Children at Dong Nai province School for Students with Disabilities enjoy reading (Photo courtesy of HCM City General Sciences Library) HCM City (VNS/VNA) - Despitesuffering from 90 percent visual impairment, 37-year-old Truong Phuoc Khai ofHau Giang province in the Mekong Delta has a passion for making books.
After a severe childhood disease tookaway his ability to see, Khai started learning Braille at home at age 15. Hecontinued learning in Ho Chi Minh City, eventually graduating from theUniversity of Social Science and Humanities there. Now, Khai works at thecity’s Library of General Sciences, crafting books for visually impairedreaders and processing audio books.
“Acquiring new knowledge used to bea real challenge for me because not every book is accessible for people withoutgood vision,” Khai said. “I used to record my friends reading textbooks andlisten to the recordings at home. I decided to purse a book-making career tohelp visually impaired students gain access to learning materials.”
Composing books is not an easyprofession, even with perfect vision. Khai’s first challenge was learning tooperate a Braille typewriter. Now, he types quickly and only spends 15 minuteson each page.
Khai edits audio books on acomputer. Thanks to accessibility tools such as screen readers, he can trim andmix recordings of professionals who volunteer their time.
“The biggest challenge at the momentis to have to work harder than normal people to make up for my shortcomings,”he said.
Nguyen Cao Hoang, 33, from Dong Nai provinceis another visually impaired worker at the library. After graduating from TonDuc Thang University, he took charge of transcribing texts into Braille.
“Working with machines is not a bigdeal to me, but I sometimes need to use a magnifier to see clearly,” Hoangsaid. “I find it annoying that Braille printers are so loud.”
Hoang also follows the library’sbookmobile, serving visually impaired students.
“The students remember every one ofus,” he said. “When someone is missing, they hold hands of the others and askabout them. It is such a warm feeling.”
Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, 61, is a libraryvolunteer responsible for recording audio books. Among various genres thelibrary offers, she is interested in sex education documents for girls.
“It is a pity for visually impairedgirls not to be properly educated about sex,” Ha said. “I hope my books canhelp them gain essential knowledge.”
Library officer Hong Thi Kim Vy toldTuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper the bookmobile was first launched in 2007.
Each internet-connected bookmobileis equipped with a Braille printer, Braille books, handheld media players andaudio books.
The initiative is sponsored by a 66,000USD investment from the Netherlands-based Force Foundation and South Africa’sStandard Bank.
Each year, they visit schools andhold open houses for visually impaired students in HCM City and theneighbouring provinces of Tay Ninh, Ben Tre and Tra Vinh to offer readersbetter access to books and encourage their love of learning.-VNS/VNA
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