MY MEGAVISION MAKES ITS MARK WITH A MICROMOVE

by Prof. Vileen Shah

This seven-word Haiku (Article "a" is not included) is not only a heading of my first presentation to Ashatrigger but also a headstart for our mission of hightech help we want to provide for blind and visually impaired persons in India. To make it simple, I would like to see more and more blind brothers and sisters becoming productive citizens of our country. One way to ensure this vision a success is to promote computer and Braille literacy among Indian blind citizens.

Did you ever realize that often a person whom talk to at customer Service of some corporation could be blind? Could you imagine that the employment letter you received has been typed and sealed by a blind P.A. of some CEO? How many of you are aware that some corporations in the U.S. hire blind persons as CEO? Computers and Braille literacy make it possible. There are blind lawyers, professors, doctors and news editors and they are fairly independent in the discharge of their duties because of talking computers. Using a speech software (also called screen reader) a blind person can operate computers almost like sighted people--writing, editing and printing documents, surfing and browsing the Internet, and reading and sending email.

I'm interested in setting up a computer training center that will provide training for the blind and prepare them to do their jobs independently. Computers are no longer a wonder for general public in India. I would like to spread this hightech skills to the community of blind people. How costly it is going to be? Initially, we will need $15,000 to get started. (D. P. has assured me this money. He is a rich guy!) This will cover the cost of some overheads, 5 computers, speech software and a Braille printer to generate notes and handouts for the blind to be able to read and memorize basic keystrokes. (Don't forget blind people cannot use mouse! For each mouse move, there are substitute key strokes and these work very efficiently and sometimes more effectively than even the mouse.) The overheads will include the cost of Braille papers, some computer disks and the salary of an instructor. The cost of instructor (salary, benefits etc.) could be obtained as grant from government. Since we are going to make our project a part of school activities, Ashatrigger will not have to spend time and effort to obtain government grants. The concerned school will and should do it.

I have in mind Dadar School for the Blind girls in Mumbai for our first project. Initially, we could have one program--office skills learning and later on we can even add programming. (Yes, in the U.S. there are blind computer programmers.) I have asked Khyati, a committed Asha volunteer over three years from Asha Stanford, to present an assessment report on Dadar School. There are about 100 schools for the blind in western India that includes Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan.

At our initial project, I envisage that we can train approximately 50 blind students in one year. If we run two shifts of 4 hours each at our 5 computer stations, we can train 10 persons. If each batch completes training in 2 months, in one year we can train 50-60 students. (I have some ideas concerning the aftermath of this training which I would like to dwell upon later.) In my view, ours is going to be a model project and I envisage that by 2010 there will be over 500 such training projects not necessarily run by Asha but certainly triggered by us. There are 550 schools for the blind in India according to one estimate. If 300 of them have such a training center attached, we'll have over 30,000 trained blind persons employable every year in the open fields. With rapidly developing economy of India, government bodies/departments and corporate world is going to require more computer literate people. An available flow of blind computer literate will not only ensure their employment but also expedite the process of integrating the blind community with society's mainstream. Mainstreaming the disabled segment of society has always been dear to my heart. To me, "independence, income, and integration" are the three buzzwords for successful processs of mainstreaming . And these three goals can be achieved through Braille and computer training for the blind to a greater extent.

In order to ascertain the feasibility of this proposal, I would ask myself three questions--why, how and when. If we can find satisfactory answers to these three interrogations, our doors are open and we can set sail in the ocean of grand action. In advanced countries almost every blind eligible to work is provided Braille and computer training, why not in India. There are over 10,000,000 blind persons in our country, the highest percentage in the world. Do you think I want to make them all computer and Braille literate? No, (though I wish), that is not realistic. Does it mean that in view of the magnitude of the problem, we should withdraw ourselves? I believe in a successful beginning. It is said, once you begin well, crowds and crowds join you. That answers why we should initiate Braille and computer training project(s) for the blind. In previous paragraphs I already explained how it could be done. The question now remains when. My answer is "Now and now only." Let's begin with a small (micro) project and take it to the macro level. By macro, I mean numerous projects in various towns, cities and even villages of India.

What more would you need to be convinced? Although I lost my sight at age 3 due to measles, nothing stopped me from continuously striving for better life. With the help of Braille I obtained three Master's degrees and even wrote my Ph.D. dissertation. After I worked as a professor of Political Science for about 20 years in Mumbai, an opportunity knocked my doors. I got immigration visa to the U.S. It wasn't easy to give up a stable job as a professor and unsettle the settled lifestyle, but I emigrated here in 1992. Just an adventure! The first thing I did in the U.S. was to learn computer. I am now working as a Professor of American History and World History at Harold Washington College in Chicago. While teaching in the class also, I use computer. There is an LCD panel hooked with my talking computer, so whatever I type is projected through an overhead projector for my students to see. I prepare my handouts for the class independently. I write and edit midterm and final tests on my own. Above all, the research assignment papers that I ask my students to submit every semester I receive via email and grade them and send back their grades electronically. Thanks to the computer technology. Back in India, I wasn't so blessed by this advancement. Braille was helpful in making notes for lecture preparations but for handouts and exam papers I had to depend on sighted assistance. I have no words to express myself for the independence I now exercise in my job! What more to sayÑI wrote this email without anybodyÕs assistance, edited, modified, saved in Word format, cut and pasted to this message line.

It is difficult to explain everything in writing (after all, it's a megavision!) but I will be more than happy to answer your questions and curiosities.

I solicit everyone's cooperation and look forward to hearing from you all.