Onkyo Braille Essay Contest 2006 -- International Section (Asia-Pacific Region) ■ International Runner-Up "BRAILLE IN MY LIFE" Mr. Nguyen Thanh Trung (Vietnam: male, 48-year-old) |
When I was just over 20 years of age, an illness deprived me of my sight. I lost my job, colleagues and friends; all my dreams and plans were destroyed. I returned home to live with my old mother in a poor village located along the Chau River. I felt that luck had left me and the days seemed endless. One day I recalled what Pavencosagin said in the novel, Steel Has Been Tempered That Way which said "The most valuable thing in life is life. One can live only once; thus, one should live meaningfully so as not to regret having wasted their days." This greatly encouraged me to overcome my difficulties. It raised a strong desire in me to do something to help my family and to learn music. I was told that learning music was difficult for a normal person, let alone a blind man like me. But I did not allow such talk to kill my desire. I realised that in order to learn music, I first had to learn Braille which I knew nothing about. Fortunately, someone recommended me to a teacher of Braille and she helped me a lot with Braille and with the music notes. Then I was lucky to find another village teacher who volunteered to read music material to me so that I could translate them into Braille. After three years of effort and hard work, coupled with a love for music and an enquiring mind, I could play the guitar quite well. I was also blessed with a warm voice and this enabled me to win an A Prize in the local public show contest. Later, this opened up the opportunity for me to work as a collaborator for local radio. Since then, I had been invited to perform at many local meetings, wedding ceremonies and the local youth union functions where I taught songs for children. Through these activities, I became deeply aware that life was meaningful only when one had a job and a suitable position in the community. In fact, this was the best way for one to be integrated into society. Everything seemed to go smoothly until one day when I joined the local blind association. This was the beginning of a new struggle because at the time, this association had just been formed at the district level and it consisted of fellow sufferers, most of whom knew nothing about Braille. I was very proud to have been assigned to teach Braille to the other members. I was very happy to have been given the honour to be the one to initiate and sow the seeds of brightness among the blind in our district. Through our common effort, the association grew stronger and stronger and we were awarded with the Certificate of Merit for many years by the Central Blind Association. Not satisfied with my success, however, I took up studies in administration, composing documents and money matters. I encouraged the blind to go into business and I wrote many articles regarding the activities of the association so that more blind persons would be attracted to join the organisation. Nowadays, with the developments in technology, the computer is becoming popular with the blind. Nonetheless, computers cannot take the place of the Braille dots which will always be in our hearts. Braille has brought us light and it has opened up new prospects for us in this world. Sometimes I ask myself what would happen if there was no Braille and there was no association for the blind - we would be blind twice over! This awareness keeps me striving in my efforts to study and work for the betterment of the blind and to maintain the spirit of "One for all and all for one". |
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