Today’s Plan … go to Hai Duong Province
8:00@ Bus terminal
Today I visited VBA in Hai Duong province. Hai Duong is located in east of Hanoi and it’s about a two-hour drive from the capital. In the morning I headed to the bus terminal to get the highway bus. After telling the place to get off to the ticket seller, I fell asleep.
11:00@ VBA Hai Duong
Fortunately, I could find the building easily. It was a quite small, damp and dark building. The narrow and steep stairs seem to be unsuitable for blind people. Despite the appearance, the function of this association is very important for people in rural areas to go to regular schools and get a job because this is the only one association to teach braille and provide vocational trainings in rural provinces.
This is the dining room. 45 children living at this building eat each meal in this room. As you see, it’s quite dark.
Today’s interviews went very well. I had expected that people in rural areas may be shy and speak with reserve compared to the people in the big cities. But this anticipation was inaccurate. All staffs and students have a sociable atmosphere and willing to answer my questions.
At first I met the headmaster of this association. He told me his own experiences and an opinion as one blind man not as a headmaster of the association. It was quite worthwhile for my research. Although I have interviewed about ten people so far, he is the first interviewee who said the word ‘insufficient’ for the national welfare services. He said that there are about 4500 blind people in this province but only 30 people per year can receive educational help from the nation.
After interviewing the headmaster, he introduced one girl to me. She lives in the dorm in this building and works as a massager. At the end of the interview, she said her dream. She is studying Japanese by listing cassette tapes and wants to work for a company as a Japanese interpreter in the future. I cannot imagine how difficult it would be to study the language without a teacher and a textbook. The headmaster said that there are no blind people who were accepted to work for a regular company as far as he knows. She knows this reality but still doesn’t give up her dream. I hope her dream will come true.
13:00@ Visit Training Centre to interview a boy
I left the association and went to the vocational training center with a teacher. Compared to the main building, it was much larger. VBA is renting a part of this building to provide vocational trainings. Some blind people also live on a premise. I interviewed a boy who is receiving the vocational training in here. Everyone studying here was cheerful and lively. After interviewing a boy, I participated in the music class for a while. The teacher was explaining about the sound with knocking some materials, playing the piano and using his own voice. It is very hard to get job related music skills despite the special vocational training. But regardless of such situation, the people in the class seem to enjoy studying.
14:00@ restaurant
I was absorbed in conversation with the interviewee and had forgotten to have lunch. After I’ve finished everything, the staff took me to the restaurant near the bus station. After lunch, she took me to the bus stop and I went back to Hanoi.
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