Hope in Their Hands: Seeing Hands Nepal

Abstract

By December of 2017, Chiran Poudel had achieved opening of three massage parlours run by the visually impaired. A native of Pokhara, Nepal, Poudel founded Seeing Hands, a therapeutic massage clinic in Nepal, the land of the Himalayas and a favourite tourist destination. Combining his congenital deficiency with professional massage therapy, Poudel was able to create a USP and launch a chain of massage clinics for trekkers and tourists visiting Nepal. Life did not look very bright for Poudel until he met Rob and Sue Ainley, a British couple who picked up Poudel as their protégé. Despite his University education, Poudel was convinced that he had little chance of finding a job as a blind employee. Chiran Poudel, in fact, was just another blind man in the pool of millions of visually impaired, a malice that ails Nepal till such time that Poudel resolved to create jobs for his fellow brothers and sisters. After serving in a massage parlour in Pokhra for 5 long years, Poudel relocated to Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal to start his own massage clinic in Thamel. With an initial investment, Poudel’s maiden clinic was set off as a franchise of Seeing Hands Nepal. With little idea in marketing and business promotion, Poudel had to fight negative prejudices of the local Nepalese when he started his clinic in 2010. Seeing Hands today is a model blind massage clinic that will earn admiration of many and inspire others.