Blind lyrics written with strokes of tech

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Young & Independent

Thursday, 02 September 2010

Author / Source : Faisal Mahmud

“I always had an aspiration that I won’t remain useless at home... I will work hard and become empowered”; with that willpower, Sohel Rana tells us the story of his journey, and his triumph over a world that had shut its eyes to him – the kind of story that draws awe and inspiration from all those who hear of it. When Rana was three, he was affected with diarrhoea; two weeks and a day later, he recovered from this viral attack, but started losing his sight. With his confidence shattered and dependency placed on others, he could hardly participate in community life without being unwelcome if not shunned. He was unable to complete his chores without help and his daily life became a guessing game in an abyss of black.
But like a phoenix that is reborn from the ashes, Rana started his flight TO survival under a community based rehabilitation project. From then, through staving off the isolation, tackling the challenges and facing all the vicissitudes of life, Rana, now 19, is studying in Islamic History at Dhaka University.
Rana was telling his story to this correspondent at a training program jointly organised by Centre for Services and Information on Disability and Bangladesh Computer Council at the BCC premises. Here Rahim and 17 other visually impaired young guns like him underwent a month-long computer training course, with aid by Sightsavers, a non-governmental organisation based in UK.
In that training, they were taught basic computer operations as well as general troubleshooting. Specials computer software and brail computer training manuals, prepared in UK were brought for them to instruct Microsoft offices operation.
“Now, I feel really confident. In this era of digitalisation, the lack of knowledge in computer basics makes someone feels like a caveman. Blind might I be, but I simply don’t want to have that feeling, Rima, 17, studying in Bangla at Eden College told this correspondent in a proud voice.
When asked, one of the trainers Samia Islam said that being a part of this noble venture actually makes her proud. “When I see them and try to feel their situation- a pitch-black world, their determination to learn makes me more and more surprised.
Rifat Shahpar Khan, program manager of Sightsavers provided some useful information. Of the estimated 2.6 million children in Bangladesh, 19.7 percent of them are suffering from visual disabilities. But the unfortunate thing is less than 1,500 of these 2.6 million disabled children have access to an education in special schools sponsored by the Bangladesh Government, Rifat said.
She also informed that of the more than 40,000 NGOs in Bangladesh, approximately 400 NGOs claimed to be working in the area of disability. “The thing is, special educational needs of children are not necessarily related to a traditional disability label. Children living in poverty have a particular vulnerability to disability. Disabled people generally experience higher rate of poverty as a result of being disabled; and that when people living in poverty become disabled they are often more severely marginalised than are wealthier people ”-Rifat identified the harsh truth.
Rifat said that they are trying to make this part of the population self-sufficient so that they can feel functional. She added that the government is also liable to provide them the light of education because Bangladesh is one of the 92 governments which signed on the commitment to the goals of Education for all (EFA) AT 1994 which clearly states that those with special educational needs must have access to regular if possible special schools that can accommodate them within a child-centered pedagogy capable of meeting those needs.