Until recently, career options for the visually impaired were extremely limited. Without the musical talent of Johann Sebastian Bach or the performing genius of Stevie Wonder, a visually impaired youth would find little avenue for fulfillment and success.
Modern technology has opened many doors for the blind and the visually impaired, allowing them to read and write efficiently, and even to surf the Internet or use GPS devices. Now, even the visually impaired can become IT experts, with advances in programming tools and applications tailor-fit for their special needs.
Japanese philanthropist Teruko Ikeda takes this one level higher by funding annual IT training specifically for the visually impaired in the Asia Pacific region. The training is conducted by the Japan Braille Library at St. Nicholas Home in Penang, Malaysia. The 2011 training was held from August 1 to 20, conducted by David Hathaway, an IT expert who is visually impaired himself.
Informatics BS Computer Science student Rhea Guntalilib.
Informatics BS Computer Science student Rhea Guntalilib.
The Philippines was represented by Informatics’ own Rhea Guntalilib, a third year student taking up BS Computer Science at the Diliman campus. Rhea, who hails from Nueva Vizcaya, suffered from retinal disease at age 18. She was to pursue a career in nursing, but her failing vision forced her to look for a different field where she could excel. She chose to take up IT at Informatics, and has not regretted her choice. Her IT education and experience at the Teruko Ikeda training has provided new opportunities for her future – as an IT professional, a leader, and an inspiration to other visually impaired youth. She shares her experience in an essay below:
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I am Rhea Althea T. Guntalilib, a visually impaired student of Informatics International College, Diliman campus. I am currently in my third year taking up Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and an Advanced Diploma in Computing Science major in Programming.
Losing a good pair of eyes has seemingly been my life’s toughest battle. My eyesight was robbed away from me when I had a retinal disease last 2006. Those were the times where I felt like I’ve reached the end of the road. But then, life proved me wrong, as one door closed, several windows opened. Little by little, I managed to get back on my feet. Countless opportunities came my way. An opportunity for a college education was granted to me, and together with it are endless chances of proving myself and proving to the world that I can still bring out what’s best in me despite of my disability.
Last August 1 to August 20, 2011, I was sent to Malaysia to attend an intensive training that will deepen and enhance my programming skills. I joined the Teruko Ikeda ICT Advanced course on Python programming. This said training was organized and conducted by the Japan Braille Library. We were trained by Mr. David Hathaway, a visually impaired professional programmer. The basic programming constructs were taught, as well as database related matters. The best part of it was that we were introduced to Common Gateway Interface (CGI). We developed our own websites using template engines which we designed ourselves, and techniques on how to maintain the visual appeal of our websites were also fed to us.
The most important thing I learned in this course was on how to run my program in spite of the unavoidable circumstances of applications that are currently not yet blind-friendly. In this training, E-marketing or internet marketing was also introduced. This is something crucial for persons who are physically impaired like me. Job opportunities for blind persons are very rare, and online employment is the most suited. For this reason, a group of advocates called the PECC generously offered their time and resources to help us put up our own income generating tools in the cyber world. As soon as I finish the most hectic moments of my schooling, I will grab this opportunity and try my best to learn E-marketing. Internet publishing is what I intend to do. Given my additional skills in putting up a website plus my passion for writing, will surely help me find a precious slot in this venture. In the event that I succeed, the first thing that I would do is to echo this to my fellow visually impaired persons here in the Philippines, for in reality, aside from the chance to attain education, employment opportunity is what we truly seek.
This whole thing became a great learning experience for me. It helped me not just on the technical aspect of ICT, but it helped me grow as a mature independent person. I was fortunate enough that my God-given skills in the complexity of programming gave me the opportunity to be of help to my fellow trainees. In the end of every session, before we go to bed, I was the one tasked to help my fellow trainees cope up with the lessons. After the evening remedial and everyone catches up, we then begin to brainstorm and all-together develop and accomplish the assigned tasks. Those experiences taught me the real essence of teamwork, and my patience was greatly stretched.
At present, I am now back in the Philippines to continue my studies and to continue my life with the goal of making a difference. I will try my best to share every single fruitful thing that I learned with my fellow blind persons; to continue helping them realize that life has lots to offer and most of all, to alter the perception of all persons with sight. I greatly thirst for their attention, not in the sense of gaining glory for myself, but I yearn to be a living proof in my own little ways – that persons with impairment like me are not actually disabled. We still have our abilities, they were never lost nor have been disabled, and people have just to realize that we have our own special ways in making the best out of our skills and capabilities.
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Sources:
http://thestar.com.my ; http://terukoikeda.wordpress.com; http://www.informaticsdiliman.com
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