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January 14, 2009
Training Report : December 5, 2008: Workshop: Review of Project Plan and Presentation Skill
Today is the second day with Ms. Sarajean Rossitto. The participants were requested to prepare for their presentation practice and also to bring their drafts of Project Plan.
In the morning, each participant gave a 10 minutes presentation of Project Plan in front of the other participants, and the audience were to ask questions regarding the Project Plan so that he/she could improve the contents of Project Plan as well as the presentation skills.
The afternoon session was about presentation skills. Ms. Rossitto explained how to make an effective presentation which is appealing to the audience or donors. Not only the contents of the presentation and time management are important but also the presentation delivery such as gesture, eye contact, positive attitude, voice etc. plays an important part in presentation.
While listening to the presentation practices in the morning, Ms. Rossitto reviewed the drafts of Project Plan and wrote down comments for each participant. Before finishing the workshop, Ms. Rossitto gave feedbacks to each participant so that they could improve their project plans.
http://www.jicafriends.jp/leaders/gi2008/training/l1205.html
Posted by jicafriends at 11:54 PM | Comments (0)
Training Report : November 25-27, 2008: Individual Training
Three days individual training was programmed according to each participant's interests and what they are planning to carry out upon their returning to home countries.
Please refer to the following table to see their training schedule.
< Tokyo Vocational Center for Persons with Disabilities >
Two participants from Sri Lanka and Philippines visited the Tokyo Vocational Center for Persons with Disabilities on November 26, to learn about Japan's measures on employment of persons with disabilities. Mr. Shigeru Okano, director of the center, Ms. Chie Arisawa, vice-director, and Mr. Yuuki Kato, chief counselor attended the participants.
After Mr. Okano's explanation on the overview of the Center, Ms. Arisawa lectured on employment measures and vocational rehabilitation of persons with disabilities in Japan. Mr. Kato explained the center's programs in more details and then showed them around the center. Two participants also had an opportunity to practice some of vocational evaluation tools. They became so serious in challenging the tools, but Mr. Kato explained that not only the results are evaluated but the understanding of instructions and attitudes towards given tasks are also being observed. After the observation tour, the participants watched a video. The video showed examples of some worksites where persons with disabilities are working and also various supports at worksite including Job Coach arranged for persons with different disabilities to be able to work.
Although one day was a limited time, thanks to the center's kind cooperation, the participants could have its overview of employment measures and vocational rehabilitation of persons with disabilities in Japan.
http://www.jicafriends.jp/leaders/gi2008/training/l1125.html
Posted by jicafriends at 11:51 PM | Comments (0)
Training Report : November 19, 2008: Regional Training (Day 3)
Yesterday the participants met the Mayor of City of Hiroshima, Mr. Akiba, and learned directly from him about the Hiroshima's national and international efforts for the nuclear weapon free world.
This morning, the participants had an opportunity to learn more details about Hiroshima City's devotion to the cause of peace from Mr. Nobuyuki Teshima, Director, Peace Promotion Division, International Peace Promotion Department, the City of Hiroshima.
Mr. Teshima firstly explained them about the A-Bomb and its damage, and the current status of nuclear weapons in the world. Then he talked about the main projects of the City of Hiroshima such as testimonies of the A-Bomb experience, Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, A-bomb exhibitions overseas, peace information over the Internet, and Hiroshima-Nagasaki Peace Study Courses. The participants also learned the Hiroshima City's effort to abolish nuclear weapons such as Mayors for Peace, 2020 Vision Campaign etc.
(http://www.city.hiroshima.jp/e/peace.html)
The two day's visit to Hiroshima gave strong impression to the participants and they will bring the “Spirit of Hiroshima” back to home country.
In the afternoon, the participants moved to the next destination of their regional training Wakayama Prefecture! On its way, they could experience Shinkansen (Bullet Train) from Hiroshima Station to Osaka Station.
When they arrived at the hotel, though it was already in the evening, Mr. Tanaka, Ms. Ito, Mr. Kato and Mr. Takeda from Mugino-sato were there to meet the participants. As the participants had already watched a film “A Peace of Your Home” where Mugino-sato was taken as a model, the participants got really excited to meet them.
Ms. Ito and Mr. Kato talked to the participants how Mugino-sato started from scratch.
Then they explained the characteristic of Mugino-sato. The participant could have fundamental information of the organization in prior to the coming up 4 days training at Mugino-sato and its related organizations. The participants asked many questions enthusiastically and also shared their comments on the film and their expectation for the coming up training at Mugino-sato with them.
http://www.jicafriends.jp/leaders/gi2008/training/l1119.html
Posted by jicafriends at 11:48 PM | Comments (0)
Special Olympics in China
The following information was downloaded from the mailing list of "Disability and Development" with a cooperation of the publisher, Mr. Soya Mori.
on Jan 12, 2009 By Special Olympics.org
Special Olympics has long been a champion for the rights of people with intellectual disabilities. Some may be surprised to learn that China is one of Special Olympics’ greatest supporters, and is making great strides in improving lives for people with intellectual disabilities in their country.
Imagine a needy population – people traditionally shunned, ignored or denied basic rights and privileges like education, medical care and job training. Now imagine their country uniting to help them: committing unprecedented financial and human resources to bring them health care, fitness programs, literacy lessons and occupational training.
China doesn’t need to imagine any of this – they are working to make it happen, thanks to the catalyzing effect of Special Olympics. Since 1982, Special Olympics has been an influential force in China, transforming attitudes one community at a time. In the past eight years, the government has met our challenge head-on – expanding Special Olympics and services and support for people with intellectual disabilities bringing new hope to more than 700,000 athletes and their families.
Zhang Xinhui is one of these athletes. As a child, she contracted a serious illness that left her with an intellectual disability. She became unhealthy and withdrawn, refusing to talk to other children. In 2003, her devastated parents looked to Special Olympics for support. Zhang quickly discovered a love of table tennis. Months later and with the encouragement of her family, she won two gold medals – changing her life forever. Today, she is healthy, active and outgoing. In April 2007, she participated in the Special Olympics East Asia Athlete Leadership Program training course and later became a torch carrier in Japan and Korea. Her father says, “Special Olympics has given her and our family new hope.”
Attitudes in China have not always been this welcoming. Traditionally, Eastern people view the birth of a child with an intellectual disability as a punishment for misdeeds in a previous life. Xie Jin, a famous film director and father of two such children, was persecuted and made to
wear a dunce cap during the Cultural Revolution. People with intellectual disabilities were often restricted to their homes. In extreme cases, it has been suggested to parents to kill their babies.
Thanks in large part to the commitment of disability advocate Deng Pufang, the Honorary Chairman of Special Olympics China and the Chairman of the China Disabled Person’s Federation, Special Olympics China has made great strides to protect the human rights of people with
intellectual disabilities and reduce the suffering and exclusion of them and their families.
The results have been impressive. Under the leadership of Jiang Xemin and supported by now President Hu Jintao, China pledged a 5-Year Plan, later passed into law, that devoted significant government resources to growing Special Olympics China and providing new and expanded public
services for people with intellectual disabilities. In the eight years since the 5-Year Plan was put into effect, more than 500,000 new athletes participate in Special Olympics in every Province, and other changes are happening around the country in support of people with disabilities, including:
Sunshine Homes. China opened 240 Sunshine Homes in Shanghai, serving 11,500 people with intellectual disabilities. These centers teach students life skills, like reading, cooking and navigating their way in their communities.
Friendlier Facilities. Specific sports training centers have been developed for Special Olympics. And over 30 sports venues in Shanghai alone have been made more accessible to the disabled. Additionally, handicap accessible taxi-cabs are now available and education on working with people with intellectual disabilities is provided as part of training in select fields.
Inclusive Education. Inclusive preschools and kindergartens where children with and without intellectual disabilities can learn together are now available in Shanghai. These will serve as a model for additional schools throughout China. The government also conducted awareness research among 4,000 middle-school youth to assess their awareness and understanding of intellectual disabilities.
Better Medical Care. The Chinese government helped to establish the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Special Olympics Sports Health Center in Shanghai, a collaboration between the Wenzhou Medical College and Special Olympics. The Health Center provides for health-care services and medical research benefiting people with intellectual disabilities throughout East Asia.
This amazing growth of inclusion and opportunity throughout China culminated in the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games, hosted in Shanghai. The Games brought together 7,300 athletes and 40,000 volunteers from 164 countries, filling Shanghai Stadium to its 80,000-seat capacity during the Opening Ceremony. The ceremony was a show of unity and a demonstration to everyone in attendance just how powerful Special Olympics can be in bringing people from every corner of the world together to focus on a shared goal.
The next morning, at the 2007 Global Policy Summit on People with Intellectual Disabilities, Vice-Premier of the People’s Republic of China Hui Liangyu credited Special Olympics with inspiring all of its positive change: “Special Olympics came to China more than 20 years ago and is now an important part of our communities, schools and families. These Games have brought hope to thousands of people with intellectual disabilities and their families, and have become an important force driving the cause of human rights in China.”
Though we have had a measurable impact in China and in other countries, there is still so much work to be done for people with intellectual disabilities around the world. Even in places with laws that protect the rights of the disabled, they and their families continue to suffer without the support of their communities.
Help us bring Special Olympics to more places where the need is great. Your donation empowers families by giving them a place to gather, a chance to cheer for their loved ones and a voice to raise in support of their children.
http://www.universalsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=23000&ATCLID=3644319
Posted by jicafriends at 10:12 AM | Comments (0)
January 08, 2009
Training Report : December 9, 2008: Presentation of Project Plan
The presentation of Project Plan was held at JICA Tokyo today. The nine participants explained what they are planning to do upon their return to home country, what they learned from the training course in Japan, and which learning they applied in their project plan.
The presentations were made in the following order.
Please click the project title to read the whole text.
1. Participant from Turkey
Title: Underground Women
In Turkey, women with disability are kept inside the house by their families and do not participate in social sphere. They are even not aware of their own rights and do not discuss about the difficulties they face in their life. In order to improve this situation, this project aims to provide an opportunity to introduce human rights of persons with disabilities in order to help them discuss their problems and to encourage them participate in social activities. For this purpose, 10 human rights and advocacy workshops will be organized in 10 different cities of Turkey. The target group is women with different disabilities of age between 18 and 35 years old. At the end of this project, 250 women with disabilities from 10 different cities are expected to have a contact with each other, to have better understanding of their rights, and to exercise their rights. The period of project is 2 years and the total budget is estimated at US$22,500.
2. Participant from Malawi
Title: Disability For Ability Project (DIFAP)
In Malawi, persons with disabilities are despised as second class citizens and have been victims of different kinds of abuses. However these abuses have not been reported because the victims do not know about their rights or even if they have the knowledge they are not confident enough to go and report due to negative public attitudes. This project, in effort of tackling this problem, aims to alleviate abuse and discrimination of persons with disabilities through awareness raising and capacity building so that persons with disabilities fully enjoy their human rights and participate in social and economic and other spheres of life. To achieve this goal, human rights resource unit will be established to provide information on human rights to people with disabilities in order to raise their awareness of human rights issues. The five-day advocacy and human rights training will also be provided to 20 participants, mainly the members of FEDOMA (Federation of Disability Organizations in Malawi) who already have some experience in advocacy. In addition abuse prevention workshops will be organized and the graduates of these workshops will train other 25 people at a grassroots level which will bring more players in the fight against abuses. In this project it is also expected to create a good working relationship with the media, have meetings with the parliament committee and governmental officials, and to organize public lectures and rallies etc. It is a 2 years project from January 2009 to December 2010. The total budget is estimated at US$54,874.
3. Participant from Kazakhstan
Title: KNOWLEDGE for CHANGE - the counseling and education center
In Kazakhstan persons with disabilities tend to have low self-esteem and do not know how to exercise their rights. This project aims to create the human rights center. This center provides counseling to persons with disabilities, conducts trainings to teach basic rights, conducts seminars on disability understanding in order to increase the self-esteem of persons with disabilities and also to make people without disabilities to understand and accept people with disabilities, and conducts the open days and demonstrations in order to promote the rights of persons with disabilities. The target beneficiaries are people with different disabilities between 16 and 40 years old. The total duration of the project is 2 years from May 2009 to May 2011 excluding the preparation stage. The total budget is expected at US$41,232.
4. Participant from Costa Rika
Title: Vamos (Let's Go)
People with disabilities in Perez Zeledon, Costa Rica, are excluded from a society. They do not have access to cultural and sports activities and feel afraid to go out. To change this situation, this project will provide persons with disabilities opportunities to participate in different social activities such as sports, cultural events and other entertainment. In these events, persons with disabilities will also receive information about their rights and how to solve their problems. In order to carry out these activities, a group of volunteers will also be organized to assist persons with disabilities in their going out. At the end of the project, they are expected to be more confident so that they can visit public places and use the public transportation, and they can see themselves as members of the community just as persons without disabilities. The project period is 1 year from January to December 2009. The total budget is US$8,900.
5. Participant from Lao P.D.R.
Title: Braille Newsletter
LDPA (Lao Disabled People's Association) distributes more than 2,000 newsletters monthly to its members in 11 provinces of the country but currently the newsletters are issued only in a printed form. Therefore there have been requests for newsletters in Braille from the members with visual impairment. With this project, exactly the same contents of the newsletters will be transcribed into Braille and sent it out to all the members with visual impairments of age between 15 and 30 years old. It is expected that this project gives them a better access to information, gives an opportunity to learn about many things and a possibility to find jobs later on. It is also expected to change their life and also the society's negative attitude towards them. The project period is 2 years between January 2009 and December 2010. The total budget is estimated at US$ 22,400.
6. Participant from Uganda
Title: Enable Me Work to Live Independently Project 2009-2011 (01, 02)
This project aims to promote increased access to employment among persons with disabilities and it is a pilot project to be implemented in the 23 sub-counties of Masaka District for 2 years from 2009 to 2011. The targeted beneficiaries are the 300 adults with disabilities of age between 18 and 40 years old; 140 persons with physical disorders, 50 persons with hearing impairment, 50 persons with visual impairment, and 60 persons with intellectual disabilities. The project will (1) ensure observance of rights of persons with disabilities at the workplace, (2) eliminate discrimination against persons with disabilities in the recruitment and hiring process, and (3) to promote increased participation of persons with disabilities in lobbying and advocating for their employment rights and building their careers. The total budget is estimated at US$30,352.
7. Participant from Sri Lanka
The goal of this project is to provide an opportunity for children with intellectual disabilities to participate in sports activities so that they can enhance their physical and mental capabilities as well as social participation. The project target is 41 children with intellectual disabilities in Puthuvazhupoonga (garden for new life) Training Centre for Children with Intellectual Disabilities and 30 children with intellectual disabilities in villages. This project will (1) provide sports and exercise equipments, (2) provide sports training to resource teachers, CBR voluntaries and children club members, (3) create more opportunities to participate in the sports activities for children with intellectual disabilities in Puthuvazhupoonga, and (4) secure access to the sports activities to children with intellectual disabilities in the villages. The duration of project is 6 months. The total budget is estimated at US$7,038.
8. Participant from Philippines
Title: Laundry Service
This plan aims to employ more persons with disability in order to generate employment for persons with disability to uplift their economic conditions. For this goal, a laundry shop will be set up and 15 wheelchair users of age between 20 and 55 years old will be employed. In addition, 4 persons without disabilities and 6 persons with intellectual disability will also be employed for the tasks that are difficult for the wheelchair users. The potential clients are hotels and hospital which outsource their laundries. The project period is 1 year. The total budget is estimated at US$ 780,000.
9. Participant from Jordan
Title: Al Nahada Human Rights Unit： YOU Have A Voice ‘Enndk Sowt’
In Jordan, persons with disabilities suffer from ‘invisibility,’ being viewed as ‘objects’ of protection, treatment and assistance rather than subjects of rights, and as a result, they are excluded from mainstream society. Disability movement at local and national level is considered weak, which has affected their participation in decision-making process in public policies and also the lobbying and advocacy activities concerning the rights of persons with disabilities. In addition insufficient attention has been paid to human rights issues for persons with disabilities even though they have been discriminated and excluded in daily life. In order to change this situation, this project aims to ensure the promotion and mainstreaming of human rights of persons with disabilities. The project consists of (1) establishing a library with a collection of books, documents, reports etc. related to human rights of persons with disabilities, (2) holding workshops in awarenessraising, lobbying, advocacy and capacity building, (3) teaching the members of Al Nahda Association for Persons with Disabilities how to be more effective advocates for human rights and social justice, and (4) encouraging persons with disabilities to exercise their human rights. The target beneficiaries are community in general and the assiciation members of age between 18 and 70 years old. The project period is between January 2009 and April 2010. The total budget is estimated at US$39,595.
http://www.jicafriends.jp/leaders/gi2008/training/l1118.html
Posted by jicafriends at 10:46 PM | Comments (0)
Training Report : December 8, 2008 AM: UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) was adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 2006, two years ago by now. Many of the participants' countries have signed the treaty and some have already ratified it. But from the discussion and opinion exchange so far, it has been made clear that even ratified, the reality that persons with disabilities are facing each day has not changed and is still far from what the convention aims for.
This morning the participants had the last lecture of the training program in Japan and the topic was CRPD. The lecturer is Mr. Takanori Sai, who belongs to DPI-Japan and is in charge of CRPD. DPI-Japan serves as the secretariat of the committee on promoting the convention of Japan Disability Forum (JDF) and Mr. Sai has been involved in coordinating disability NGOs and the government including meetings and negotiation with the government etc.
Mr. Sai firstly explained why CRPD is necessary despite of many previous international laws concerning human rights and then the meaning of CRPD. He talked about paradigm shift in attitude and approaches towards persons with disabilities, changing from the view as “objects” of charity, medical treatment and social protection to the “subjects” with rights. The concepts of anti-discrimination and inclusion are at the base of the convention and it aims to ensure equality. He emphasized the participation of NGO and persons with disabilities in the process. Lastly he gave an explanation on the structure and main contents of CRPD.
Although some participants already had good knowledge about CRPD, today's lecture gave a clear and structural overview of CRPD. The participants asked questions including “why Japan has not ratified CRPD?” and “how can they make the convention into reality in their respective counties where disabled people's organizations and persons with disabilities movements are not as strong as in Japan?” Mr. Sai again put emphasis on the importance of movements and involvement of persons with disabilities, and encouraged the participants to use the convention as a tool and keep lobbying for the realization of CRPD. As the DPI's slogan says, “Nothing about us, without us!”
http://www.jicafriends.jp/leaders/gi2008/training/l1208am.html
Posted by jicafriends at 10:43 PM | Comments (0)
Training Report : November 18, 2008: Regional Training (Day 2)
AM: Visit to Peace Memorial Museum, Peace Memorial Park
In the morning the participants visited the Peace Memorial Museum located inside the Peace Memorial Park.
When they arrived, five Peace Volunteers were already waiting for them at the entrance.
They were wearing fluorescent yellowish green windbreakers which attracted people's attention.
Peace Volunteers belong to the museum and they show the visitors around the museum and the park and they also appeal to the visitors for the abolition of nuclear weapons and realization of the world peace.
The museum kindly made a special arrangement so that the participants with visual impairment could touch and feel objects such as bottles and nails melted by the strong heat of the atomic bomb. While going around the museum, the Peace Volunteers gave a keen explanation on the exhibitions and also answered the questions raised by the participants.
Thanks to Peace Volunteers, the participants could see what happened to Hiroshima 63 years ago.
After the lunch the participants walked around the Peace Memorial Park.
The cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims is inscribed with the words ”Let all the souls here rest in peace, for we shall not repeat the evil.“
The stone chest in the center holds the registry of the names of persons who died from the bombing, regardless of nationality.
The participants then saw a statue of a girl, Sadako Sasaki, who was exposed to the A-bomb at the age two, contracted leukemia ten years later and passed away.
( http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/kids/KPSH_E/hiroshima_e/sadako_e/sadako18_e.html)
Thousand cranes were folded by people all over the world with hearty prayers for the peace, and the participants were impressed with so many of them displayed around the statue of Sadako.
The famous A-Bomb Dome was registered as the UNESCO World Heritage in 1996.
The dome is a witness of the disaster of the first atomic bombing in history, and also a symbol of the vow to pursue the abolition of nuclear weapons and enduring peace.
It was a sunny autumn day and the participants enjoyed the walk around the park.
This is also a season for school study trips in Japan and so the park was very busy with many visitors. Several times the participants were asked by students to write peace messages.
http://www.jicafriends.jp/leaders/gi2008/training/l1118.html
Posted by jicafriends at 10:39 PM | Comments (0)
January 07, 2009
Make internet more accessible to the disabled: rights group-India
We found the name of Mr.JaJaved Abidi, the former participant of Leaders' Course 1995 in the following information. It was downloaded from the mailing list of "Disability and Development" with a cooperation of the publisher, Mr. Soya Mori.
Jan 5th, 2009 | By Sindh Today | Category: India
New Delhi, Jan 5 (IANS) In order to make the internet more accessible to all, including the disabled, a rights group has asked for adoption of web accessibility standard which has already been adopted in a number of other countries.
‘India had ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Oct 2007. However, no move has been made till date to adopt or make mandatory web accessibility guidelines in our country,", director of the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP) said.
‘Consequently, a lot of government and private web sites are inaccessible for persons with disabilities, defeating the very purpose of Information and Communication (ICT) for development,’ he added.
According to Abidi, countries like the US, Britain, Canada and Australia have enacted laws which make it mandatory for creators of web pages to follow the minimum standards so that they are easily accessible to all.
‘It’s not a huge task to increase the web’s utility so that everyone can take advantage of it. Web page creators can take care that text descriptions are provided for those pages which contain images and graphics which cannot be understood by screen readers. Key board alternatives for every function which has to be executed with a mouse can also be of great help,’ he said.
Some other suggestions like avoiding colours to convey any meaning and creation of links so that a screen reader can directly go to the content page instead of getting confused with a whole lot of directions would also help in making the web more accessible to the disabled, he added.
‘Countries like Britain and Australia, which have a disabled population of 10 million and 3.9 million respectively, have successfully made web accessibility initiative. But India, with a much larger population of disabled people, at 21.9 million according to the 2001 census, has not made any such efforts.’
‘It is important that a policy which not only requires government sites, but also the sites of all publicly listed companies, to conform to web accessibility standards,’ Abidi said.
http://www.sindhtoday.net/south-asia/48105.htm
Posted by jicafriends at 08:52 PM | Comments (0)
January 06, 2009
Firms urged to give 2pc of jobs to disabled-Malaysia
The following information was downloaded from the mailing list of "Disability and Development" with a cooperation of the publisher, Mr. Soya Mori.
PEKAN: Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak proposed yesterday that private sector companies reserve two per cent of their jobs for the disabled.
"In this way, more disabled would be able to serve the companies and lead a better future," said Najib.
"It's part of your corporate social responsibility.
"You have been providing financial assistance to them, so now you can offer them suitable jobs in your organisations," he said after attending the Excellence Day ceremony for Pekan Community
Rehabilitation Centre (PDK) at SMK Sri Pekan yesterday.
The deputy prime minister said that countries like Japan had a legal provision compelling the private sector to offer jobs to the disabled.
"If they fail to provide the jobs, then the firm must provide financial assistance to the government to help the disabled.
"This is just my suggestion to the private sector. I hope they will offer assistance to the disabled"
Najib said the PDKs must adopt a culture of excellence to improve further.
"As human beings, we will never be able to achieve our dreams if we fail to adopt the excellence culture.
"We have to always equip ourselves in all aspects as the people will evaluate us through our achievements."
Najib later handed out excellence awards to outstanding disabled individuals and their parents at the function.
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Sunday/National/2443420/Article/index_html
Posted by jicafriends at 05:50 PM | Comments (0)
E-Newsletter from YPSA-Bangladesh
We've received a following newsletter from the Young Power in Social Action, NGO which Sadia san, a participant of Vocational Rehab. Course 2008 belongs to.
The secretariat of jicafriends
Posted by jicafriends at 08:45 AM | Comments (0)
Report from Shalika-Sri Lanka
Bicentennial Celebrations of the Birth of Louis Braille
Two hundred years have elapsed since the birth of Louis Braille and the Braille System he invented in 1824 remains to date the most widely used printed form of communication among the vision impaired. On 4th January 2009, we commemorate the bicentenary of the birth of this ingenious person who developed a system of writing and printing for the sightless when he was only 15 years old. His was an embossing system that was easy to print and read by individuals and thus surpassed those of Valentin Hauy, William Moon and Charles Barbier. With the 63 combinations of the six dots, Braille to the blind is what writing is to the sighted. The fact that the Braille System still has not had a worthy contender lies in its logical and practical design. Since 1824, Braille has undergone several modifications including the introduction of the Nemeth code and the musical notation code which have expanded possibilities of vision impaired persons reaching their fullest potential.
Some believed in the past that computers would pose a threat to the existence of Braille. On the contrary, they have increased the overall availability and use of Braille. Most importantly, they have become common ground where sighted and sightless meet as equals. The unification of Braille codes, making Braille parallel to print, will consequently bring about equitable access to literacy by the blind. Whatever progress Braille has made today with the aid of technology, we owe it all to Louis Braille for, if not for his ingenious invention of the six dot code, the blind may still be in the dark. Almost two centuries gone, his original code still remains the core of the Braille Code we use today. I am sure that it will be so for at least another two hundred years more.
In gratitude to this great Frenchman, the Sri Lanka Council for the Blind (SLCB) organised the national celebrations of his two hundredth birth anniversary on 04th January 2009. The ceremony was held under the patronage of the Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of France in Sri Lanka at the Public Library, Colombo. The Chief guest unveiled a photograph of Louis Braille before he addressed the gathering. Guest of Honour, the Secretary to the Ministry of Social Service and Social Welfare and other special guests also addressed the gathering. Proceedings also included the singing of the Louis braille song composed by two blind persons, the award of scholarships to several deserving vision impaired students, presentation of slates to blind school leavers and the presentation of SLCB’s first magazine “Sadisi” on matters related to the vision impaired community to the Chief Guest. SLCB launched the Sinhala Text to Speech Softwre “Nuwana” on the same day. Any vision impaired person can obtain it free of charge from SLCB.
Posted by jicafriends at 08:35 AM | Comments (0)
January 05, 2009
Newsletter from United Voice-Malaysia
We are please to announce that our 2008 December Newsletter is available for download at our website http://www.unitedvoice.com.my
We would also like to inform you that we will be changing our email address to unitedvoiceinfo@gmail.com with effective from 1st January 2009.
You may email us at this address for any future correspondence.
Thank you & wishing you a very Happy New Year!
Regards,
United Voice Team
Posted by jicafriends at 06:39 PM | Comments (0)