Mr. Binod Prasad Kafle, 50, is the head of Nepal Ekikrit Netrahin Bikash Sangh (Nepal Integrated Blind Development Association, or NIBDA) which is located in Goldhunga of Tarkeswar Nagar Palika, Kathmandu. He says, “I was all right till the age of 20-22, but after that, I gradually began to lose my sight in both eyes. Doctors couldn’t diagnose my disease.” He agrees that it is much more difficult to adjust when one becomes blind after having had sight for so many years. “My son, who is 20 years old now, has been blind since birth, but my daughter, who is married, is all right.”

Mr. Kafle is originally from a village near Rampur, Chitwan, and he migrated to Kathmandu some 30 years ago. He established NIBDA in 2053 B.S. He reveals that, initially, the center worked for adults who were given skill development trainings. “We used to go to various districts to impart trainings,” he says. “Since the last two years, we started to focus on blind children. Right now, the Center (hostel) houses 10 children ranging from six to fifteen years in age. They are from different remote parts of the country. According to Mr. Kafle, three are from Mugu, one is from Humla, one from Rasuwa, two from Ramechaap, one from Kavre, one from Makwanpur, and one from Okharpurwa. 

Mr. Kafle says that they don’t have a big sponsor, but he is happy to disclose that: “We have received a large plot of land jointly from Prithvi Narayan Higher Secondary School (which is close to the NIBDA hostel) and the local village development committee. My dream is to have a training center, a hostel, and an old age home built there, but as I said before, we don’t have big sponsors.”