East Wind
Official Newsletter of the
World Blind Union-Asia Pacific No. 13
Please visit the World Blind Union-Asia Pacific
website: www.wbuap.org
Contents of this issue:
Message from the Editorial Team
TheWBUAP Mid-Term General Assembly
East Wind -Tell Us What You Think
Update on the 12th World Blind Union Asia-Pacific massage
seminar
Update on Typhoon Heyan
United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with
Disabilities Seminar in
Vientiane, Lao PDR
Looking Backward from the Position of President
Future Leaders Sighted Guide experience
Delivering More Young Blind Leaders For Indonesia.
Milestone for Royal Society for the Blind Industrial
Services
The Teruko Ikeda Ict Program and its life-changing
blessings
Contact Details
Message from the Editorial Team
The East Wind Editorial Team would like to wish
everyone a happy New Year 2014.
May 2014 bring peace, happiness and prosperity
to your organisation, family and your goodself.
The region welcomes 2014 with
great excitement as we look forward to two events; the 12th WBUAP Regional
Massage Seminar in Thailand in May and the Mid-
Term General Assembly in Hong
Kong in
November.
We hope you will take the opportunity to
participate in these events to learn more about the good work for people who
are blind or vision impaired in this region.
We appreciate all your contributions of
news/information - please keep them coming. Happy reading.
The East Wind Editorial Team
The WBUAP Mid-Term
General Assembly
Ivan Ho, Secretary-General
World Blind Union Asia-Pacific Region
Mr. Chong Chan-Yau, as President of the
Hong Kong Blind Union (HKBU) has offered to host
the WBUAP Mid-Term General
Assembly, and your Board and Policy
Council at its Skype Meeting on 12
November 2013 has gratefully accepted the kind
offer.
The Assembly is planned to be held in
Hong Kong from 22-26 November 2014.
Details will be given to you as soon as they
are available, including the registration fee
which will be somewhat similar to that charged for the Assembly in Japan.
Plans are also underway to hold thematic
sessions to coincide with the Assembly, which should include some of the
following topics - workshops on fundraising, ICT, employment, the UNCRPD,
youth, women, etc., not forgetting an exhibition on low- and high-tech
equipment.
Although the date is rather far away, please do
start making plans to select your delegation, raising the necessary funds and
preparing the Country Reports.
If you have proposals, resolutions or amendments
to be made to the
Constitution, kindly forward them to Mr.
Ivan Ho, Secretary General, not later than three
months prior to the Assembly for the necessary actions to be taken.
We also appeal to you to send the updated list
of delegates - names, designations, email addresses - for sending announcements
and invitation letters in preparation for this wonderful and exciting gathering
of people who are blind from across the region to network and share
experiences.
East Wind -Tell Us What You Think
The East Wind Editorial Team of the
Asia-Pacific Region of the World Blind
Union enjoy preparing East Wind for you twice
each year. We would like to hear from you, our readers about the articles in
this newsletter, and whether you, or your colleagues find East Wind useful.
Please help the Editorial Team by contacting us
and answering the four questions below:
1) What articles do you like to read in
East Wind?
2) What articles or subjects don't you like
reading about in East Wind?
3) What other topics would you like to read
about in East Wind?
4) Are there other ways we can help you to share
information about blindness and disability in the Asia-Pacific
Region of the World Blind Union?
You are welcome to contact the Editorial Team
and we always appreciate hearing from you. You can find our contact details at
the end of this newsletter.
Thank you
Update on the 12th World Blind Union Asia-Pacific massage seminar
This event will be held from 5-7 May 2014 at the
Golden Tulip Sovereign Hotel in
Bangkok, Thailand.
Abstract submissions have closed and we have
received almost 40 abstracts.
Online registration is now ready: http://www.wbuapseminar20 1 4 .org/
The registration fee for Delegates is
280 USD and for accompanying persons is 230 USD.
The fee includes lunch and coffee breaks (5-7 May), welcome reception (5 May),
farewell dinner (7 May), site visit
(7 May), airport transfer (during
4-8 May).Online registration will be available
until 31 March 2014.
For more information please contact Secretariat,
Miss Yaowalak,
Thailand Association of the Blind
(TAB) Email: 12thwbuap@gmail.com
Update
on Typhoon Heyan Randy Weisser
Resources for the Blind,
Republic of the Philippines
All of our staff, including the ones in the area
of the typhoon, are safe. Unfortunately there are many towns that were utterly
devastated by Typhoon Heyan. We are just beginning to get our staff into some
of those areas to see how we can help.
We work with about 350 children who are blind in
about 90 school programs that were all in the path of the typhoon. It will take
quite a while to visit all the programs.
We already have some reports of houses and
schools destroyed and some families of blind children in very difficult
situations. Our plan is for some initial emergency help, but our bigger role
will be to help in rebuilding some of the homes and the SPED Centers (Special
Education Centers).
Another concern is for the equipment and
materials that were lost in the SPED
Centers. When the schools are rebuilt, the SPED
Centers will not be the first priority for the government, so that's where we
will try to help. We will help both with rebuilding or repairs of the SPED
Centers and with replacing the equipment and materials that were lost, in order
to make sure the children
who are blind are also able to return to school.
If you have any contacts in your community that
would like to help with the recovery efforts for families with children who are
blind, and/orwith the SPED Centers, we have a donation button on our website
www. blind .org. ph
Please
convert the amount to pesos when making a donation, and specify ’Typhoon Relief
Aid’.
Whatever we can do both to meet the short- term
physical needs and for the long-term educational needs will be a big
encouragement to these children, their families and their teachers.
Based on previous reconstruction efforts after
the 2007 typhoon, we expect to spend about US $8,000 for each school to repair
the resource room for students who are blind or vision impaired, and about US
$3,400 for each home repaired or rebuilt.
Thanks for all your assistance and prayers
United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities
Seminar in
Vientiane, Lao PDR
9-10 July 2013
Pratya Wimanrat
National Coordinator & Advisor
Lao Association of the Blind
Background
Lao PDR is a landlocked country located in
Southeast Asia; the north is adjacent to
Myanmar, China and Vietnam, the west borders
upon Thailand, the east borders
Vietnam and the country borders Cambodia in the
south.
The government of Lao PDR signed the
UNCRPD on 15 January 2008 and ratified it on 25
September 2009. Since then, the government has issued the National Policy on
Inclusive Education (NPIE) and the
National Strategy and Action Plan on
Inclusive Education (NS & AP).
In 2013, Lao Association of the Blind (LAB)
collaborated with Lao Disabled People’s
Association, Thailand Association of the
Blind and Vietnam Blind Association to organise
a seminar on the UNCRPD in order to educate government on the rights and
benefits to people who are blind or vision-impaired from this legislation.
The Seminar was held at the meeting hall of
Vansana Riverside Hotel during
9-10 July 2013 and was attended by 48
participants drawn from the auspicing organisations, as well as from the Lao
Ministries of Information Culture and
Tourism, Home Affairs, Education and
Sports, and Labour and Social Welfare.
Representatives from Lao media also attended .
The seminar began with Senator Monthian Buntan,
the Vice-president of TAB giving a speech about the CRPD, and the
organizational structure, roles and responsibilities of the UN Committee on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Ms.Dinh VietAnh, the representative of
VBA then gave a speech concerning policies of
the Vietnamese government on people with disabilities in Vietnam and how people
who are blind or vision impaired in
Vietnam are supported by government programs,
policies and legislation.
Mr.Vaiyolinh, the representative of the Lao Ministry
of Information, Culture and Tourism made a presentation describing the Lao
media, including print media, radio, television and digital media. He suggested
that organizations of people with disabilities should make known their
information needs to the ministry.
Senator Monthian suggested the use of radio to
broadcast information from newspapers and other publications to people who are
blind or vision-impaired and the use of audio-description and closed captioning
for people who are deaf.
Mr.Siphai Khiemsounthone, the Vice-
president of LAB asked Mr.Vaiyolinh if it was possible to
provide a radio program for the blind for free. Mr.Vaiyolinh suggested that LAB
submit a proposal to the government. Senator Monthian gave some examples of
radio programs for people who are blind in Thailand.
Mr.Nouanta of LDPA gave a speech concerning the
functions, composition and structure of LDPA, and its projects in Lao PDR. He
discussed the rights of people with disabilities in Lao PDR, social and
rehabilitation supports available for victims of accidents, vocational
training, employment and investment, inclusive education and production
training, medical rehabilitation and sports for people with disabilities.
On the second day of the seminar, Senator
Monthian gave a speech concerning the history of education for people who are
blind in Thailand and recent initiatives for
inclusive education. Participants were told about the Thai legislation for
people with disabilities, educational supports for disabled students such as
free tuition and assistive technology. He also spoke about problems such as the
lack of access to textbooks in accessible formats, lack of access to transport,
limited O&M training, and difficulty in obtaining employment opportunities
after graduation.
Ms.Yang Xia Lee, the Director of the Lao
Inclusive Education Centre presented on the NPIE and NS&AP on IE, recent
Lao policy initiatives in inclusive education targeting women, girls, ethnic
minorities and people with disabilities.
Ms Yang Xia Lee explained that the first phase
of educational reform was commenced in 2008, and Lao PDR is currently involved
in the second phase of educational reform.
Physical accessibility of new educational
facilities and workplaces has increased, especially in the buildings of the
Ministry of Education and Sports. All restraints hindering inclusive education
will be eradicated through new legislation because the government has a policy
to provide inclusive education for students with disabilities in 12 percent of
all schools in
Laos.
Students who are blind or vision impaired taking
examinations at school will be allowed additional time for reading questions.
Inclusive education will be achieved as expected only when families of disabled
people accept and participate in it.
Scholarships will be provided for students with
disabilities from poor families who demonstrate good academic results.
The two day CRPD Seminar gave a lot of
interesting information to the participants as well as a stage for all to
exchange lessons and experiences.
The fruitful seminar ran smoothly; before the
end of the last session, some participants proposed in a plenary meeting that
they would like to attend such a seminar again to keep updating their
knowledge. News of the seminar was broadcast at a national level by Lao media.
Looking backward from the position of
President
Mr. Aungko Myint is the President of the
Myanmar National Association of the Blind after
being elected at the general Assembly on 27 May 2013.
The second in a family of four siblings, he has
never experienced full sight but can see light and bright colours.
He began his education at Kyimyindine school for
the blind, run by the government social welfare department. He studied at a
regular state secondary school as his mother was a teacher there. At that time,
his father worked for an insurance company.
Mr. Aungko then attended the Myanmar
Christian Fellowship of the Blind to continue
studying high school subjects then going on to university. After his graduation
with a major in Philosophy, MrAungko started his struggle to find employment.
He encountered the question from his family
members: “What kind of job are you thinking of when you know that you cannot
see? Maybe you can teach the students at the blind school if you have a burning
desire to work.” That question became an inspiration for him.
He met and became friends with a photographer
living nearby. He had always been curious about photography and how the picture
found its way from the camera to the paper. The photographer explained about
taking pictures and developing film in darkness.
MrAungko jumped up and shouted “I got it!”. His
friend was astonished as he could not understand what the blind man meant.
The following week, the friends became business
partners, opening a photography shop at Mr. Aungko’s house. Family members were
surprised when they found that a blind man was indeed sharing in the business
by undertaking the task of developing film while his partner took photographs.
In 1998, Mr. Aungko was selected to attend leadership
training in Thailand, organized by the WBUAP region. This training resulted in
his parents’ increasing trust in his abilities, and he was afterwards employed
as a manager in his parent’s business, (Asia Star Ruby, Child
Development and Learning Center).
He attended another training seminar in Japan -
The second Duskin Leadership
Training (2000-2001). He also obtained a
Bachelor of Ministry from Christian
Theology school, a Japanese language
diploma from the University of Foreign
Language and a Diploma of Social Work from
Yangon University.
He started working in the social development
field as a national coordinator of the Foundation for Advanced Studies on International
Development from 2007-2010 and holding the post of Operating Director of the
Myanmar Independent Living
Initiative from 2011 until now.
Mr. Aungko is one of the founding members of
Myanmar’s National Association of the
Blind founded in 1996. He was elected to the
executive committee in the year 2000.
Members elected him as the General
Secretary at the next General Assembly in 2004.
He devotedly fulfilled the role of General
Secretary with all his ability and resources
from 2004 to 2013.
The ninth General Assembly of MNAB was held in
Yangon, Central Hotel on 26-27 May 2013. At the election for the executive
committee, all members unanimously elected Mr. Aungko Myint as president for
the term from 2013 to 2017.
He has so far organized an international
partnership to implement a development program for people who are vision
impaired in Myanmar.
Future leaders Sighted Guide experience Royal Society for the Blind -
South Australia
Future business leaders from Australia and
abroad have had the chance to experience what life would be like to be vision
impaired,
thanks to a sighted guide experience run by the
Royal Society for the Blind (RSB).
In September, RSB Orientation and Mobility Instructors
provided the experience for 11
RSB in-business Young Business Leaders (YBL) and
16 AusAID Australia Award
Fellows, who are in the country on a
Flinders University facilitated 10-week program
to further their knowledge in the disability sector.
Hailing from Cambodia, Indonesia,
Mongolia and Vietnam, the Fellows are current
and aspiring leaders who will eventually be in a position to advance key
regional policy objectives in their home countries relating to disability.
Flinders University and the RSB’s YBL program
have enjoyed a close relationship, and last year invited the 16 Fellows along
to the sighted guide activity for in-business
Young Business Leaders for the first time.
YBL Coordinator, Heather McCulloch says the
success of last year’s experience ensured the activity continued once again,
and did so to rave reviews.
“The YBL Participants and the AusAID
Fellows were able to get an understanding of the
services provided to people who are blind or vision impaired through RSB
Orientation and Mobility Instructors.
“They learnt the techniques involved in how to
guide someone who is blind or vision impaired and after the demonstration, they
had the chance to put into practice what they’d learnt.
“The YBL participants and Fellows loved the
sighted guide experience, and it really helps them put into perspective the
challenges faced by people who are blind or vision impaired on a daily basis.”
To find out more about the RSB’s services or the
in-business Young Business Leaders program call (618) 8417 5555 or visit www.
rsb .org .au .
Delivering More Young Blind Leaders for Indonesia
Aria Indrawati, Third Vice President
Pertuni - The Indonesian Blind Union
Pertuni –The Indonesian Blind Union – conducted
the National University Blind Student Meeting in Jakarta, on 29-30
October 201 3.
Forty university students who are blind came
from 12 provinces located all over the country. The main objective of the two
day meeting was to encourage university students who are blind - as future
leaders of the blind of Indonesia - to become involved more intensively in the
disability movement at the national, regional and global level.
This event was sponsored by The Nippon
Foundation, that was channeled to Pertuni through the ICEVI - International
Council of Education for People with Visual
Impairment - Higher Education project.
At the opening ceremony, speeches were delivered
by three important presenters:
Didi Tarsidi - The President of Pertuni,
Larry Campbell - President Emeritus of
ICEVI and ICEVI higher education project
Director, and Sakhyan Asmara,
representative of the Minister of Youth and
Sport of The Republic of Indonesia.
Since 2006, Pertuni has been working together
with ICEVI, with the support of The Nippon Foundation, to exelerate access to
higher education in Indonesia for students who are blind.
The main objective of this project has been to
develop inclusive higher education for everybody, including students with a
vision impairment.
After working hard at a grassroots level,
establishing student service centers both using university - and resource
center-
based approaches, providing students in
secondary school with university preparation training, Pertuni was able to
contribute to policy making.
Since last year, together with representatives
of university partners,
Pertuni has been working together with The
Ministry of Education of The Republic of
Indonesia, to draft a Ministerial decree on inclusive
higher education and the guideline on how to develop an inclusive university
campus. After being inspired by several universities which had worked together
with Pertuni to become “inclusive universities”, other universities have
followed the example.
Pertuni has also observed that after working
hard on this project for seven years, the number ofstuents who are blind
pursuing higher education has increased by 30 per cent.
The other reason why Pertuni has been very eager
to work together with ICEVI for
this project is to nurture more and more
qualified young leaders who are blind or vision impaired for our country, in
order to continue the work of the current leaders.
Pertuni has realized that, while primary and
secondary education is important, tertiary or higher education is a strategic
way to develop more and more qualified leaders who are blind for Indonesia.
Pertuni believes that there should be more blind
people with access to higher education, including systematic and structured
support within the universities themselves.
Before this project existed in Indonesia, there
was no systematic effort to support blind people to pursue higher education.
Therefore, pursuing higher education for most students living with blindness
was very stressful and difficult. Only a few people who are blind managed to
finish their studies,while many dropped out.
Through this project, Pertuni has introduced
technology as a solution to deal with the most challenging problems in pursuing
higher education. Technology has been introduced as a means to gain access to
reference materials and to allow independent study - conducting research and
writing theses.
Pertuni maintains that universities should be
welcoming environments, both phisically and socially, in order to make
everybody – including people who are blind feel more comfortable studying in
tertiary education.
As a progressive organization, Pertuni wishes to
involve university students who
are blind to promote inclusive, higher education
as the main stakeholders.
In order to motivate these young people who are
blind, Pertuni conducted the above mentioned national blind university
students’ meeting, inviting blind students from all over Indonesia.
Within the meeting, the participants enjoyed
five sessions. The first session was information-based. In these sessions,
Larry Campbell, Arnt Holte –WBU President, and Didi Tarsidi delivered
up-to-date information about the disability movement at the global, regional
and national level, and encouraged the attendees to participate, and prepare
themselves to continue the work of the current blind leaders. The presence of
Arnt Holte and Didi Tarsidi - senior leaders within the blindness movement was
designed to inspire the participants to pursue their ambitions.
The second session involved group sharing.
Successful young university graduates who are blind were invited to make
presentations.
Then followed a session on the CRPD and a
related case study. Within this session, participants were divided into groups
where they discussed particular topics related to
CRPD and discrimination experienced by blind
people in Indonesia. After the group discussion, one group representative was
asked to present a summary of their discussion for the whole forum.
The next session was more therapeutic; using
hypnotherapy techniques, the students were provided with necessary skills and
capacity to prepare themselves to become future leaders for Indonesia. The
skills included how to break “mental blocks”,
how to maintain their spirits, the importance of having dreams and the
knowledge to understand the way to pursue those dreams.
The last session was reflective. Within this
session, a facilitator assisted the future young blind leaders to review the
sessions they had experienced during the two day meeting.
After the reflection session, the participants
declared that they would establish a network, using Facebook as their
communication tool, and have begun being involved in Pertuni’s work to promote
inclusive education. It was really a good start.
Milestone for Royal Society for the Blind Industrial Services
While it may have started from humble
beginnings, the Royal Society for the Blind (RSB) Industrial Services has grown
in leaps and bounds and will next year celebrate being in operation for 130
years.
It took the vision of a blind
man to truly appreciate the needs of people who were blind or vision impaired,
and in 1884
AndrewWhyte Hendry started an
industrial training school for the blind which has grown into the multi-faceted
RSB of the 21st century. And while the entire organisation celebrates its
monumental 130th
Anniversary next year, the
milestone is particularly poignant for RSB Industrial
Services .
Currently RSB Industrial Services provides
meaningful, sustainable employment for 70
South Australians who are blind or vision
impaired, and over the years has established a strong reputation for quality
and efficient delivery of packaging and assembly solutions.
However, RSB Industrial Services
Manager, Mark Burleigh, says the staff are the
service’s biggest focus and asset.
“The sustainability of the RSB Industrial
Services factory comes from the diverse range of
services we provide and the high quality work we can deliver,” says Mark.
“However, the benefits are two fold as we are
able to provide long-term, sustainable employment for people who are blind or
vision impaired who may not otherwise have a job, and we pay the highest
supported wage in Australia.”
And RSB Industrial Services staff member Cuong
Duong, who has the degenerative eye condition, Stargardt Macular
Degeneration, echoes Mark’s sentiments. “I love
that it’s varied – I could be doing anything from food packaging to padlock
assembling, while just last week I was putting together laundry tubs and
blister packs. I also enjoy the people and working as part of a team.
“I just love being here. I can’t put it any other way. The
job satisfaction I have is huge in the sense that while I’m getting paid, I
feel like I’m giving back to the RSB.”
If you would like more information please visit
RSB Industrial Sales at www. rsb .
org .a u
The Teruko Ikeda ICT Program and its
life-changing blessings
Wong Yoon Loong
The Teruko Ikeda ICT Training Program is a
yearly international event organized by the Japan Braille Library (JBL) and
sponsored by Ms. Teruko Ikeda - a gracious lady from Japan who endeavored to
provide support and empowerment to individuals who are vision impaired in the
Asia-Pacific region.
Mr. Tetsuji Tanaka, Chairman of JBL is very
pleased to know that the Teruko Ikeda ICT program has been able to train 111
participants from 18 countries over the past 10 years.
Each trainee was provided one laptop computer,
JAWS and NVDA screen reading software, traveling and daily living expenses
through Ms. Teruko Ikeda's kindness.
From 2004 to 2008, courses for beginners were
offered, which were focused primarily on how to use Windows, since the selected
trainees were assumed to have little or no computer-related knowledge and
experience. These basic courses included lessons on creating documents,
composing and sending e-mail messages, using the internet, and the like.
Two intermediate courses were offered in
2009 and 2012. Most participants were previous
trainees, while the others had never been in this training before. Higher-
level trainings were made possible for those with more experience.
These trainings centered on development of skills such as
building blogs, using Excel formulas and search
engines, among others.
Due to the many changes in the fast-paced world
of ICT, JBL started conducting advanced courses in 2010. The trainees were
taught how to do programming, to build websites, and to perform tasks related
to audio editing and radio streaming.
Everyone studied with intensity and passion even
though the lessons were tough and required extra time and effort. Some of the
trainees even went on to pursue advanced programming in their home countries.
With its continued success and the blessings it
has lavished on the lives of learners who are visually impaired, Mr.
Tanaka believes that the Teruko-Ikeda-ICT
training program should continuously be financed and conducted in the years to
come. Moreover, I strongly hope that some of the trainees play a leading role
in their respective communities and/or in their own countries, just like Ms.
Gerel Dondowwho became the president of the Mongolia
National Federation of the Blind, and Ms.
Dinh Viet Anh who is the Chairperson of the
Women’s Committee in Vietnam.
JBL would like to express its sincere gratitude
to all Teruko-Ikeda-ICT training facilitators and coordinators - Mr. Wong
Yoon Loong, Ms. Christina Anne Lau, Mr. David
Hathaway, Mr. AmirTeh, Ms. Rhea Althea Guntalilib, Mr. Fandy Dawenan, Mr. Aris
Yohanes, and the staff of St. Nicholas Home.
While working as a teacher at the Training and
Rehabilitation Center for the Blind under the Vietnam Blind Association (VBA)
in 2004, Ms. Dinh VietAnh was selected to
participate in the first Teruko Ikeda ICT training
program’s basic course. Never did she dream that she would also be blessed with
the chance to take part in the intermediate and advanced courses in 2009 and
2013.
Through this training program, she has been
given opportunities to conduct training on using and teaching computers to the
blind all over Vietnam. She continues to apply her learning through writing and
editing training materials as well as organizing seminars together with her
colleagues. The program has been valuable, enabling her to work and study more
effectively, and to participate actively in VBA activities.
Mr. Julius Charles Serrano from the
Philippines attended the 2006 Teruko Ikeda ICT
Training in Malaysia and Japan. This experience provided him with valuable and
fundamental computer skills. He has also learned much from our instructor’s
effective teaching methods. In addition, the interaction with his co-trainees
helped him appreciate the beauty of various Asian cultures.
After the training, he had an interesting set of
activities and triumphs. And all of these blessings have been influenced by the
Teruko Ikeda ICT Program in one way or another.
He used the laptop provided by the training when he worked as a web content
writer for several online media companies. The social and communication skills
and the hardware he acquired from the training enabled him to properly share
his knowledge and expertise during ICT-related seminars and workshops in his
country and
in countries like Malaysia and New Zealand.
In 2012, he together with Ms. Minnie
Aveline Juan, a fellowTeruko Ikeda Group member,
created the Teruko Ikeda ICT
Group website www.terukoikedaict.org.
This is their way of showing appreciation to
everyone who has made this exceptional program possible.
He is currently an accessibility specialist for
Catalyst IT, an open source company based in New Zealand. Amidst all of these
opportunities and blessings, it is truly a joy to have constant communication
with everyone involved in the program, from the organizers to the current and
former trainees.
The year 2010 was an unforgettable one for Ms.
Lanieta Tuimabu from Fiji as she was given a golden opportunity to attend the
Teruko Ikeda ICT training in Penang
Malaysia. This course was very helpful in
advancing her ICT skills through the use of the JAWS screen reader software.
Upon her return she has been effectively using
the laptop at work at the Fiji
Commerce & Employers Federation from 2010 up
to the present, as the
Administration Support Officer &
Membership Coordinator. The laptop has also been
very useful in accessing electronic documents for her leadership roles which
include President of United
Blind Persons of Fiji, Vice President
Finance of Fiji Disabled Peoples
Federation, Board Member of the Pacific
Disability Forum, and member of the
Women’s Committee. With this great gift, she has
completed Certificate 4 in Office
Administration and Management at the
University of the South Pacific. She is also
currently studying Leadership, Good
Governance and Human Rights at the same
university, to gain further qualifications for a better future.
According to Ms. Christina Anne Lau who manages
and coordinates the training for
JBL, when trainees come for the training each
year, it is a great joy to see them, who have little knowledge of ICT at the
beginning of the course, improve themselves after the training. This program
has empowered many of them in many ways in their home countries. She is very
proud of each one of them, as we were able to keep track of his/her progress,
and even had the opportunity to work with some of them on this and other international
projects .
The former trainees will continue to develop
their ICT skills for the purpose of helping more people not only in their
respective countries but in other countries as well.
Through these skills, they believe that they can
fulfill their roles as leaders and advocates of progress in society, and thus
carry out the vision of the Teruko Ikeda ICT Program .
All this they will achieve while remaining
humble and thankful to everyone who has made this ICT program a fruitful
reality.
Contact Details
Chief
Editor
Wong Yoon Loong
National Council for the Blind Malaysia
94B Jalan Tun Sambanthan Brickfields
50470 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia.
E-mail: wongyl@pd.jaring.my
Dr. Issavara Sirirungruang
Ratchasuda College, Mahidol
University
111 Moo 6, Phuttamonthon 4 Road, Salaya, Nakhon
Pathom 73170,
Thailand.
E-mail: isvrss@gmail.com, issavara.sir@mahidol.ac.th
Helen Freris c/o International Social Service Australia
Level 2
313/315 Flinders Lane
Melbourne VIC 3000
Email: hfreris@tpg.com.au
Diana Swanson
The Royal Society for the Blind (RSB) of South
Australia
Knapman House
230 Pirie Street
Adelaide, South Australia 5000
E-mail: dswanson@rsb.org.au www. rsb .org . au
