<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131144/6372384d9c7e80680e0c737ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1292" height="861"/>Every day, after returning home from college, Sarita Aryal sits down for her homework. But these are not her class assignments, she transcribes books for visually impaired students like her.Using a needle-thin stylus, she engraves sheets of chart paper on a slate board and punches the dots wordy by word.Born blind, the 26-year-old was brought up in Surkhet. Despite her condition, her family never treated her any differently, and she was allowed to go swimming in the river with friends and explore the countryside.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131144/637238509c7e80680e0c737bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1906" height="1271">Because she could not see, Sarita grew up reading very little. There simply were not enough books in braille, and she is now determined to change that for other visually impaired students like her.She has recorded more than 125 audiobooks, and released some of them through the Keta Keti Online channel on YouTube.She also transcribes stories for the visually impaired in braille, and she gets help from the Children's Literature Foundation Nepal. After writing down the stories in braille, she recites them for the audiobooks.  The process is lengthy and Sarita often has to do several takes to make sure there are no mistakes, and then she has to edit the audio files.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131144/637238539c7e80680e0c737cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1685" height="1123">She initially started with biographies of famous and inspiring individuals, and has now moved on to other genres. Sarita’s mother Devikumari is proud of her daughter and is always the first to listen to audiobooks.Sarita’s elder sister was also born blind. Since the village lacked proper resources to teach visually impaired children, Devikumari and her husband admitted their older daughter to a school far away from home. But one day she died while on her way to school.With one daughter gone, the parents decided to keep Sarita at home and discontinued her schooling. However, when her younger sighted siblings started school, Sarita insisted that she also be allowed to attend class.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131144/637238569c7e80680e0c737djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2016" height="1344">One day, everyone in class except Sarita had submitted their classwork to the teacher. When she finally presented her work, the teacher humiliated her and hit her head with a stick.“The teacher was not satisfied with my written work,” Sarita remembers. “I could answer all questions orally, but I was belittled for not having legible writing.”The incident traumatised Sarita, who stopped going to school. She stayed home listening to radio programs, reciting poems and compositions she heard on the radio.Then a chance encounter with a foreign visitor to the school took her life in a new direction. The man talked about a school for the blind in Kathmandu and suggested that Devikumari send her daughter there.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131144/637238599c7e80680e0c737ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1685" height="1123">Devikumari enrolled Sarita in the third grade at the Technical &amp; Skill Development Centre for Blind and Disabled in Kirtipur.“Being away from my family was difficult,” recalls Sarita. “But I got used to it as I had many friends like me and that made it fun.”Sarita had learnt the alphabet orally, and started learning braille. Within a year she was fluent in reading and writing and transferred to Laboratory School and started walking with the help of a white cane.“The road in Kathmandu is not suitable for people with disabilities,” she says. “I have run into construction material, garbage, or shops on the footpath.” She once fell into a pile of garbage when on her way to college and was forced to walk back home smelling of it.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131144/6372385c9c7e80680e0c737fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1685" height="1123">Besides inaccessible roads, Sarita has had a difficult time continuing higher education, as Nepal neither has separate colleges for people with vision impairment nor proper books and equipment for them in regular schools.At college, she has to share one book with six other friends who are also blind. "When the syllabus changes, there aren’t any books for us," she says. "Having braille books would make it easier for us to study."<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131144/6372385f9c7e80680e0c7380jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="481">To make up for the lack of books, Sarita records the lectures and discussions in class and transcribes them. She often relies on the internet for reference materials.Sarita doesn’t think she is less capable than others in her class, but often faces problems when she can't find the books she needs or a writing assistant during exams. Whenever she is not studying, Sarita devotes her time in making audiobooks for others.Says Sarita, “I didn't get to read much. I grew up listening to programs on the radio. I am doing this work so that other visually impaired children get the chance to read.”Translated from the <a href="https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/130630" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/130630&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1662977096766000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3oG82P2qMuq89S9oYpivdV">original in Himal</a> by Aria Parasai.Read  more: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/hearing-for-the-deaf-seeing-for-the-blind/">Hearing for the deaf, seeing for the blind</a>, Sewa Bhattarai

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Touching others with words

<img width="1500" height="1547" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101120/636b71529c7e80680e0600c6jpeg.jpg" alt=""/>Sarah Yonzan Giri never intended to become a sign-language expert. The wife of Nepal’s famous Panchayat-era prime minister, she was living in Bangalore in 2002 when she wandered into a class for sign language by chance.“The room was silent, but there was a lot of animated signing going on,” Giri remembers. “They were shouting, but I could not hear them.”She had found her life’s mission: advocacy of deaf rights. And recently, she has found that this passion extends to the rights of blind people as well. This has given her a unique vantage point from which she can compare the two worlds, and understand and articulate the unique needs of their inhabitants.Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=11537#.XiliMP4zbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sarah's children</a>Giri recalls her moment of epiphany: “I realised that I had been Deaf with a capital D, or culturally deaf. I could hear very well, but I was completely deaf to the unique language of the deaf community.” Back in Nepal, she started helping the deaf community organise art exhibitions, since the visible world is so important to those whose hearing is impaired. Every wall in Giri’s 3-storey house in Kathmandu is covered with works of deaf art — paintings that express the feelings and experiences of deaf people. In one painting, bells clang and bricks fall to one side of the canvass, while feathers float on the other, suggesting that for deaf people, loud sounds fall as gently as down.Giri says deaf people want a channel of communication with the rest of the world, but for that they need proper schools where they can learn standardised sign languages. If not, they will be stuck with making improvised signs and communicating only with those close to them. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=39575&amp;preview_nonce=35bdcd61ca&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Listening to the hearing impaired</a>, Nunuta Rai <figure><img width="640" height="515" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101120/636b71559c7e80680e0600c7jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="640" height="486" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101120/636b71599c7e80680e0600c8jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Every country has its own sign language – and learning at least standardised Nepali sign enables deaf people to communicate with others who know it in Nepal. It is best if they learn American sign too, which is quickly becoming the lingua franca for deaf people like English is for those who hear.Giri herself is fluent in Nepali, Indian and American sign languages (each of which are completely different from each other) and communicates animatedly in all three. Her husband Tulsi Giri was always supportive of her work, but she took time off from it to care for him before his death in 2018.One day after her husband passed away, Giri was walking along the Vishnumati when she heard a plaintive voice singing. “It was really strong and it touched my heart,” recalls Giri, who on following the sound to its source found the singer to be blind. Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/from-nepali-press/dayaram-maharjan%20-making-disabled-children-more-able,2507" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More able</a>, Sajana Baral  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APd7QswuPN4She invited him home, and along the way described everything to him: the roads, trees and buildings outside. Giri says she learnt then that sound is as important to the blind as visuals are to deaf people.After working with people with two different types of disabilities, Giri has insights into their unique worlds. For example, the deaf have two names – one given by their parents which they may never have never heard and may not answer to, and one in sign language which they identify with. “Lighting is very important for deaf people. Something that normal people would see as mysterious dim light settings would not appeal to them, because they cannot sign and talk there,” she expalins.It is just the opposite with blind people, where light is not important, but sound and touch is. When Giri brings her blind friends home, she describes everything to them — the colour of her living room, the texture of the table in front of them, what lies behind them or beside them. Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18615#.Xiljef4zbIW" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Different, but able</a>, Bhrikuti Rai  <figure><img width="640" height="466" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101120/636b715d9c7e80680e0600c9jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="640" height="427" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101120/636b71609c7e80680e0600cajpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>She often takes blind friends on a walk to get them familiar with their surroundings because they may trip and fall in new places. “We can control things in familiar places, but the world is a <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/seeing-it-a-different-way-for-visually-impaired-in-Kathmandu,2933" target="_blank" rel="noopener">live hazard for blind people</a>,” she says. “We put construction materials on pavements, and sometimes street animals are lying around.”Giri says she has learnt from the disabled community that they do not want to be just helped or pitied. They want to be contributing members of society.Her fondest example is a recent outing to Raksha Nepal, an organisation that helps sexually exploited women, that she made with a band of musicians called Prayas, where all the musicians are blind. The visit was healing for both communities.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-right-of-passage/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The right of passage</a>, Sahina Shrestha <figure><img width="5472" height="3648" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101120/636b71639c7e80680e0600cbjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Giri also helped organise an IT challenge with Bright Star Society, in partnership with hotel Yak and Yeti. Bright Star was founded by a blind friend Sushil Adhikari. Gautam Pokharel, the first blind person to pass the public service commission examinations and become a Nepal Telecom officer, won the challenge. Giri speaks with pride about these men and about many activist friends within the blind community.“I admire the work of Shristi KC, who lost her eyesight late in life and now helps friends through the organisation <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/blind-rockers-2019/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Blind Rocks</a>," she says. "Laxmi Nepal, Sanjiya Shrestha, and Sarita Lamichane work on empowering women and help protect them from gender-based violence. This thread of sensitivity, interest in human values and spiritual quest runs right across the community,” says Giri.“The blind people often do not exercise correctly, because they cannot see how to do it. I want to give audio instructions for exercise for blind people, and am currently looking for open space in which to do so,” she says. With her rich immersion in these two contrasting worlds of experience, her sensitivity to difference, and her strong motivation to help, Giri is determined to do what she can to help Nepal’s deaf and blind people. Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18634#.XilkUP4zbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Not seeing is believing</a>, Lochana Sharma<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/seeing-it-a-different-way-for-visually-impaired-in-Kathmandu,2933" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Seeing it a different way</a>, Smriti Basnet

Hearing for the deaf, seeing for the blind

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101120/636b71409c7e80680e0600c0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1125"/><figcaption>SIXTH SENSE: Visually impaired travellers experience Nepal's famous touristic attractions including Kathmandu Darbar Square, paragliding, streetwalking in Thamel, and Phewa Lake in Pokhara with the help of sighted guides. Photos: TRAVELEYES</figcaption></figure>As Alex T James stood before a white lion statue in Kathmandu Darbar Square, his sighted partner took his hand and guided it across the curves of the lion’s belly and the divots inside its gaping mouth, all the while describing to Alex what he was touching. Other sighted and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-right-of-passage/">visually impaired</a> travelers in the group were doing the same.Having travelled extensively throughout the years, James says, “For me, travelling is a chance to explore new countries and have a sensory experience. There is nothing more exciting than experiencing the sounds, smells and feelings of a new city. Sighted guides who go out of their way to help those who can’t see make it easier.”Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=39588&amp;preview_nonce=c90fc6f20e&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hearing for the deaf, seeing for the blind</a>, Sewa Bhattarai<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=39575&amp;preview_nonce=35bdcd61ca&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Listening to the hearing impaired</a>, Nunuta Rai<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101120/636b71439c7e80680e0600c1jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="794" height="1000"><a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/No-right-of-passage,156" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Visually impaired</a> tourists like James rely heavily on their sense of touch, smell and sound when visiting Nepal. Their guides help them navigate the landscape and describe to them their surroundings. Through partners, sighted guides are also encouraged to experience new places with senses other than sight.This group was the second to visit Nepal <a href="https://www.traveleyes-international.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">through Traveleyes, a British holiday company</a> for blind, visually impaired and sighted travellers. Last November sighted guides described the mountains in Pokhara to their visually impaired partners, led their hands across prayer wheels <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-stupa-of-a-million-dewdrops/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in Boudha</a>, described the solemn cremation rituals at Pashupati, helped them navigate uneven pavements and rocky staircases, lent a hand when boarding rafts in Trisuli and led them to dance circles during cultural performances in Chitwan.Suzy Hesseldon, tour manager for the trip, speaks fondly of the group’s adventures in Nepal. She says, “The trip was incredible and the visually impaired guests are absolutely inspiring. They are thrill seekers and live life to the fullest.”<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101120/636b71469c7e80680e0600c2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1125">Blind tourists are paired with sighted guides on a rotational basis on the morning of each travel day, allowing everyone to get to know one another during the trip. Tour managers like Hesseldon give a short introduction to the day’s plans and a few tips to help the travelers as the weeks go by. But the best guides may be the <a style="background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/No-right-of-passage,156" target="_blank" rel="noopener">visually impaired individuals</a> themselves.“All the sighted guides have to do is ask them how they would like to be assisted, and describe the stairs or landscape. It works well because all the sighted guides have to do is be the visually impaired’s eyes,” says Hesseldon.But travelling with visually impaired guests is less about sightseeing and more about a holistic sensory experience. Traveleyes, with the help of <a href="https://www.mallatravels.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Malla Travel and Trek Services</a>, designed an itinerary that incorporated destinations and activities that would involve senses beyond sight.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101120/636b71499c7e80680e0600c3jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1100" height="814">To Tony Booth, a retiree who describes himself to some degree as an “ageing hippie” and who was a sighted guide during the trip, the experience was profoundly eye-opening. He says, “When you are travelling with visually impaired people, what you can see is sometimes of less interest to them. Your other senses become much more important. You become much more aware of what you can hear, what you can smell, what you can feel. You become aware of a different kind of world.”Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19540#.XilxOzIzaUk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Blind faith</a>, Candice Neo<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/three-toots-for-tootle/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Three toots for Tootle</a>, Sonia AwaleBooth also recalls the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/seeing-it-a-different-way-for-visually-impaired-in-Kathmandu,2933" target="_blank" rel="noopener">difficulties of having to navigate roads</a> without sidewalks and the risk of getting hit by cavalier drivers -- a common issue faced by most visually impaired individuals in Nepal. But despite the threat of collisions even while walking on pavements, the visually impaired tourists were happy to be guided by their sighted partners.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101120/636b714c9c7e80680e0600c4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000">Ajay Manandhar, who is fondly referred to as ‘AJ’ by his clients and is the in-house guide at Malla Travel, says, “This was my first time working with visually impaired tourists and I really enjoyed the concept of having sighted travellers paired with visually impaired travellers. In the context of Nepal, disabled or elderly people don’t have the chance to travel and trek but with initiatives like Traveleyes, this was made possible. It would be interesting to see something similar be implemented in Nepal.”Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/making-nepal-accessible-to-all/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Making Nepal accessible to all</a><a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-right-of-passage/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The right of passage</a>, Sahina Shrestha

Sightseeing for the blind

<figure><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a580a9c7e80680e054811jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>All photos: BIKRAM RAI</figcaption></figure>The second edition of Mr and Ms Blind Rockers was held in Nachghar, Kathmandu on 16 September 2019. Organised by Blind Rocks!, a non-profit organisation working to empower the visually impaired, the talent contest saw participants from all over the country vying for the title.  Miss Nepal 2005 Sugarika KC, Miss Nepal 2017 Nikita Chandak Maheswori and Nepal Television presenter Neha Sharma made up the jury.Saugat Wagle and Smarika Pokhrel were announced the Mr and Ms Blink Rockers 2019.  <img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a580d9c7e80680e054812jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a58109c7e80680e054813jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a58139c7e80680e054814jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a58169c7e80680e054815jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a581a9c7e80680e054816jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a581d9c7e80680e054817jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a58209c7e80680e054818jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a58239c7e80680e054819jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a58269c7e80680e05481ajpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a582a9c7e80680e05481bjpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a582d9c7e80680e05481cjpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a58319c7e80680e05481djpeg.jpg" alt=""><figure><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a58349c7e80680e05481ejpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Saugat Wagle and Smarika Pokhrel (third and second from left) after being crowned Mister and Miss Blind Rocks 20189 at Nachghar, Kathmandu on Monday.</figcaption></figure>Read also:<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-right-of-passage/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The right of passage</a>, Sahina Shrestha<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/seeing-it-a-different-way-for-visually-impaired-in-Kathmandu,2933" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Seeing it a different way</a>, Smriti Basnet

Blind Rockers 2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quNIH9UyXBI&amp;feature=youtu.beKathmandu’s overcrowded public buses are a daily challenge for commuters, but they are virtually impossible for the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-right-of-passage/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">visually impaired</a> and people with disabilities. Fortunately there is now <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/outdated-laws-limited-ecommerce-hold-back-tech-industry%20,3547" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tootle</a>, the motorcycle ride-sharing app, for people like massage therapist Junu Shrestha, 31, who likes the door-to-door service.“I am a female and a blind one at that. Micros are unsafe, taxis are expensive, but Tootle is affordable and convenient,” says Shrestha (pictured below) who commutes every day to work at a Boudha branch of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/touching-and-feeling-seeing-hands,4105" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Seeing Hands</a>, the blind massage therapy centres in Kathmandu.Chiran Paudel, 35, is fed up with extortion from taxi drivers taking advantage of his inability to see. Paudel tells his female colleagues to avoid micros and taxis, and call Tootle or the other ride-sharing app, <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pathao.user&amp;hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pathao</a>, instead.“I can’t count the number of times I’ve been cheated by taxi drivers,” says Paudel, who also works for Seeing Hands.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121144/636a41919c7e80680e04a681jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="359"/><figcaption>All photos: MONIKA DEUPALA</figcaption></figure>Kushal Pandey, 26, is partially blind, and says it is nearly impossible to get on crowded buses. “As soon as conductors see our walking stick or someone on a wheelchair they speed off, and if the driver does stop it is impossible to get the seat for the disabled.”It is no coincidence that <a href="https://tootle.today/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tootle</a>, which has been facing hurdles over taxation, has taken off among female commuters and people living with disabilities, who find public transport difficult and dangerous. Women make up half of Tootle’s users — and roughly 10% of the service's drivers — and there are more than 150 visually impaired riders a day.“The Tootle app was developed to give everyone the freedom of movement, especially those living with disabilities, women who face <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/going-under-cover-bus-sting-operation%20,3889" target="_blank" rel="noopener">harassment in crowded public transport</a> and those without personal vehicles,” says CEO Sixit Bhatta, who adds that the firm’s software engineers have worked with the visually impaired and those with disabilities to make the app more user friendly.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121144/636a41949c7e80680e04a682jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427">Roma Neupane lost her left leg in an accident when she was eight. She is now a famous <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=14509#.XOaYW1IzaUk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one-legged dancer</a> and actress in Nepali movies. But despite her popularity, she hasn’t been able to travel easily to shoots around Kathmandu.“I have to perform all over the city and often times the shoot goes late into night; I now manage it all with Tootle,” says Neupane, who calls for rides up to four times a day and to get home at night. “The drivers now know me and treat me like their sister.”In the two years since its launch, the ride-sharing startup has also amassed support among the general public, created 10,000 jobs, and now serves thousands of passengers a day. Much more challenging has been navigating Nepal’s byzantine tax laws and the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-budding-e-commerce-ecosystem/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lack of electronic micropayments</a>.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121144/636a41979c7e80680e04a683jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427">Bhimmaya Sunuwar (pictured driving the motorcycle above) a mother of two from Dharan, works as a Tootle driver from 9AM-3PM, when she is free from her duties as a mother and homemaker. She makes Rs30,000 a month, and Tootle does not take any fee from women drivers like her.Says the 37-year-old: “The best thing is that the working hours are flexible and I can choose to ride when I want to. And the money is handy.”

Sonia Awale

Three toots for Tootle

There are more facilities for the visually impaired, but there is a long way for full mobility<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221104141144/636517739c7e80680e02c279jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="787"/>On a recent morning as Nabina Gyawali and her husband Arjun Paudel make their way home to Balkhu, they hit their first snag: the tactile guiding pavement supposed to help them navigate lead them straight into a concrete electricity pole.The guiding blocks run along the bus park sidewalk which are a favourite spot for people to urinate. Some bystanders stare and others trip on the white cane as the two make their way through the crowd. Rude street vendors spreading their wares on the guiding blocks ask them to move away.“Half my disability is due to the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/No-right-of-passage,156">lack of infrastructure</a>. In America, I was not blind for even a moment, here in Nepal I am blind at every moment,” says Gyawali, who visited the US three years ago on an exchange program.The streets of Kathmandu are bad enough for the sighted, but <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/seeing-it-a-different-way-for-visually-impaired-in-Kathmandu,2933">for the blind it is a nightmare</a> of reckless drivers, haphazard parking, piles of boulders, water pipes, open drainage and potholes.The 2011 census showed there are 96,000 <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/touching-and-feeling-seeing-hands,4105">visually impaired</a> -- 0.5% of the population. Nepal introduce the Disability Act 35 years ago, it is signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and in 2012, the government approved accessibility guidelines. All this doesn’t mean much here at street level.“On paper Nepal has the best policies in South Asia but there is no implementation,” laments Ramesh Pokharel, President of <a href="http://www.nabnepal.org/">Nepal Association of the Blind</a> (NAB) who fractured his left arm and tore an ankle ligament when he fell 3m down an open drain on his way to school in Pokhara. He was hospitalised for 45 days after which he went to the municipality to ask it to cover the drain. Nothing happened.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221104141144/636517769c7e80680e02c27ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="1257"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>One of the major challenges these days is to navigate the city where streets are being dug up everywhere. “It is really difficult because the road is not the same as when we passed through in the morning and there is no information to guide us,” says Ikchya KC, 29, who started losing her vision gradually over the years.Another challenge is while crossing roads. Says KC: “There are no indicators, whether tactile or audio, at zebra crossings, and motorbikes rarely stop. They try to drive around us and that gets dangerous.”Sita Subedi was crossing the road at Lagankhel recently when a traffic police pulled her up for not using the zebra. “I had to explain that I am partially sighted and that I cannot see the crossing,” recalls Subedi, the chair of Nepal Blind Women Association.Stray cattle and dogs are also serious hazards. Arjun Paudel was walking down Rato Pul a few years ago when a bull charged at him. “I was scared and nearly jumped off the bridge. Passersby saved me,” he remembers.Most visually impaired rely on public transportation to go around the city and although there are reserved seats for them, during rush hour it is difficult to enforce the rule."There are people who willingly leave seats for us and go out of their way to help, but sometimes there are others who don’t give up seats reserved for those with disabilities,” says Gyawali.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NubLtBwQYzYWhile it is easier for white cane users to be identified and assisted, those with partial or low visual ability have a much more difficult time. Parwati Shrestha, 23, has partial sight and does not usually ask for the reserved seat or discounts on buses. “My disability is invisible and it is just tedious having to explain myself over and over again,” she says.Blind women have another problem: gropers on buses. Gyawali says she once pushed a middle-aged man off the seat for making an unwanted advance.Despite their challenges, the blind say there are signs of improvement and society is more aware of their special needs. “Public attitude has changed a lot, there was a time when the buses wouldn’t stop for us but these days both the driver and conductor help us get on and off and ensure we have a seat,” says KC.Rajita Regmi finds people in Kathmandu more helpful than those in Butwal, where she is from: “I have limited mobility so I find it difficult to use public transportation. At home my father drops me and picks me up from school, but here in Kathmandu I found people were more willing to help.”Apart from increasing awareness and changing attitude of the people, adopting universal design and <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/kathmandu-accessibility-friendly,2609">mobility friendly technologies is necessary to make the roads safer for persons with disabilities</a>.Nara Bahadur Limbu of NAB has some more suggestions: “There need to be proper tactile pavements as well as audio and indicators at traffic lights, more accessible public toilets and public buildings. Buses should have audio announcements and tactile indicators to indicate stops.”Read also:<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/seeing-it-a-different-way-for-visually-impaired-in-Kathmandu,2933">Seeing it a different way</a>,  Smriti Basnet<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/kathmandu-accessibility-friendly,2609">Give them a way</a>,  Stéphane Huët<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/No-right-of-passage,156">No right of passage</a>,  Sulaiman Daud