The only thing that is worse than being blind is having sight but no vision - Helen Keller
The VolunT Grants Program provides T-Mobile US employees an opportunity to apply for funding from the T-Mobile Foundation to support volunteer projects in their local communities in the categories of Bridging the Digital Divide, Equity in Action and Sustainability.
T-Mobile employee Mr. Krishna Vennamaneni as the board member of VT Seva has applied for a grant of $1500 to empower the visually challenged studying at Nethra Vidyalaya, school for the visually challenged. T-Mobile foundation has approved his application.
VT Seva has procured 3 computers with the T-Mobile grant amount -
- 2 ACER DESKTOP-I-3/10th/8GB/1TB/WIN10HSL
- 1 ACER 515 LAPTOP 15/8/512GB/WIN 11
The 3 computers procured with T-Mobile grant are enabling 15 visually challenged students to get educated in English, Math and Science without solely relying on books in Braille script, Braille slate and stylus. The technology is enabling them to become self reliant.
Mr. Krishna Vennamaneni has been volunteering with the VT Seva organization every day from it's inception in 2008. He is a recipient of US President's Lifetime Achievement Award for volunteering more than 5000 hours in last decade. He is currently serving as the advisor to the organization where he mentors the youth and adults to become servant leaders and serve the communities we live in, especially to educate the visually challenged and underprivileged. VT Seva empowers youth with many community service projects and encourages them to define and own them, summer internships, art for equality competitions, volunteering music and dance to serve local communities and outreach projects. As the founding member of the organization and continuous commitment to serve, he has been playing a critical role in developing the organization from branches in 3 cities to 25 cities and about less than 50 volunteers to thousands of active volunteers.
I regularly visit the schools for visually challenged to interact with the students, teachers and organizers to have firsthand information on their progress, their needs so that we can better empower them with education.
The time spent with little children at Nethra Vidyalaya supported by VT Seva is priceless. Every child has a heart touching story to tell us. Ms. Spandana (in the above picture) was disowned and left orphaned when she was days old, by her parents as she was born blind. She is now a bright and joyful child, studying at Nethra Vidyalaya. She introduced her friends to me and many of them had similar stories. They are all happy, naughty and friendly children. They all have a bright future, thanks to the empowerment by VT Seva with support from many kind people and corporations such as T-Mobile. Motherly care is provided by teachers for students at the school. -Krishna Vennamaneni
VT Seva organization has pioneered the use of the computers to educate the visually challenged so that they have opportunities to compete with others at equal footing. The blindness is not an obstacle for them with the use JAWS software on the computers that enables their education with audio enabled accessibility equipment.
T-Mobile's passion is enabling everyone to have access to the connectivity, technology, and skills needed to thrive in a digital world. From supporting community partners to investing in education initiatives and providing disaster relief, T-Mobile's focus is on empowering people with the tools they need to make their essential connections.
Mr. Krishna Vennamaneni is optimistic that with bigger grant amount from T-Mobile next year, he will be able to procure more computers for empowering more visually challenged children.