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Tuesday, August 16, 2005
The talking computer
By Leticia Suarez-Orendain
Community Force
Is the door closed on the visually impaired where computer technology is concerned? At least for 11 people in Cebu, the answer is no.
Resources for the Blind (RBI) Inc. offers free computer tutorial suited to the needs of the visually impaired.
Classes are held in a small building near RBI’s rented office at the Knights of Columbus bldg. on 36 Archbishop Reyes ave. (across Ayala Center). There are two sessions: 8 a.m. to noon and 1-5 p.m.
RBI, a non-government organization (NGO), has centers in Manila (main office) and Davao. It provides the support that blind persons need and tries to be a faithful expression of God’s love for those who are blind.
Baby Padasas, Cebu branch director, has felt this love and wants to share it. One way is opening the door of learning. She said that the four regular computers they have are installed with the job access with speech (Jaws) program.
“It allows the computer to ‘talk’. The person can hear the computer read back what they have encoded so they can review their work.”
The keys call out the letters when pressed. Another command allows the computer to “read” whole sentences. Since Baby does social work, too, she has to write reports and so the program is a vital partner for a blind person like her.
She said, “Our goal is for the visually impaired to become employed in offices or call centers. They can do medical transcriptions. Before, we knew of them only as beggars; until DSWD developed the Area Vocational Center and offered massage course for the blind.
“But we thought there might be other things the blind can do. That’s why we are offering this tutorial. Para dili ma-behind sa computer technology.”
Jill Granados, office manager, presented the afternoon class. A young woman with normal vision, she said, “We take our eyes so much for granted. When we lose our vision, it is only then we appreciate it.”
In the air-conditioned classroom, one student said, “Nakaila ko sa imong tingog. Si Lilith Suarez ka, no,” Jose “Jojo” Antonio Maraguinot said. Fourteen years ago (I was still single), I did volunteer work at the Cebu Braille Center (CBC) where Maraguinot was a student.
His recognition drives home the fact that just as we can’t forget faces, a blind person neither forgets a person’s voice and other cues that we do not notice. It is an observation confirmed by Granados.
“The blind, they don’t care how you look or how you dress. They care more about how you speak to them. What’s in your heart.”
Maraguinot, 25, said, “Nakaila dayon ko nimo. No, dili ni first time nako mag-computer kay naa man ni sa CBC. Added skill for work. Nakahuman man kog Education sa St. Joseph College.
Maayo kaayo ang pagtagad dinhi. Tudloan mi ni Ma’am Pia.”
Pia May Resurreccion, 22, knows the struggles of the blind and leads them not unto damnation but into the light of learning.
She can see in one eye only, but at close range as she has low vision. It did not deter her from training at the Adaptive Technology for Rehabilitation Integration and Empowerment of the Visually Impaired.
The students range between beginner and skilled, and so she adjusts her teaching to their proficiency.
Grace Lim, 35, was a cum laude graduate of Computer Science from the University of San Jose-Recoletos. She seems fine but in fact, she low vision.
Her aim in taking the tutorial is to master Jaws. “I had my on-the-job training in Veco sa akong fourth year. Ila unta kong i-absorb pero wala silay Jaws program. Ma-strained ang akong mata so wala nako dawata ang offer.”
But hope springs eternal. One day, someone may “do a Veco,” this time with Jaws.
Another student, Christopher Baylosis, has to learn the basics but Hilario Romano (whose six-year-old son, Nathaniel, is his seeing guide) needs only to upgrade his skill.
He received a call from RBI one day although he did not know anyone there. That is the result of RBI’s other services: free eye screening; sight-saving surgical mission; school program for blind children; counseling and rehabilitation; and livelihood.
In 2002 when RBI arrived in Cebu, they held a free eye check-up survey in public schools, a tie-up with the DepEd. For two years, they gave free prescription eyeglasses to children who had errors in refraction. The survey also netted a list of 7,000 blind persons in Cebu. So far they have identified (located and visited) over 2,000 of them (including Romano).
The surgical mission (an assistance program; not a dole out) has restored the sight of people who had cataracts (117 in 2004 and 72 in 2005). As for rehab, 132 adults has had counseling, spiritual guidance and livelihood training.
It is opening a door to the world. “The blind, they want to feel accepted, that they belong. A lot are sensitive and just stay in a corner because no one talks to them. My grandfather, who was blind, would cry because rarely would people talk with him. He felt useless.
“I could relate with this only when I started working with RBI.
You see the reality here. It’s a work of love,” Granados said.
(August 16, 2005 issue)
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