Manisha's story

Manisha from Jabalpur has orthopaedic disability and is supported by Sightsavers under the Social Inclusion Programme. At 28 years of age, she is a member of a Disabled People’s Organisation and works as a counsellor for persons with disabilities to bring awareness regarding socio legal issues.

Since the lockdown, Manisha has been sustaining herself by selling homegrown vegetables in her village. During the pandemic, Manisha found the opportunity to help those facing the repercussions of the lockdown. She started to do her bit by regularly checking up on the persons with disabilities in her village. A WhatsApp group was created for them where regular updates like preventing the symptoms of Covid-19, guidelines of the government to protect the persons with disabilities from the pandemic were shared by Manisha.

Manisha volunteered in distributing masks, hand sanitisers and food to those in need amidst the lockdown.  After conducting a survey in the village, it was found that there were around thirty families who had not received the essentials from the panchayat. Manisha took immediate actions to address the issue and informed the panchayat head of her village about the same. Consequently, those 30 families were provided with food and essentials for which they could not her enough.

“The way Manisha has been helping the society is commendable. She is a source of inspiration for the rest of us,” says a DPO member.

*Name changed on request*