Five Facts About Braille

In this photo: a bust of Louis Braille by Etienne Leroux

Happy birthday Louis Braille!

Louis Braille was born on January 4, 1809, in Coupvray, France.  Blinded as a child during an accident, he nonetheless went on to receive an education and was accepted to France’s Royal Institute for Blind Youth. When he was still a student at the Institute, he developed a system for blind people to read and write, based on military cryptography developed by Charles Barbier. Though his system did not catch on during his lifetime, by the end of the nineteenth century, braille was used in much of the western world, and it was adopted by schools for the blind in the United States in 1916.

In honor of Louis Braille’s birthday—and National Braille Literacy Month—here are five facts about braille.

How Braille is set up

Braille is set up with cells. Each braille character lies within its own cell.  A braille cell can contain a letter, number, punctuation mark, or a whole word.

Braille contractions

In order to efficiently write words without taking up a lot of room on a page, a system was devised to condense words in braille. In contracted braille, cells are combined, forming “short cuts” to save space and paper. Contracted braille is considered the standard in the United States.

Stylus and paper

Braille can be written using a slate and stylus. The slate has evenly spaced depressions for making dots. The writer puts a piece of paper in the slate, and pushes out dots with the pointed end of the stylus into the paper over the depressions. On the other side, the paper bulges where the dots need to be.

Braille typewriters

There is a special machine that can produce braille, called a braillewriter. A braillewriter has only six keys, a space bar, a line spacer, and a backspace. The six keys are numbered to correspond with the six dots of a braille cell. Combinations of the keys are pushed at the same time since most braille symbols contain more than one dot.

Finger sensitivity

Most people have the right amount of finger sensitivity in order to begin reading braille.  However, many braille instructional books now begin with sensory exercises that can help a person determine how well he or she can feel, and discriminate between, raised shapes. A person can also be tested for finger sensitivity using the two-point touch test, the pressure anesthesiometer, and the Roughness Discrimination test.

Information courtesy of:

http://www.visionaware.org/info/everyday-living/essential-skills/reading-writing-and-vision-loss/all-about-braille/1235

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Braille

http://www.afb.org/info/living-with-vision-loss/braille/what-is-braille/123

International Day of Persons with Disabilities

Last Saturday we celebrated International Day of Persons with Disabilities, as laid out by the UN.  The theme for this year’s International Day is “Achieving 17 Goals for the Future We Want.”  Article 19 of the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is “Living independently and being included in the community”—a goal that aligns perfectly with ETI’s mission of integration for blind and sighted youth.

And this goal is important.  Currently, there are 1 billion people in the world living with a disability.  That is equal to 1/7 of the world’s population.  90% of people living with disabilities live in developing countries, and only 2% of those people receive any kind of education.  Breaking down the stigma surrounding blind youth, by integrating young blind people with sighted ones in educational settings, is how we hope to achieve our mission.

To further reflect on how ETI is achieving this objective, we put together some testimonials from children who have attended our camps in Lebanon, as well as from volunteers who have helped to run these camps.  We hope that these stories will also highlight all we have achieved in 2016 as the year draws to a close, and inspire all of ETI’s supporters to look forward to another successful year of growth.

Testimonials from Camp Participants:

“You guys gave me hope, made me believe in myself, and gave me the ability to be happy.  This is the first time that I was able to make friends and have fun. ” - K. H., Camp 2011

“I didn’t realize how powerful this tool is, but it is actually a symbol for my independence. You opened the door to live an independent life. ” –Hamza, on using a cane for the first time, Camp 2009

“I really want to become a pharmacist.  Going to your camp really gave me hope that I could be a pharmacist. ” –Mehdi, Camp 2011, Beirut 

Testimonials from Volunteers:

“Being a volunteer for the first time was a very beneficial experience for me on both the social and personal levels. I learned how to give and take, to know when to take action, when to listen and when to speak, and to see how the little helping hand can positively change society.” –Miriam, 14. (From 2010)

“The camp…was an amazing hands-on experience for me—it gave me the opportunity to learn about inclusion of persons with disabilities in society and experience a bottom-up approach in the social development field.” –Malak, 19.

“I am really excited to work on the project…since it gives me the opportunity to work with blind and visually-impaired children. I believe these children are of a marginalized sector of our society, and I’d like to be a helping hand and make their future brighter!” –Mariam, 18.

New Horizons: Discovering Thailand

We are delighted to give you more good news on this White Cane Day! ETI is in the process of exploring the possibilities of expansion to Asia. To this end, Sara Minkara, our founder, and I, Ahsen Utku, traveled to Thailand in early October to discover the field. Needless to say, Thailand is an amazing country. It is now the rainy season, but still very hot (compared to Boston)! The tuk-tuk drivers, who are always way above the speed limit, made us re-define everything we knew about the culture of public transportation. 

In this photo: people packed at the back of a "tuk-tuk" in traffic. Tuk-tuk is an essential part of the daily life in Bangkok.

We are also deeply thankful to have the best hosts ever: Hartanto, Aom, Ouan, Ot, Som, Not, and others. Their hospitality was at its peak, and now the idea that having Thai brothers and sisters at the other end of the world makes us very happy. 

In this photo: Sara, Ahsen, our Thai hosts and two rows of Thai girl students who greeted us at the Wat Arun Temple.

However, as a part of our field research, we witnessed another sheer reality of Thailand, which is universally shared by every society: the blind people of Thailand. While we were busy with building strong relationships with the main players in Thailand with regard to blind and disability rights, we were also amazed by the fact that once given the chance, blind kids could achieve the highest goals, just like any other person with or without disabilities.  

In this photo: Sara speaking with a blind literature teacher in the classroom

Through our visit, we met the main players on the ground: educational institutions and schools serving the blind youth, foundations, human rights organizations, youth groups, blind professionals and activists. Meeting so many passionate and hardworking people and organizations dedicated to the empowerment of blind youth filled us with hope. We will soon have more exciting news of upcoming projects, so stay tuned!

In this photo: Mr. Torpong Selanon, the President of Thailand Association of the Blind, presenting gifts to Sara.

In this photo: Mr. Montian Buntan, former President of TAB, showing us aroung in the TAB building and introducing the TAB workers.

In this photo: Sara and Hartanto having a conversation with the officials of The Bangkok School for the Blind

In this photo: Sara, Ahsen and the Amnesty International Thailand team in Bangkok.

In this photo: Sara and the Mercy Center team in Bangkok.

Updates on Lebanon and Nicaragua

The end of the summer brings exciting news from the ETI team: in addition to preparations for the January camps in Lebanon and Nicaragua, we have been busy attending conferences, forging relationships with local and international partners and winning fellowships and prizes in film festivals!

Camps/Progress
Most recently, ETI has been working on re-opening the programs in Lebanon, which has been closed for several years due to the unstable political situation. Now, due to the influx of Syrian refugees, ETI has decided to re-open the camp to serve an even wider audience. In order to do this, ETI has spent the month of July re-establishing partnerships with local NGOs as well as forging new partnerships with both government and non-government local actors- including the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Al-Hariri Foundation, the Municipality of Tripoli as well as the American University in Beirut and Lebanese University. We hope to hire a country director by December 2015 and run both Camp Rafiqi and the Social Project program next summer.

While ETI forged the path for re-opening the Lebanon programs, we also spent July strengthening ties and developing a local team in Nicaragua.  Most notably the ETI team has fostered a fruitful relationship with David Lopez, the President of the Organización de Ciegos Nicaraguesnces de Marisela Toledo, a national organization of blind people. David has been an avid supporter of ETI’s work in Nicaragua and was enthusiastic about ETI’s desire to form an advisory committee made up of Nicaraguans. ETI has also developed ties with the Biblioteca Nacional de Luis Braille, a library for the blind in Managua. Previously, the library has helped us hold parent events and pilot programs. This July, the staff of the library helped us plan and host a seminar for parents of blind children. As a bonus, ETI was invited to attend a braille instructor certification program hosted by the Instituto Nacional de Technología (National Institute of Technology). 
 

In this photo: ETI staff meet with Nicaraguan volunteers in a classroom

Conferences/Conventions
Beyond establishing camps globally, five ETI team members attended, for the first time, the UN Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. At the conference, ETI benefited from establishing connections with other NGOs working internationally and locally. The ETI team hopes to attend the conference every year and to continue building partnerships with similar minded organizations from across the world.

Below is a picture of the United Nations Conference of State Parties that ETI attended:

In this photo: a United Nations Conference of State Parties that ETI attended

Finally, ETI was fortunate enough to attend the 75th Anniversary of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) Convention in July. Two of our members were able to attend different workshops and meetings discussing various national issues for the blind and visually impaired community. During this convention, ETI was also a part of the breaking of the Guinness World Record for the largest umbrella mosaic. Below is an image of that world record:

In this photo: an ariel view of the breaking of the Guinness World Record for the largest umbrella mosaic, which ETI attended. The umbrellas spell out “Live the life you want”.

Awards/Fellowships
Attending conferences and establishing camps globally would not be possible without the support of many private and public sponsors. We are especially to the Dubin family for their continued support of ETI. In addition, we have been awarded fellowships from Echoing Green, the Newman Foundation as well as the Halcyon Incubator Fellowship, which will allow us to expand our presence in the D.C. area and to benefit from the vibrant NGO community there. With these new fellowships and funding, ETI has begun hiring staff as well as begun brainstorming for expansion.

We are also excited to announce that ETI has been awarded the 1st prize in the Girls Impact Film Festival. This award is given to "videos that raise awareness about critical issues... around the world or [those that] propose solutions to critical challenges faced by women." Gloria Hong has been hard at work for over a year developing a short film detailing the history of ETI and Sara’s experience starting it. She, Sara, and Professor Joanna Lipper are pictured below:

In this photo: filmmaker Gloria Hong, ETI founder Sara Minkara, and professor Joanna Lipper attend the Girls Impact Film Festival.

Dining in the Dark: Empathize from Plates to Policies

Written By Sylvia Leung 

Sara Minkara (President and Founder of ETI) hosting a dining in the dark event with a room full of Harvard Kennedy School of Government students (April 10, 2014).

“As an aspiring policy maker, I feel that everyone should go through dining in the dark…” said Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) and Harvard Business School student Amandla Ooko-Ombaka. Amandla was one of the 60+ HKS students and friends who were blind-folded while eating a three-course meal at the April 2014 HKS Dining in the Dark event. Sara Minkara (President and Founder of ETI) and I planned this event to increase awareness and empathy for the blind and disabled.

I totally agree with Amandla. Everyone should experience dining in the dark because there’s no better way to empathize the blind than to experience being blind yourself. While attendees learned how to dine blind-folded, they grew hungry to better understand and help the blind and disabled. Throughout the three and a half hour event, our conversations progressed from plates of food, processes of life and policies of change.

Plates of Food

By eating blind-folded, attendees tapped into their under-utilized senses. Amandla commented, “I am grateful for the experience of really focusing on the sensation of eating with friends - the sound of their voices, their spatial orientation, the smell of our food, the need to be purposeful with each movement of my cutlery.” As a non-blind folded emcee of the event, I witnessed people tenderly touching their table settings to navigate their surroundings, slowly savoring their food to appreciate the flavors, and listening carefully to recognize their tablemates’ voices. I heard comments of both struggles and accomplishments. Initially, attendees appeared frustrated or anxious to fail at dining properly. However, in the end, I heard attendees cheer when they were able to accurately guess what they were eating and neatly finish their food.

Processes of Life

The blind-folded dining experience opened up a whole new conversation about the processes of life. I remember the conversation shifting when one attendee asked Sara about her personal experience as a blind person.  While Sara shared her life stories and a unique can-do attitude, I felt the audience grew more energetic, curious and compassionate. There were more thoughtful and heartfelt questions, including questions about how blind cross the street, when is it okay to offer help to a blind person and the dating experience for the blind.

Policies of Change

As the event was coming to a close, attendees started asking more action-oriented and problem-solving questions. Sara responded by urging everyone to accommodate the blind and disabled in whatever work they do. In a room full of future policymakers, I think attendees walked away with the key point that blind and disabled persons should be considered in all decision-making. Decision-making could be in the government at the local, state or national level. Decision-making could be in the private for-profit or non-profit sector. Whatever the case may be, blind and disabled persons should be considered anywhere where policies and decisions are made. I’ve learned from Sara and this event that such policy considerations should go beyond giving charity to the disabled. Instead, such policy considerations should enable the disabled to self-sustain and contribute to society.

From plates to policies, I took away so many lessons and memories from this Dining in the Dark experience. I hope everyone (including you the reader!) will attend or even host your own Dining in the Dark event.

Special thanks to the HKS Center for Public Leadership for sponsoring the Dining in the Dark event.