For girls who are blind in India, options are limited.
That's especially true when it comes to getting an education.
UNICEF statistics put female primary school attendance in India at around 82%, but in parts of the country, it can still be difficult for girls to access an education. And for those with a disability, sometimes rejected by their families, it can be even harder.
That’s where one school is stepping in.
Shree Pragnachakshu Mahila Seva Kunj, located in the Gujarat area of India, provides a home, education, and a sense of family to girls and women who are visually impaired.
Photographer Sarker Protick visited the school in March to document the lives of the girls living there.
“One of the things in my mind [was always], How do I do it the right way,” he told Refinery29 by phone from Bangladesh. He said he was very aware of the irony of documenting girls who are blind via photography. “Everything I do is really based on my eyes. And there I was, with these women, these girls who don’t need that.”
The school teaches its roughly 200 students a variety of subjects, from music to practical skills like cooking and small repairs. Some topics are aimed at helping them lead independent lives and find work — the school teaches classes in electrical wiring, computer operation, typing, and sewing.
The school, which was founded in 1995, is run by a married couple, Pankajbhai and Muktaben Dagli, who are both blind themselves. Protick, who stayed at the school for four days, said that the Daglis have a very strong relationship with their students — some of whom they've adopted.
"Before going there, I didn’t expect it to be that personal," he said. He thought it would be like the kind of non-governmental aid organisation school that he'd seen before. Instead, he saw a family.
"When I went, I realised that it’s something very different than anything I have normal experience [of] before," he said. "The relationship there was so different."
Ahead, see the beautiful and moving photos of the girls at Shree Pragnachakshu Mahila Seva Kunj.
This interview has been lightly edited for grammar and clarity.
Protick's photographs from the school are marked by a soft, ethereal style.
“I have seen stories about [children] or people [who are blind], but [all the stories] are dark or very black-and-white” as if to make the story itself dark and hopeless, Protick said.
“For me, that whole experience there was not dark. I felt more energy there that I never felt before anywhere. They didn’t seem really sad. They are happy,” he said.
Photographed by Sarker Protick / VII Photo
India is home to almost 8 million individuals who are blind. According to The Deccan Herald, that's about 20% of the international blind population. Almost three-quarters of them are visually impaired due to preventable causes like cataracts or glaucoma. According to The Times of India, a serious shortage of eye-care professionals contributes to the rise of visual impairment.
There are an estimated 300,000 blind children in the country.
Photographed by Sarker Protick / VII Photo
Protick said the girls seemed comfortable and active on the campus.
"This is a big school and they were walking everywhere by themselves. They were running. Many of them were running," he said
Photographed by Sarker Protick / VII Photo
The need for vocational training is important for disabled women.
According to a 2015 UNESCAP report, the employment rate for women with disabilities is over 30% lower than that of men with disabilities in India, leaving them vulnerable to poverty that is difficult to escape.
Photographed by Sarker Protick / VII Photo
Protick said that the Daglis, who are both blind themselves, treated their students like their own children.
“Today, [the] Daglis are proud parents of 200 girls [who are blind]. Every girl [who is blind] has a history which is so sensitive that if one listens to it, tears will start flowing from one’s eyes,” the couple’s biography on the school’s website reads.
Photographed by Sarker Protick / VII Photo
It's an acceptance that many of the young women need. Protick related a story that he was told during his visit.
“There was this girl who was born blind and her parents didn’t take care of her," he recounted. "One day, her uncle took her [on a train]… and after two days of train journey, she was left on the train. Her uncle said that he was just getting down on the station to buy something, but never returned. Basically, they just abandoned her because she was a woman and blind.”
Photographed by Sarker Protick / VII Photo
In addition to an education, the school provides its students with food, shelter, and clothing — completely free. It means that the girls and women who live there are able to stay, regardless of their financial means.
Photographed by Sarker Protick / VII Photo
Besides educational services and a sense of family, Pragnachaksu also offers matrimonial matchmaking help, finding spouses for the individuals in their care, if they want it.
The marriages are set up between the girls and other visually impaired men to help avoid stigma and resentment. The school boasts that it's arranged nearly 100 marriages in eight years.
From donors associated with the school, the new brides receive gifts of household items to help them set up their new lives. "In the past, this institution by the help of one donor has also given a residential house to one [girl who is] blind," the school states.
Photographed by Sarker Protick / VII Photo
Protick said that the four days that he spent photographing the residents of Shree Pragnachakshu Mahila Seva Kunj made him appreciative of his own sight.
"Being there, having my full abilities to see...it was a very strange feeling. It made me very grateful for what I have," he said. "Sometimes we take [it] for granted. We don’t realise that what we have is something very special."
Photographed by Sarker Protick / VII Photo
Protick says that he "absolutely" feels that it is important to document Pragnachakshu and tell the stories of its girls.
"It would be something I would go back to again when I can, even if [no one] sent me there," he said.
Photographed by Sarker Protick / VII PhotoLike what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
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