social responsibility arm of Amway India, celebrated 206th Birth anniversary of Louis Braille in association with Ramakrishna Mission Blind Boys' Academy , Narendrapur and National Association For The Blind in Kolkata today.

Mr. Bibhash Chakraborty, noted theatre personality and sangeet natak academy recipient graced the occasion as the chief guest. Mr. Partha Acharya, Sub Divisional Officer, Baruipur attended the event as Guest of Honour. Swami Sarvagananda, Secretary, Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Narendrapur was also present at the event.

The highlight of the event was a play enacted by the visually challenged children of the Academy on the life and work of Louis Braille. Conceptualized by the joint effort of officials from the Amway Opportunity Foundation and Ramakrishna Mission Blind, a few months ago, the play was brought to life by the script written by Biswajit Ghosh, Principal of the Academy, and a former student of the school. School teacher Anindya Banerjee directed the play.

The event received huge applause from the audience as it took them by surprise. Bibhash Chakraborty, the thespian, shared his experience with the children and inspired them to excel in life. He also shortlisted 3 best performers for the special prize.

A Braille Reading -typing competition was organized at the AOF- NRKMBBA Centre of Excellence in Information Technology for the junior as well as senior categories of the visually-challenged students - marking the significance of invention of Braille system which enables the visually-challenged to read as well as write. Students of Ramakrishna Mission Blind Boys' Academy, Narendrapur and National Association for the Blind participated in the competition.

An elocution competition on the life and work of Louis Braille was also organized to celebrate 206th birth anniversary of Louis Braille. The event also witnessed a motivating speech by Mr. Anjan Maiti from NAB who overcame his visual disability and successfully passed out from AOF- NAB Centre of Excellence in Information Technology.

Presently, Anjan is working at Vivekananda Mission Ashram, Midnapore as a Teacher. He spoke at the length about the life of Louis Braille and shared his success story with the students of Ramakrishna Mission Blind Boy's Academy, Narendrapur and NAB.

Mr. Chandra Chakraborty, Area Manager, West Bengal, Sikkim, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Amway India, said, "We have been working for the cause of the visually challenged ever since 1999 when we launched National Project for the visually challenged.

Over the years, Amway Opportunity Foundation has benefitted more than 100,000 visually challenged individuals especially children. I am impressed by the mesmerizing performance of the students of Ramakrishna Mission and NAB today. I am sure the children of are inspired by the stories of the girls who passed out from the computer centre set up by AOF. I am delighted to be in the august company of such talented individuals."

"Louis Braille is a truly inspiring example for all those who refuse to succumb to their limitations and are determined to achieve their goals. His invention - the Braille system - is an incomparable gift to the visually-challenged individuals. The six-dots of Louis Braille are the precious seeds from which intellectual harvest grows. We are indebted to Louis Braille as he led the visually-challenged to the light of knowledge and education," said Mr. Biswajit Ghosh, Principal, Ramakrishna Mission Blind Boys' Academy, Narendrapur.

The day commenced with the students of Ramakrishna Mission Blind Boys' Academy reciting an inaugural song on the life and work of Louis Braille and concluded with all participants receiving prizes.

Amway Opportunity Foundation (AOF) has organized Louis Braille Day across 15 locations in India including Jaipur, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Kolkata, Narendrapur, Patna, Guwahati, Mumbai, Pune, Raipur, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Madurai & Trivandrum.

About Ramakrishna Mission Blind Boys' Academy
Ramakrishna Mission Blind Boys' Academy for visually challenged boys, a residential school f or blinds boys was established way back in 1957 at the premise of Narendrapur Ramakrishna Mission. The school has been imparting life-centric education to visually impaired boys for long years.

About Amway Opportunity Foundation
Amway Opportunity Foundation (AOF), registered as a non-profit organization under the Societies Act in the year 2001, is the Corporate Social Responsibility arm of Amway India.