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From left to right: Dao Van Thom, Nguyen Minh Tuan, Nguyen Minh Hai are in blue T-shirts (participants), Nguyen Nha Quyen (mentor) and Bui Nguyen Nhat Minh (supporter)
UPSHIFT Workshop © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/
UPSHIFT Workshop/ Truong Viet Hung/ November 2015
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The Blind IT Teacher
During this year’s outreach and
workshop, we had the chance to meet Tuấn. Tuấn is a member of a project that
aims to build a job-seeking website for the blind. Tuấn is a calm and collected
person with an incredible sense of humor. He receives everyone’s respect and
love at Thiên Ân Shelter for the blind in his role as the IT teacher.
Tuấn’s journey to
become a qualified IT teacher is full of adversity and tremendous effort. Tuấn
graduated with good standing with a degree in IT from University of Pedagogy in
Ho Chi Minh City. He attended normal classes and was given no special
exceptions. We were inspired to know that with the right opportunity and access
to resources there is no boundary for dreams and the ability to learn, even for
those with disadvantages such as lost sight. As one of the few participants in
UPSHIFT who is over the age of 24, Tuan’s role is that of a participant-mentor.
His knowledge and experience helped his team make it into our workshop and be
rewarded with a chance at incubation to make their dream project real.
 From left to right: Bui Nguyen Nhat Minh (supporter), Nguyen Minh Hai, Dao Van Thom, La Thi Mai Thu, Nguyen Minh Tuan are in blue T-shirts (participants), and Nguyen Nha Quyen (mentor) UPSHIFT Workshop © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/ UPSHIFT Workshop/ Truong Viet Hung/ November 2015 |
From a personal perspective to the life experience of a blind person
Tuấn was not born blind. His family has a history of AMD
(Age-Related Macular Degeneration), and he could not escape his fate with the
condition. When he reached 19 years of age, his eyesight deteriorated
significantly causing his loss of vision.
At the time, he was a sophomore at University of Agriculture
and Forestry and had to quit school because he could not keep up with his
schoolwork. As a result, he lost hope and became depressed.
Tuấn explains that it’s hard for blind people to find a
suitable job, as the number of available jobs and support services for the
blind are very limited. Many training
centers simply turn down blind applicants because they had no prior experience
working with blind people and don’t have the ability to deliver appropriate
services.
For blind students who attend Vietnamese universities,
taking examinations is also a challenge. Students are required to take English, IT and other certificates
prior to graduation. Unfortunately, these examinations are not made to be
accessible to blind students. These professional and educational difficulties
are in addition to the daily complexities of navigating the incredibly hectic
mega-city of Ho Chi Minh, which has limited accessibility options for those
with disabilities. In many cases, young people that are blind have to rely
disproportionately on their families, and are often disrespected by others and
receive many pitiful comments.
Nguyen Minh Tuan was presenting at the UPSHIFT workshop
UPSHIFT Workshop © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/
UPSHIFT Workshop/ Truong Viet Hung/ November 2015
How did Tuấn overcome his difficulties?
When Tuấn joined Thiên Ân Shelter he started
making many friends and had the opportunity to learn about many assistive tools
for blind people. Tuấn ultimately regained his motivation to continue studying.
This time, Tuấn enrolled at the University
of Pedagogy, Tuấn recorded all of his classes and listen to later, search for more materials on
the web to supplement his knowledge, and ask his friends to clarify things. On
his second year at University, Tuấn took
the chance to apply for an internship at a software development company.
With his expertise in IT for the blind, we
asked Tuan to educate the UPSHIFT team on blind people’s ability to use
technology, especially for communication and education. Tuấn explained
enthusiastically that using screen reader software, which attempts to identify,
interpret and read what is on the screen, helps blind people use laptops and
mobile devices quite extensively.This software also provides shortcuts to help
users speed up their movements on devices. For Tuấn and many of his friends, email, most
websites, Facebook, online news, and searching for information are all easily
accessible.
Nguyen Minh Tuan was presenting at the UPSHIFT workshop
UPSHIFT Workshop © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/UPSHIFT Workshop/ Truong Viet Hung/ November 2015
How was the idea of a job-seeking website for the blind born?
Since he has lost his sight and experiencing
the difficulties of the blind first hand, Tuấn has always wanted to do
something about it. He hopes to create equal opportunities for blind people. He
feels that blind people are only known for doing odd jobs in Viet Nam, such as
masseur, selling lottery tickets, or making handicrafts. Many blind people are
forced to become beggars simply to get by, but Tuan and his team have a vision
to change this.
Job options for blind people in Viet Nam are improving,
there are opportunities to be teachers, translators or audio/video
transcribers, traditional medicine practitioners, software developers or even
get advanced degrees. However, even with emerging opportunities and blind
people with the appropriate abilities to undertake these jobs, the chances of a
blind person getting hired are still slim because not many employers have the
capacity, experience, or opportunity to connect with, and adapt to a potential
employee that is blind. Employers are generally not aware of what kinds of jobs
blind people can do, and even if they are and express an interest in hiring
them, there are not many services that could support them.
Tuấn and his team aim to build a website connecting blind
people seeking employment and employers. This website is more than a simple job
board though, it aims to help bridge the gap between blind people, their
abilities and the employers by providing services such as an online forum and
mentoring. Through the online service, Tuan hopes that more and more blind
people will be able to find a suitable job to support themselves.
You can get updates on Tuan and his team at upshift.vye.vn
Written by Thu Tran & Minh Bui from VYE
Edited by Brian Cotter UNICEF Innovation Lab: Viet Nam
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