Skip to main content
Submitted by PatientsEngage on 28 November 2017

Since its inception in 2014, Adventures Beyond Barriers Foundation, which promotes inclusion by enabling Persons with Disability (PwD) and able bodied people to participate in adventure sports like paragliding, marathons, trekking, scuba diving and mountaineering together, has impacted close to 4000 PwDs and over 1.5 lakh able bodied people. Yashasvini Rajeshwar, Head of Media and Communication of ABBF, gives details about the pioneering effort.

Tell us about this unique thought and its genesis.

Adventures Beyond Barriers Foundation (ABBF) is rooted in the unwavering belief that play can change the world. By asking people to come and experience inclusive adventure together, we are hoping to create opportunities to have conversations, build relationships, and get to know each other. Once individual connections are built, we believe, the need for accessibility will automatically follow and inclusion will become a state of mind, organically and naturally. At ABBF, we believe that you climb a mountain as strangers but come down as friends, and we have seen this come true time and again.

Over the years, Divyanshu became India’s first blind solo paragliding pilot and the first blind cyclist to pedal from Manali to Khardung La (a total of 550 kms to arguably the world’s highest motorable road) on a tandem cycle. As an organization, ABBF has impacted close to 4000 Persons with Disability and over 1.5 lakh able-bodied people since inception in 2014.

The seed of thought behind ABBF was born from our founder, Divyanshu Ganatra. When he went blind at the age of 19 due to glaucoma, he realised that spaces of leisure, entertainment, and sport are not accessible to Persons with Disability (PwD) at all. Being an adventure-lover himself, he decided to create the spaces he couldn’t find for himself, and invited others to experience the adrenaline along with him.

What have been the struggles and achievements so far?

The last few years have been amazing for us, showing us the true impact of the power of play and convincing us of how much there is to do left. In August 2017, ABBF conducted India’s first inclusive tandem cycling expedition from Manali to Khardung La with 24 cyclists. We supported an amputee in his attempt to summit Mt. Everest and took an inclusive group to Everest Base Camp. We have participated in marathons across the country with blind and visually-impaired runners. We conducted a paramotoring event in partnership with Chandigarh Spinal Rehab a few months ago and had people in wheelchairs take to the skies! The stories are many.

At ABBF, we believe that every event is a story of achievement. Time and again, we have had individuals, PwDs and able-bodied alike, push themselves and their limitations to embrace newness and change. We have had stories of changed mindsets - promises to only create accessible buildings, make spaces of work more inclusive, volunteering to scribe/read - and tales of transformation - PwDs who have thus far not ventured out of home trying their hand at adventure sport, loving it and creating an identity for themselves. Each one of our participants is a story of achievement.

The struggles are, predictably, to do with funding. Choosing to work in the non-profit space and specialising in adventure sports is an expensive proposition. ABBF does not compromise on quality and this often means that the work we do is cost-intensive, with tandem cycles, spare parts, scuba gear, ropes for mountaineering and climbing, qualified trainers, and all the other details that go into planning events adding up to expenditure. Unfortunately in India, there is a sizeable overlap between Persons with Disability and those who cannot afford the expenditure of adventure sports. ABBF tries to accommodate these costs as well, not believing that this circumstance should stop people from having the life-changing experience that is sport. As long as public mindset counts this field of work as a ‘luxury’, not seeing the power it has to create stronger, more resilient, and more empathetic societies, fundraising will continue to be a struggle for us.

What is the reaction of the stakeholders and the public in general?

The response has been phenomenal. Our participants, able-bodied and PwD alike, often become ambassadors for our cause, becoming regulars at events and helping us spread the word amongst their circles. We recently hit 5000 likes on our Facebook page entirely organically and have built a community of engaged, conscientious individuals on the internet.

The media have been kind to us and covered our work extensively; giving us the reach we need to spread the power of play. Corporates who approach us to conduct internal events often become strong supporters of our cause and the relationship gets cemented in long-term partnerships. We are grateful for the support we have received so far and hope that this continues and enables us to spread our wings wider and reach out to even more people across the country and one day, across the world.

What are the ongoing projects and future plans?

There is always something happening at ABBF. In the immediate future, we have the first group of blind-and-sighted cyclists participating on a tandem for the Deccan Cliffhanger, the Pune to Goa relay race. We have a couple of events planned down south, ensuring that we cater to people in that region as well. We hope to take forward the momentum of our paramotoring experience and do more of those events as well. The best place to keep an eye on what is coming up is by heading to our Facebook and for those who are interested in volunteering with us (as allies, photographers, writers, technical and web support, anything at all), fill the form available there in.

In the long run, ABBF has dreams of building India’s first fully accessible community space for people across disabilities as well as able-bodied people to truly experience inclusion. We hope to organise international tandem cycling expeditions, introduce Persons with Disability to open-water scuba diving, take more people to Everest Base Camp and higher. Simultaneously, we also hope to have many, many more local, smaller events that include everyone. We hope to create platforms where more and more people can experience inclusive adventure, even if they have no prior experience in adventure or interacting with Persons with Disability. We believe that the key to transformation lies in experiencing, and we hope to enable this experience for as many people as we possibly can.

How have you been solving access issues?

At ABBF, we believe that there are multiple ways that one can influence change, some being more effective than others. Policy and legal amendments are both important and necessary, but they also require the time and effort to navigate the bureaucracy. At ABBF, we believe that the power to transform lies with the individual just as much as it lies in the ‘system’. If your friend was wheelchair-bound, you are more likely to pay attention to the accessibility issues of public places. If your colleague was blind, you would make sure all documents could be read by a screen reader. For change to occur, the person needs to feel invested in it. ABBF enables this investment. Since 2014, we have had multiple stories of success. After running a marathon as a sighted ally with one of our blind runners, a prominent architect in Pune promised us that everything he designs from now on will be entirely accessible. After cycling together, we have had blind participants being invited for interview calls at major organizations. The examples are endless. The best part - That they were entirely organic, voluntary, and natural.

A Few words about your team

ABBF believes in being a lean, efficient organization. Our team comprises of five people currently. Divyanshu, the founder, leads from the front and is our in-house guinea pig for all adventure activities. Being an adventure lover himself, he participates in all our activities personally to streamline our processes before we open it out to everyone else. Tanya and Bhargav take care of operations and logistics, making sure all the details on the ground are running smoothly. Nimisha is our Director for Accounts and I head the Media and Communications. That is Team ABBF for you!

(This article has been republished here in arrangement with Connect Special, a digital magazine, which provides solutions for challenges faced by people with disability.)

Condition