Duskin Leadership Training in Japan

Bee's Final Report

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Final Report

I arrived in Japan on August 21, 2002. I really learned a lot here and had many new experiences. My stay in Japan was wonderful. I learned a lot from my friends every day and learned about Japanese culture and ways of thinking which surprised me a little. I visited various organizations for persons with disabilities. I think such organizations in Japan have a great influence. People get along well with each other. I studied Japanese for three months. What I learned in Braille and conversation classes were very useful. In October I attended various symposiums such as the Blind Summit and the Osaka Forum, which were very informative. I met government officials and exchanged information. These meetings were held in Osaka and I made a lot of friends including former trainees on The Duskin Program and persons with visual impairments in Japan. They were all very kind and made a big impression on me. I like Japanese culture because it is very beautiful. I think culture in Japan is somewhat similar to our culture in Thailand. Unfortunately though, young Japanese people do not seem to have much interest in their own culture. American and European cultures seem more important to them. Later I went skiing which was a new experience for me. I had never felt snow before because it never snows in my country. So, the skiing trip was really good chance for me to experience snow. I skied for three days and enjoyed the trip. Skiing was a little difficult but was a challenging experience. The instructor was very kind. After the ski trip, I went to stay with a host family. They were very nice to me. My host family lives in Osaka and I stayed with them for one week. The home-stay program provided me with a good opportunity to learn more about Japanese culture and traditions and I really enjoyed it. I like Osaka very much – the people are so cheerful. My training institution was JSRPD Information Center where I received a five-month training. I like to work with computers but there are not so many people who work with computers in my country. If I have a chance, I would like to continue my computer studies in the future because it is very important for persons with visual impairments to read and write on their own. I studied every day at Information Center. HTML and XML are excellent computer languages. During my training period, I attended various symposiums, such as DAISY Symposium and the Japan and UK Symposium. I met many people there and exchanged information. I learned how to use a computer for five months at Information Center. I also taught a friend of mine how to use a computer. He knew nothing about computers before he came to Japan and didn’t even know how to send email. But he studied hard and improved his skills and now he can email, install a program, and do many things with a computer. I was truly impressed. For persons with visual impairments, computers are very important. Books written in Braille are very expensive. I also had fun learning about web accessibility, which is very important. Web pages should be easier for persons with visual impairments to access. I underwent training at Information Center and also learned about Japanese culture. People at Information Center were kind and taught me many things and I was very happy. When I go back home, I would like to work with computers and would also like to support organizations for persons with visual impairments in Thailand. I hope you will offer your support if you have a chance. I think education is more important than financial support. Thank you for your cooperation. I appreciate your continued support.

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