In the darkness of disability, knowledge can become a guiding light, helping blind children rise up and discover their potential. That is also the goal that the OWOL project - Teaching English to Blind Students of VAF is implementing. With dedication and enthusiasm, the project has brought language lessons, faith and hope for the future life of children. Behind the success of OWOL and VAF is Mr. Dang The Lam - the co-founder with the desire to support the disadvantaged community as much as possible.
Special Mission
Mr. Dang The Lam - co-founder of the OWOL project and VAF organization, volunteered to support the blind simply as a volunteer work, but then that curiosity became an ideal and a desire to accompany the blind community. "I founded VAF with the desire to narrow the gap between target groups to create a common society - where everyone enjoys basic human rights - that is the right to study," Mr. Lam shared when asked about the reason for founding VAF.
Mr. Lam said that in reality, there are many blind people who do not have enough conditions to access education, or in other words, to go to school, especially in provinces outside of Hanoi. This is a basic human right, but there are still many difficulties that prevent them from reaching it. Therefore, VAF has a great goal: to bring educational opportunities to blind people easily and at a more suitable cost.
In addition to teaching activities, all other activities of VAF revolve around the integration of the blind into the community, such as the Talking Book project. The project was initiated and implemented with the aim of making it easier and more diverse for the blind to access books. Mr. Lam said that converting books from regular paper to Braille would cost a lot of money, so not everyone can afford to pay for a book.
In addition to the above two projects, VAF also operates many other side projects to increase the impact of the blind in the community, most notably the 2016 Run for both the blind and the sighted. “We organized the first run in 2016 and were quite surprised because it brought a positive effect on the concept of people with disabilities in the general community. People with disabilities mean that they may lack one part or another but that does not mean they cannot do it.” - said Mr. Dang The Lam.
VAF also has the participation and contribution of volunteers, most of whom are students. One of those enthusiastic supporters is Mr. Hoang Cong Thinh - a learning materials volunteer at VAF. Thinh is blind because he was unfortunately born with poor eyesight and it gradually deteriorated over time. Although he has his own job and family, he is one of the enthusiastic and hard-working volunteers at the organization. “I feel “destined” because I got to know VAF in 2022 through a friend's introduction. The second time was through an English training class organized by the Association for the Blind and VAF. During the class, I had the opportunity to connect with Mr. Lam, so I feel lucky to be connected with talented people who inspire me a lot. Before that, because I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Lam, I registered as soon as VAF opened the recruitment of volunteers as a learning materials volunteer. I chose this position because I felt that the job was suitable for my abilities. The main job of a learning materials volunteer is to produce English learning tools for students such as flashcards (vocabulary cards), tests, translating English books into Braille, etc.,” Mr. Thinh excitedly shared.
The journey is full of "roses with thorns"
Because the blind are a special group, especially students, there will be difficulties. Mr. Lam said that although he is not directly responsible for teaching, after many years of working, he feels that the most difficult thing is how to help the blind truly integrate into the community and be able to create a normal life like everyone else. Mr. Lam said: “We work in education like planting trees, it takes a lot of time to water. The early years of 2010 and 2011 were very difficult for blind students when assistive technology was not as developed as it is now. Besides, there is also the problem of their limited access to education. To support the blind to overcome these difficulties and access higher education, it takes about 10 years. Because 10 years is enough time for a generation of students to grow up, from when they are still in primary school and then to higher education. VAF is always ready to support the visually impaired so that they can use their knowledge and access jobs, however, factors such as accessibility, health and time create quite a big limitation.
Spread
One of the mottos that VAF relies on to operate is “If you want to go far, you have to go together”. Despite its long history and recognition from individuals and the community, Mr. Lam said that the greatest and proudest achievement does not come from medals or huge numbers, but from the dedication of the volunteers at VAF: “That is one of the achievements that I feel more proud of than the certificates or contributions that we receive from partners or from the community. Of course, I am also very happy to have received recognition from partners and government agencies, but that is part of a long process of a collective and I am just a representative of VAF.”
With the viewpoint of “the good leaves cover the torn leaves” and “three trees together make a high mountain”, VAF is gradually changing with meaningful activities on a larger scale: “In fact, we are currently carrying out a rather large task, which is to transfer the framework of English teaching materials for the blind to associations, support groups for the blind or related organizations to be able to expand the conditions for learning foreign languages for the blind in the localities. Because VAF operates in Hanoi, it can only focus on a number of students studying here, so it will be difficult to bring foreign language learning opportunities to the blind in areas outside Hanoi or provinces in the river delta.
I hope that blind students will understand that learning and development is a process, not a destination. But to start and carry out this journey, there is one very important thing to have: confidence. Of course, poor eyesight has caused inconvenience and difficulty for you, but that is one of the fears you must overcome. Always try to go beyond the safety zone that you have built in the blind community to be able to go further" - this is the message that Mr. Dang The Lam wants to send to blind students who are on the journey to expand their knowledge.
