Great info! On Fri, 30 Jun 2017 at 19:50 avinash shahi via Ai < [email protected]> wrote:
> In rural Uganda, people who are blind or visually impaired often go to > the city to look for work. But jobs are hard to find, and many end up > as street > beggars. > Instead, Ojok Simon wants them to know about a way they can earn money > without leaving home: beekeeping. Simon, 36, became visually impaired > after he was > severely beaten by rebels who came to his village when he was a child. > He has been a beekeeper for 15 years, and in 2013 he co-founded Hive > Uganda, an > organization that teaches advocates for visually impaired people and > teaches them to make a living raising honeybees. > > http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/washington-post/lifestyles/blindness-does-not-stop-this-beekeeper-baker-and-kayaker-from-expanding-their-vision-1.20828710 > This year, his organization will receive a boost: Simon is one of > three winners of the first-ever Holman Prize, which The Lighthouse for > the Blind and > Visually Impaired in San Francisco. > > "It's like a blind Fulbright," said Will Butler, the organization's > communication director, of the award, which gives up to $25,000 apiece > to blind and > visually impaired people seeking funding for ambitious personal projects. > > The prize is named for James Holman, a 19th-century English navy > lieutenant who lost his sight at 25. In those days, if a military man > became blind, "the > usual thing was they'd go sit in a convent or church and pray for the > souls of dead English soldiers and sailors," said Bryan Bashin, The > Lighthouse's > CEO. > > Holman didn't think that sounded like fun. So, "at a time with people > didn't even think that blind people could get out of the house, he > began to travel, > and he became the most traveled blind person of the 19th century," > eventually crossing through Scotland and France, and across Siberia, > Bashin said. > > Another winner of this year's prize, Penny Melville-Brown of Farnham, > U.K., lost her sight while she was a commander in the British Royal > Navy. Her project, > Baking Blind, will take her around the world to cook with blind and > sighted chefs - including stops in China, Australia, Malawi, and > Virginia Beach, Virginia, > where she hope to "link up with some Navy veterans, especially blind > ones, to share stories." > > Along the way she will videotape her encounters and blog about her > journey. Her goal, she said, is "to show that blind people and other > disabled people > have got lots of get up and go and ability, and they are a great > resource for the rest of the community, the rest of society, and > particularly employers, > to use better." > > Melville-Brown was thrilled to learn she had won ("My thinking is it's > a cross between the Paralympics and The Apprentice, with a whiff of > the Nobel!" > she wrote to the organizers in an excited email). But she also said > the honor comes with "a great responsibility. Because I am sort of > representing lots > of blind people, and especially those who were candidates for the > prize. I'm sort of doing it on their behalf." > > A third winner, Ahmet Ustunel, a San Francisco teacher and avid > kayaker, will develop a guidance system to solo kayak 500 miles in > different locations > around the world, including crossing the Bosphorus Strait from Europe > to Asia in his native Turkey. > > Two-hundred and two applicants from 27 countries and 35 U.S. states > submitted 90-second video pitches for their projects. > > "We were staggered by the amount of interest and the quality and > diversity of the proposals," Bashin said. "One of the biggest > obstacles is our own perceptions > of our capabilities, and part of the Lighthouse's mission is to change > perceptions of the abilities of the blind in all fields." > > Winners will be flown to San Francisco and work with the project > manager to refine their ideas. A year later, they will return to > report on how they turned > out. > > In the Gulu district of northern Uganda, Simon's organization has > already taught 38 people to be beekeepers, using local materials to > make beehives and > learning how to understand bees' behavior. > > Ugandans prize the insects for their honey, their wax (used in soap > and cosmetics), their propolis, and even their venom, which can be > used to boost immunity. > But much of the harvesting is done in the wild, which presents a > challenge for the visually impaired. Hive Uganda teaches people to use > frames and assess > the honey harvest by feeling how heavy they are. > > Winning the Holman will allow Simon to widen the scope of how many > people he can help. > > "I feel that now I'm going to be addressing the larger society. . .to > empower East Africa in general," he told the Washington Post. "My > dream is becoming > reality, and that change that I wanted, I started feeling at my > fingertips." > > - - - > > -- > Avinash Shahi > Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU > Disclaimer: > 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of > the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; > > 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails > sent through this mailing list.. > > > > To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach: > > https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html_______________________________________________ > > > Ai mailing list > [email protected] > http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai > -- Regards, Sunakshi Bajpai +91-8173800424 M.S.W (2013-15) | TISS, Mumbai
Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list.. To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach: https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html _______________________________________________ Ai mailing list [email protected] http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai
