[English Version][Vietnamese Version]
A couple of weeks ago, when I was in Vietnam, chi Lien from VNHELP (vnhelp.org) asked if I would join her to visit a school in Saigon for blind children. It is close to my office she said, and she would even stop by to give me a ride. I was a bit hesitant at first since it would be during my working hours but I wanted to lend support. Chi Lien seemed so passionate about her causes so I said sure.
She stopped by around four and we wisp off through the streets of Saigon on her motor bike to the “Nguyen Dinh Chieu” school which is also in district 10 where my office is. We were greeted by the principle of the school. Chi Lien introduced me as a donor from the States that was coming to visit. It was a strange since I felt as if I was someone of importance with lots or riches to give. When in the states, usually I feel like an average Joe but there are many instances in VN when I am elevated to a status where I am not sure is real.
The principal offered nice tea and was very cordial. He explains the conditions of the children as being very distinctively different. There are those who were born blind. They have no vision and are learning brail. Then there are those children who grew up with sight but as a child, had a fever or some illness that caused them to loose their vision. Some of these children had blurry or minimal vision but they were visually impaired and therefore regulated to a blind school, rather the “normal” schools. Some of these children also have psychological or mental handicap which accompanied their blindness. This could be parental or social conditions or neurological damage. Some of these children when they first came to the school, he explain were social recluse who did not wanted to get touched. Some had muscle atrophy since they never really walked outside very much.
He explains the challenge of teaching them to read. In the past, they use to force all children to learn brail. Even the children who had slight vision were forced with some resistance. They even have to go to extremes of having to blindfold the children so that they would start to use their fingers to read brail. Now the school of thought has evolved. For those children with some vision, they are presented books with both printed text and brail. They would then choose and gravitate towards the text that they are most proficient. The new thinking is that the school would foster their natural abilities and teach them to reach their full potential.
We were then introduced to some of the children as we walked down the halls. They were all very respectful greeting us formally. As the children walked down the halls, they did not have walking sticks, but rather felt the walls. Perhaps they are familiar enough with the layout of the school so they just used their hands to figure their way around.
We saw a student using a laptop in what appears to be an open auditorium. He had software on the IBM ThinkPad that would translate to voice and had other methods of navigation that would help him function with the laptop. Laptops were considered the preferred tool since the students would take these and attend class outside the blind school. The portable laptop would allow them to function to the point where they can participate in classes with other seeing students.
We then went to printing room where there was a special brail printer donated from VNHELP. It printed on what appears to be regular paper but slightly heavier stock. The embossed impressions are then used by the students to make out the words. The machines were churning out many books and I presume these are the text used in their classes.
The computer lab was also very interesting. Many students like to hang out in this area. Some were surfing the web, listening to music. Others are doing word processing, home work and other research projects with specialized software. The software magnifies the text so if the child had who slight vision could then make out the text. Other software would process the text to speech. The voice sounded mechanical but appears to be very effective.
Obviously, these technologies have benefits for their ability to learn. It appears to be their gateway or tools to connect to the information rich society. They are visually blind, but these children are extremely bright, articulate and well adjusted children. The computers were tools that allow them to connect rather than to isolate. Two of the students in the computer labs were even college bound since they were about to finish high school. They were going to attend college among seeing students… that is pretty amazing.
The principal had many wish lists, some of which were scholarships which VNHELP would consider. Another wish which was communicated to me was the need for laptops. These were portable and would add great benefits for these students to venture outside of the blind school and attend other classes. The laptop would allow them to do this in ways that they wouldn’t be able to otherwise. Laptops appear to be a rare commodity since I only saw one and they would have to share.
I told chi Lien that I would check with my colleagues and friends in the US and if there are old laptops that could run Windows and a word processor along with the blind software that could be installed; that I would bring them back next time I come back.
As we took off back to my office, the hot sun was beating on the afternoon traffic. I can see how challenging it would be for these children to navigate Saigon with their condition. My heart weighed heavy but there was a certain calmness and joy that the children had that struck me. They had a spirit that can overcome the most difficult challenges. I felt humbled and wish to obtain such a strong spirit.
A couple of weeks ago, when I was in Vietnam, chi Lien from VNHELP (vnhelp.org) asked if I would join her to visit a school in Saigon for blind children. It is close to my office she said, and she would even stop by to give me a ride. I was a bit hesitant at first since it would be during my working hours but I wanted to lend support. Chi Lien seemed so passionate about her causes so I said sure.
She stopped by around four and we wisp off through the streets of Saigon on her motor bike to the “Nguyen Dinh Chieu” school which is also in district 10 where my office is. We were greeted by the principle of the school. Chi Lien introduced me as a donor from the States that was coming to visit. It was a strange since I felt as if I was someone of importance with lots or riches to give. When in the states, usually I feel like an average Joe but there are many instances in VN when I am elevated to a status where I am not sure is real.
The principal offered nice tea and was very cordial. He explains the conditions of the children as being very distinctively different. There are those who were born blind. They have no vision and are learning brail. Then there are those children who grew up with sight but as a child, had a fever or some illness that caused them to loose their vision. Some of these children had blurry or minimal vision but they were visually impaired and therefore regulated to a blind school, rather the “normal” schools. Some of these children also have psychological or mental handicap which accompanied their blindness. This could be parental or social conditions or neurological damage. Some of these children when they first came to the school, he explain were social recluse who did not wanted to get touched. Some had muscle atrophy since they never really walked outside very much.
He explains the challenge of teaching them to read. In the past, they use to force all children to learn brail. Even the children who had slight vision were forced with some resistance. They even have to go to extremes of having to blindfold the children so that they would start to use their fingers to read brail. Now the school of thought has evolved. For those children with some vision, they are presented books with both printed text and brail. They would then choose and gravitate towards the text that they are most proficient. The new thinking is that the school would foster their natural abilities and teach them to reach their full potential.
We were then introduced to some of the children as we walked down the halls. They were all very respectful greeting us formally. As the children walked down the halls, they did not have walking sticks, but rather felt the walls. Perhaps they are familiar enough with the layout of the school so they just used their hands to figure their way around.
We saw a student using a laptop in what appears to be an open auditorium. He had software on the IBM ThinkPad that would translate to voice and had other methods of navigation that would help him function with the laptop. Laptops were considered the preferred tool since the students would take these and attend class outside the blind school. The portable laptop would allow them to function to the point where they can participate in classes with other seeing students.
We then went to printing room where there was a special brail printer donated from VNHELP. It printed on what appears to be regular paper but slightly heavier stock. The embossed impressions are then used by the students to make out the words. The machines were churning out many books and I presume these are the text used in their classes.
The computer lab was also very interesting. Many students like to hang out in this area. Some were surfing the web, listening to music. Others are doing word processing, home work and other research projects with specialized software. The software magnifies the text so if the child had who slight vision could then make out the text. Other software would process the text to speech. The voice sounded mechanical but appears to be very effective.
Obviously, these technologies have benefits for their ability to learn. It appears to be their gateway or tools to connect to the information rich society. They are visually blind, but these children are extremely bright, articulate and well adjusted children. The computers were tools that allow them to connect rather than to isolate. Two of the students in the computer labs were even college bound since they were about to finish high school. They were going to attend college among seeing students… that is pretty amazing.
The principal had many wish lists, some of which were scholarships which VNHELP would consider. Another wish which was communicated to me was the need for laptops. These were portable and would add great benefits for these students to venture outside of the blind school and attend other classes. The laptop would allow them to do this in ways that they wouldn’t be able to otherwise. Laptops appear to be a rare commodity since I only saw one and they would have to share.
I told chi Lien that I would check with my colleagues and friends in the US and if there are old laptops that could run Windows and a word processor along with the blind software that could be installed; that I would bring them back next time I come back.
As we took off back to my office, the hot sun was beating on the afternoon traffic. I can see how challenging it would be for these children to navigate Saigon with their condition. My heart weighed heavy but there was a certain calmness and joy that the children had that struck me. They had a spirit that can overcome the most difficult challenges. I felt humbled and wish to obtain such a strong spirit.
posted by Sy Truong at 1:02 PM
0 comments
