Bartimaeus Resource Centre for the Visually Impaired was registered as a Charitable Trust in 2005. It was set up to provide educational facilities for blind and partially sighted young men and women in India. It started in Bangalore in 2004, like so many organizations in India with only very basic equipment and temporary teachers. There were seven, completely blind or partially sighted, students and worked from an empty garage.
Bartimaeus has come a long way since those early days. In December 2007 it moved to the present rented premises off Horamavu Main Road, in Bangalore, south India.
Bartimaeus has built up a very good name as a Resource Centre with a wider curriculum and a caring and helpful staff. Applications for instruction are now coming from many neighbouring States in India and we would like to be able to take many more students. The need is acute!
We believe that most persons with a visual impairment have the potential to become independent and self-sufficient members of society, given the right training and the appropriate opportunities to develop their skills and abilities. Our aim is to nurture confidence and character in people who are often rejected as disabled and of no value to the community.
At present, September 2011, we have 14 students and 6 teachers. Two of our staff are themselves blind and one partially sighted. We have accommodation for 6 boys and 6 girls in 2 nearby flats. In this way we care for our students in a family atmosphere and provide for all their needs and comforts, including meals.
All training and facilities are offered freely to the students, and we are completely dependent on voluntary donations in order to continue the wonderful work of Bartimaeus.
O U R V I S I O N
is to fulfil the urgent need of educating and rehabilitating many more visually impaired young people. We aim to make them employable in the mainstream of commercial Indian society. We are fully aware that the blind themselves, are ambitious to live as normal a life as possible, and to do that, they need to support themselves, and their families. With proper training and counselling they come to know the world around them. At present, the poorer sections of Indian society are not geared to educating the blind in the modern sense of the word. They are expected to stick to weaving baskets and garden furniture. Very few families have the means or the initiative to help them go further. This is the need that we are fulfilling in Bartimaeus and with the support of local benefactors and the Christadelphian community world wide, will continue to provide a service.