Onkyo Braille Essay Contest 2006 -- International Section (Asia-Pacific Region) ■ Highly Commended "HOW BRAILLE HAS CHANGED MY LIFE" Mr. Maung Tin Moe (Myanmar: Male, 33-year-old) |
I was born in a little village in Central Myanmar of poor peasant stock. After finishing High School at the age of 20, I entered the teaching profession at our village primary school. I was very happy and enthusiastic bringing the light of education to the poor village children. Those were the best years of my life. Suddenly, disaster struck, shattering all my hopes and dreams and my future seemed to be in unredeemable ruins. An accident left me totally without sight in both eyes - it was a devastating experience, like being dragged from a world of light and plunged into an abyss of darkness. Nothing could reconcile me to my new situation - friends and neighbours seemed to be drifting away and I was surrounded by the mournful voices of my family lamenting and bewailing my fate. Most heart-wrenching was the realisation that I could no longer do anything for my dear children. I remained in this state of helplessness and hopelessness for eight long and lonely years - I felt like an inmate in a maximum security prison. Emotionally, it was like being immersed in the hottest hell fire. Then I heard about a school for the blind somewhere in Central Myanmar and started to find out more information about it. My joy knew no bounds when I found out that such a school really existed and I was determined to get to it by hook or by crook. Besides an academic education, the school also provided training in handicrafts and music. I will always remember the day i first entered the compound of the school. The voices of children reading and reciting their lessons brought back memories of my teaching days and the thrill of ecstatic joy stirred my whole being. As the sound of music floated out from the practice room, I was enraptured and felt as though I had been caught up into Seventh Heaven. Then, as my fingertips touched the dots on a Braille page for the very first time, I knew definitely that a new life had begun for me. I had to work very hard before I could use Braille well enough. But once I had mastered the basics of the code, my life became brighter with each passing day. With my new-found learning tool, I not only resumed pursuing my interest in reading but also completed my studies at university. Best of all, I could now do what I enjoy doing the most - teaching. This time my pupils were not sighted children but children who could not see. Thanks to Braille, I am now full of life and ambition as it has broadened the scope of my new vision. It has given me the confidence to achieve my aims and goals. Yes, it has changed my life for the better. It has broken down the barriers of prejudice and discrimination that stood between me and the world around me. Indeed, Braille is more than life to me. It is my all; it is my everything. |
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