Dhanya Ravi
BENGALURU: Stories of struggle, courage and triumph. As the differently-abled fight to find their way towards inclusivity, The India Inclusion Foundation (IIF), a non-profit organisation based in Bengaluru, launched a new campaign ‘Everyone is Good at Something’. Founded by technologist VR Ferose, the campaign captures infinite stories of 21 disabilities as mentioned in Rights of Persons With Disabilities Act across all the states and Union territories in India. The website, which carries inspiring photo stories from across the country, was virtually launched on Tuesday, as a part of the India Inclusion Summit, one of the initiatives of IIF. This is also in time for World Autism Awareness Day on April 2.
The idea is to celebrate the lives of differently-abled individuals throughout the year while identifying stories mainly from rural India, says Ferose, who is father to a young autistic boy. “The focus of the campaign is to throw light on stories from rural India and share their works through photos and videos as much as possible. More importantly, the campaign’s objective is to highlight the disability laws that no one is aware of,” he explains.
The campaign is spearheaded by volunteers of IIF, with 15 people managing works like content writing, photography, video, editing, translation, and more. While some corporates and individuals have come forward to fund the campaign, Ferose prefers to keep the details anonymous.
Vicky Roy, who documented the photos and videos across states, commenced his journey in December 2020 and started his journey in Kashmir, then travelling to Delhi, Chandigarh, Kerala, and Assam, among other places. “Travelling to different states and interacting with the individuals was a great experience. Learning their stories was insightful and inspiring. Many of them shared how they achieved their dreams despite their disability,” says Roy, who is currently covering stories in rural Karnataka.
Stressing on the lack of awareness about Rights of Persons With Disability (PWD) Act – which aims to provide equal opportunities and protection of rights – Ferose says, “Our biggest challenge in terms of disability awareness is that people don’t know the much about this act. Currently, we are using augmented reality through our website to explain the law in simple words, using out Mascot Inclu and explaining stories that even a child can understand.” The campaign features Major D P Singh, who is India’s first blade runner and Dhanya Ravi, founder of Aasmaan Foundation Trust, which conceived the idea of a fashion show starring persons with disabilities, among others.For more details, visit
everyoneisgoodatsomething.com
