by Rob & Sue Ainley

Blind people have always preferred ‘hands on’ professions, and in Asia, the tradition of the blind masseur is centuries old. Early texts indicate that blind people in China, Japan and Korea have been formally trained in therapeutic massage and acupuncture since Medieval times and over 50,000 blind or visually impaired masseurs now earn a living in the Asia-Pacific region.

In South Korea, a law passed in 1987 actually states that the profession of massage is reserved for the blind, (preventing sighted people from learning the trade), but a recent ruling by the courts threatens to end this exclusive right. 6,500 registered blind and visually impaired masseurs currently work in South Korea but prejudice still restricts jobs for the blind in other professions. In protest against the new rulings, one blind masseur has already thrown himself from a high rise building and two others have jumped onto the tracks of a Seoul subway station.

Britain’s first massage school for the blind opened in 1895, but the suitability of blind people as masseurs was not formally recognised in the UK until 1931, when the training of war-blind veterans in massage and other professions was encouraged and the Association of Certified Blind Masseurs was established.

But although Europe and the Pacific Asian countries have embraced blind-massage as a profession, the Indian subcontinent has been slow to catch on. Together India and Nepal shoulder the largest burden of global blindness with over 3% of the population blind or visually impaired. This rate is fifty times the incidence of blindness in the UK and the chief causes are malnutrition and disease.

In Nepal, the poorest country in Asia, 99.9% of blind people are jobless, and face destitution and discrimination on a daily basis. They are also branded as ‘cursed’ because of traditional cultural beliefs that blindness is a penance for sins committed in a previous life.

Although a blind-massage training program began in India in 2004, the concept has never been tested in Nepal, despite a healthy demand for massage services from thousands of visiting tourists who go trekking in the Himalayas.

Rob Ainley, a Physiotherapist and Remedial Masseur from West Yorkshire, travels regularly to Nepal for mountain trekking trips and quickly realised that professionally trained masseurs could earn valuable currency for themselves;

“I came back from a trek in the Himalayas and could really have done with a massage,” Rob recalls, “but there wasn’t anyone around who was qualified to give it.”

Rob and his wife Sue had previously visited blind-massage clinics in Cambodia, Thailand and Tibet and knew that blind people could learn the skill and capitalise upon the demand in Nepal;

“There is no formal qualification for masseurs and so a clinic offering professional blind-massage in Pokhara [Nepal’s second city], where many popular treks start and finish, would have the potential to be a very successful social enterprise.”

Together they decided to establish a blind-massage training project and after a year of research, preparation and fundraising, their organisation, Seeing Hands Nepal was finally registered in Nepal in April 2006.

Rob has now begun a specially designed training course (based on ITEC) with an initial group of four blind students in Nepal. After just a few months, he says they are making “amazing progress” and two have already shown natural talent. Their course includes Anatomy & Physiology, Traditional Swedish Massage Techniques and Business Awareness and Rob expects them to complete it in 2008 (although they will begin practising massage upon tourists within just a couple of months). Rob now takes time out from his busy practice in Ilkley to travel twice a year to Nepal for three-month intensive training sessions. In the meantime, the students study theory and practise the techniques they have learned on each other.

Sue, although not trained in massage, works on the administration and fundraising side and has now secured enough to build the first floor of a purpose-designed training centre, which can also double up as an income-generating massage clinic.

She explains; “Our blind masseurs will perform massages on tourists in return for a fixed donation. They will receive a percentage and the rest will pay for running costs, helping to fund the training of more masseurs. In this way the project will quickly become self-sustaining.”

The project has not been without its difficulties though. During the first training unit in April, Rob and Sue were caught up in countrywide strikes, demonstrations and curfews as Nepalis protested against their current King’s autocratic rule. After 20 days of fighting, democracy that finally reinstated by the King but the impact upon development organisations in Nepal, many of whom were forced to leave, was devastating. Due to their location, Rob & Sue were amongst the lucky ones;

“Fortunately we saw very little of the political conflict, which was kept well away from the tourist area where we are based” Rob explained. “And as soon as the curfews were lifted, our students were able to meet us for lessons.”

The first four trainees are pictured learning anatomy with the help of ‘George’ a skeleton that Rob managed to find in a scientific traders in Kathmandu. Thanks to Rob, Sue (and George!) they all now have new hope for the future and are looking forward to healing others and helping to change society’s perceptions about the blind and their capabilities.

However, Rob & Sue urgently need to raise more funding in order to purchase proper equipment and guarantee the futures of their students. The sums involved are relatively slight; £50 buys massage oil for a whole year and £25 (less than the average cost of a massage treatment in the UK) pays for all living costs for one student for an entire month. To help get them to their target, Rob and Sue are now launching a ‘donate a treatment’ campaign. Some therapists have already decided to donate their income from one treatment a month and they hope to encourage more to do the same.

For more information about the Seeing Hands ‘Donate a Treatment’ Campaign please email info@seeinghandsnepal.org. or visit www.seeinghandsnepal.org where you can donate online. Rob Ainley says he is also keen to hear from other massage therapists or physiotherapists who may be interested in volunteering for Seeing Hands and conducting some massage training workshops in Nepal.