Pune: Despite his short, thin frame, there is something distinctive about Dr Abdul Salam. What may hold our interest in him is the fact that he runs a successful Helpo Foundation from Wanowrie and could do that without allowing his visual chellenge to stand in the way.

To be blind and have a professional career is one thing, but having that disability and running a non-governmental organization is quite another. “Oh yes, this is a noble work, but this is something based on my sheer passion for helping rural people,” says Salam.

But still, he has taken less time to develop the skill of running an NGO and all this after losing eyesight by 11. The cause of his blindness was an illness. However, young Salam remained undeterred. In fact, he was spurred on to greater accomplishments than would have been possible for ‘normal’ person. He mastered 10 languages among which are German and the little known Esperanto. He retired as director of a special cell for social work.

Salam ventured into social work through Helpo Foundation. “It was an easy task for me. I wanted to use all my administrative experience that I had gained when I was the director of Maharashtra social welfare department. Although I am blind, I do not have any regret. Come what may, I want to do something for the welfare of people and the society at large,” he says.

Helpo has been responsible for making many a woman and family self dependent, providing them with loans to set up tailoring units, fisheries, flour or spice grinding machinery and many other small and cottage industries. For instance, Ajay More in Purandar district’s Vir village, started with an humble beginning by tilling land. Now he is owing a shop. Snehal Ghungade is an independent women owing a coconut shop.

Among a number of Helpo’s activities, the most noteworthy are maternity and child healthcare, health awareness and nutrition, girl-child education program and women empowerment.
Working mainly in rural areas, Helpo has organised 160 women’s savings groups with separate bank accounts and initiated 84 micro credit enterprises undertaken by women in the entire Purander taluka.

Another aspect of Helpo activities deals with differently-abled people. Says Salam, “Disabled persons are an integral part of human resources. In order to highlight this, hundreds of disabled school children in Pune are being felicitated year after year since 1992 by Helpo Foundation. Disabled persons are working with great efficiency, hand-in-hand with able bodied people in remote villages of Purandar. We solicit all the well-meaning public to come forward and help the disabled people wherever necessary so that they can earn a livelihood and lead a normal life.”