Welcome to Spotlight. I'm Joshua Leo.

 

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　　And I'm Liz Waid. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand - no matter where in the world they live.

 

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　　You are in a busy office in India. Women sit at computers or stand at tables, organizing papers. Young men come and go. They wear bright orange shirts and black trousers. Each one has a black bag, full of papers, over his shoulder. In these ways, it seems like any other business. But something is different: it is very quiet. No one is talking. Well, it seems that no one is talking. The office workers are communicating with each other. But they are not using their voices. They are using their hands! They are communicating using Indian Sign Language. The workers here are all deaf. They are not able to hear.

 

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　　This is Mirakle Couriers in Mumbai, India. This business provides jobs for deaf men and women. They are couriers - they carry letters or other papers from one place to another in the city. Today's Spotlight is on the success of Mirakle Couriers and the changes that they are making for deaf people in Mumbai.

 

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　　Dhruv Lakra started Mirakle Couriers in 2009. Dhruv was a successful young man. He had a business degree from Oxford in England. And he had a good job in a bank. But he wanted to do some work to help his community.

 

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　　One day, Dhruv got his chance. He was riding a bus in the city. He sat next to a boy, who seemed to be struggling. This boy looked out the window. He seemed worried. He was studying the signs and the streets. But he could not hear the bus driver. Dhruv tried to talk to the boy to help him. But he could not hear Dhruv. He was deaf. The boy was not sure where he was! Dhruv began to communicate with the boy by writing on a piece of paper. He soon understood that the boy faced many problems in life. Dhruv wondered if he could help other deaf people with similar problems. From this experience, Dhruv developed a new business idea - training men and women who were deaf and giving them jobs.

 

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　　India has one of the largest deaf populations in the world. About six percent of India's population is deaf. They are often given less respect than other members of society. And they often face problems when finding work. Only sixty seven percent of deaf people in India find a job. These are not usually good jobs. Instead, they are informal jobs, like selling things on the street, or cleaning. These jobs have no security. They are often paid very little money. And work is not the only place many deaf people experience problems.

 

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　　Vandana Sawant is one of twenty women who work in the office of Mirakle Couriers. Vandana has experienced many of the problems that other deaf people face. She lost her hearing as a child. She loved school, but she struggled to get an education. She even had to employ a private teacher. Then, she trained to work in an office.

 

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　　Vandana is married, and she has a son. But her husband's family does not treat her well because she is deaf. And employers also treated her badly when she looked for a job. No one wanted to give her a job, because she could not hear. She looked for a job for ten years but no one would employ her. But she did not give up. Finally, she found a job with Mirakle Couriers. On the Mirakle Couriers website, she said,

 

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　　"It is the first time that I can save some money. It is also the first time I can help my husband pay the bills and buy food. I can finally go out and buy food, clothes and enjoy life."

 

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　　The women employed at Mirakle Couriers work in the office. They often work on the computer. They are trained in the work of organizing larger packages and papers. They also use computers to know when these things arrive. They share this information with the people sending and receiving the papers. These women make sure that everything gets to the right place. The "couriers" of Mirakle Couriers are deaf men who travel around Mumbai. They carry letters, packages and other communications to individuals and businesses. Bala is a young courier who knows his way around Mumbai. He does not even take the bus. He walks, but he knows the best, fastest paths. He carries magazines to a radio station and letters to a bank. At each place, the people do not treat him badly because he is deaf. They treat him with respect, because he is doing a good job.

 

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　　At Mirakle Couriers both men and women are gaining this respect. They are gaining important experience and financial independence. Mirakle Couriers is not an organization that just helps deaf people. It is a for-profit business that teaches deaf people to help themselves. At Mirakle Couriers, the workers learn many important skills. This includes being on time, always looking clean and concentrating on details.

 

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　　Deaf people who want to work do not always get the support they need from their families. Some times their families want to protect them. Dhruv and his team want the families to encourage their deaf members to be independent. On the Mirakle Couriers website, Dhruv Lakra explains,

 

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　　"Families want the deaf to sit at home instead of working. The fear of putting them in society is major."

 

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　　Because of this, Dhruv has worked to create a good relationship with the families of the employees. In October twenty ten [2010], Mirakle Couriers celebrated International Deaf Awareness Week. All the workers and their families gathered for a celebration. The workers wrote and performed a play about how Mirakle Couriers has helped them. This showed their families the importance of Mirakle Couriers.

 

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　　Businesses like Mirakle Couriers help deaf people to become full members of society. They also let the rest of society see the skills that deaf people have to share. Mirakle Couriers is a success as a business. Large companies and many other banks and non-profit organizations employ Mirakle Couriers. They have also received many awards that recognize this success.

 

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　　Dhruv Lakra explains that "Social change is a long process." It takes a long time to change people's opinions. Slowly but surely, Mirakle Couriers is helping deaf people take important steps to independence.

 

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　　The writer of this program was Rena Dam. The producer was Joshua Leo. The voices you heard were from the United States. All quotes were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. You can listen to this program again, and read it, on the internet at http://www.radioenglish.net This .program is called, 'A Miracle for Deaf People'.

 

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