Below is a list which is roughly arranged by the order through which we will travel. If you wish to jump straight to a country please select the link from the list below.
International Guide Dogs Association
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
The Seven Wonders of the Medieval Mind
The Seven Natural Wonders of the World
The Seven Wonders of the Modern World
The Seven Forgotten Natural Wonders of the World
The Seven Forgotten Modern Wonders of the World
The Seven Forgotten Wonders of the Medieval Mind
International Links
Below is a list of people, organisations and projects that we hope to be able to link up with on our journey. The links are roughly organized through the route we shall be following. If you follow the links you will access background information on the organisations and people concerned. In order to make this feasible we have allowed 12 months at, roughly, 2000 miles a month or 500 miles a week. This is achievable and allows considerable time for the linking with projects and organisations throughout the world and the promotion of their services using the journey to stimulate interest.
The host agencies themselves, in each country, will have a tremendous opportunity to involve local and National media for their own benefit and the people they serve.
International Guide Dogs Association
http://www.ifgdsb.org.uk/page.asp?code=00010008
England
War Blinded
http://www.st-dunstans.org.uk/ (see section on America and Canada)
Peter White – BBC In-Touch Programme (See section on China)
http://www.eyeway.org/inspire/ac-peter-white.htm
Elizabeth Jackson (Business Woman)
http://www.eyeway.org/inspire/ac-liz.htm
David Blunkett
http://www.eyeway.org/inspire/ac-dblnk.htm
Scotland and blind golf.
http://www.scottishblindgolf.com/fame.html
War blinded (See America and Canada link)
http://www.royalblind.org/warblinded/index.asp
Ireland
Caroline Casey - Social entrepreneur
http://www.eyeway.org/inspire/ac-carol.htm
Prisoners and braille
Arbour Hill
Prison -
Braille Unit,
Dublin, Ireland.
Back to list
Norway (Bergen to Helsinki – 1700 miles)
The route has always started in Scandinavia due to the relevant links to Guide Dogs being forged. For example, Guide Dogs for the Blind Association (UK) imports Dogs from Norway and Sweden. One of the reasons this occurs is to increase the strength of the genetic stock of British Dogs. The imported dogs have been assigned – to date - to people within North West. One of the problems which had to be overcome was the language difficulties as Norwegian dogs do not speak English!
Sweden
From there the route takes us into Sweden to visit Dolphin Computer Access who is one of the world’s largest providers of hardware and software for visually impaired people. At this point we travel through Finland
Finland
The Finish organisations role involves increasing leisure opportunities for blind and partially sighted people.
(http://www.nkl.fi/yleista/english.htm)
National organisations
http://www.tiresias.org/agencies/countries_f/finland.htm#finland
From Finland the route involves crossing the borders into Russia.
Russia (Helsinki to St.Petersburg 249 miles)
In Russia we plan to visit two major areas concerning visual impairment. One is the new development of long-cane use (unknown in Russia until recently) and it provides a direct link between America and Russia. Link between Russia and America.
http://www.sfsu.edu/~news/2004/spring/24.htm
Employment situations provided by http://www.designingsteps.com/rehabilitasion_of.html.
With a British unemployment rate of 75% amongst blind people it will be interesting to compare employment opportunities.
St.Petersburg and then down to Moscow will be the main route.
Sheltered Factories
http://www.designingsteps.com/rehabilitasion_of.html
National organisations
http://www.tiresias.org/agencies/countries_r/russia.htm#russia
Belorussia
№ 93 for blind children – we want to track down this school as it is a school for blind children. Catherine attended specialist education within Merseyside. Bernard is a teacher of the blind. Education would be the focus of this link.
http://www.rotary.odessa.ua/index_en.php.
Link to specialist schools in UK.
Poland
Due to the National Library of the Blind and Braille use – visit the Polish National Library for the Blind in Warsaw. Catherine is a braillist and the RNIB is running a Right To read campaign and the services for blind and partially sighted children in the UK has seen a massive reduction in the availability of Braille teaching.
World Chess and Blind players –
http://www.usuarios.com/ib316564/
Romania
Changes from communism to member state of EU for blind people in field of employment.
http://www.designingsteps.com/romania_vocational.html
Link to all national agencies.
http://www.tiresias.org/agencies/countries_r/romania.htm#romania
Holland
National organisation
Germany
Link to National German Federation of Blind and Visually Impaired People
http://www.dbsv.org/engl/e_facts.htm
The German Blind football team! Blind British football team and links to FA http://www.thefa.com/England/DisabledTeams/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2006/11/Blind_legacyin_Germany.htm
France
The issue of violence against blind people could be the focus of this country who participated in a European Project funded by the European Union
http://www.ebudaphne.org/home-en.htm
National organisation
Spain
National organisation
Education provision through Specialist Schools in Spain
http://www.once.es/vocacion/webenglish/fr09.htm
Italy
Association for the Development of Information Technology Systems for the Disabled (Italy): assists the blind, physically handicapped and deaf with computer training courses, research into adaptive software, information dissemination -
http://www.asphi.it/english/HomePage.htm
In the Arts Andrea Bocelli and other various people could be linked http://www.eyeway.org/inspire/mn-achievers.htm
Croatia
A theatre company of the blind
http://www.croatianhistory.net/etf/blind.html
All organisations in Croatia
http://www.tiresias.org/agencies/countries_c/croatia.htm#croatia
Serbia and Montinegra
All National agencies.
http://www.tiresias.org/agencies/countries_s/serbia.htm#serbia
Greece
Seven Wonders of the world - The Statue of Zeus at Olympia
Seven Wonders of the world - The Colossus of Rhodes
The home of civilization and HOMER: As the author of the Odyssey--the first great piece of literature in the Western tradition - Homer is believed to have been a blind poet who put into writing a tradition of oral epic poetry about the Heroic Age in the Odyssey and the Iliad.
There are various organisations for the blind in Greece.
http://www.tiresias.org/agencies/countries_g/greece.htm#greece
Bulgaria
http://nllb.hit.bg/index_eng.htm
Japanese Government buy Braille printers for production of Braille. Done through Japanese embassy.
Bulgaria is trying to get guide dog training underway. British Guide Dogs is looking for ways to work together.
Turkey
National organisations
http://www.tiresias.org/agencies/countries_t/turkey.htm#turkey
Seven wonders of the world - The Temple of Artemis at Epheseus
Seven wonders of the world - The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
Iran
National organisations
http://www.tiresias.org/agencies/countries_i/iran.htm#iran
Iran Has Newspaper for the Blind
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Homa Badr takes notes for her news stories in Braille, forming the words with a piercing tool and special perforated frame. Her mission: to promote knowledge among Iran's blind and highlight the problems and dangers they face in daily life.
Her newspaper, Iran-e-Sepid, or White Iran, is believed to be the only
Braille daily in the Middle East, operating in a region - and in a country - where the public has little understanding of the difficulties of the sightless.
``People in Iran have yet to recognize the blind's white cane and learn how to treat them,'' said Badr, blind since birth. ``Some people do help us but still there is no law in Iran to protect our rights.''
The problems of Iran's blind are many. Blind men and women have trouble meeting because of Islam's strict separation of the sexes. Guide dogs are expensive - and dogs are regarded as unclean in Islam. Even navigating the streets in Tehran and other cities can be perilous because of the many potholes and bumps.
Pakistan
Seeing is believing, but believing is seeing – training and musicians.
http://agencyfaqs.com/news/company_news/Corporate/3913.htm
The first internet café for the blind in Pakistan
http://bznotes.wordpress.com/tag/pakistan/
India
Bangalore and blind dance teacher
http://www.eyeway.org/inspire/ac-bgowda.htm
National Associations
http://www.nabindia.org/sited/fac02.htm
http://www.senseintindia.org/htmls/jjsb_varanasi.html
Blind women in India
http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=332
National musical star in India
http://www.eyeway.org/inspire/ac-ravin.htm
National award for contribution (Delhi University)
Dipendra Manocha - Social Entrepreneur
http://www.eyeway.org/inspire/ac-manocha.htm
Tibet
Medical provision and causes - A young German woman's efforts to establish a school for the blind in Tibet.
http://www.braillewithoutborders.org/ENGLISH/index.html
In the summer of 1997 Sabriye Tenberken, blind herself, travelled within the Tibet Autonomous Region (T.A.R) to investigate the possibility of providing training for Tibetan blind and visually impaired people. Sabriye realised there were no programs educating and rehabilitating blind people within the T.A.R.
Before the opening of the Project, blind children in the did not have access to education. They led a life on the margin of society with few chances of integration. According to official statistics 30.000 of the 2.5 million inhabitants of the T.A.R. are blind or highly visually impaired. Compared to most areas in the world this is well above the average ratio. The causes of visual impairment or blindness are both climatic and hygienic: dust, wind, high ultra-violet light radiation, soot in houses caused by heating with coal and/or yak dung, and lack of vitamin A at an early age. Inadequate medical care also plays a role. Cataracts are widespread. Indeed governmental and private organizations have set up eye-camps where medical surgery is being performed and local doctors are taught to do the procedure. However, there is a large group of blind people that can't be helped this way. For this group of people the rehabilitation and training centre for the blind, has been established.
Blindsight – the story of 6 blind Tibetan teenagers who climb the north side of mount Everest - http://www.petrcikhartfilms.com/projects.html
China
The great wall of China on a motorbike?
China, according to estimates, has in the region of 9 million people with sight loss. Getting into China will only be achievable if the link is made with the National Organisation / Government Departments due to restrictions on ‘independent’ vehicle travel by foreigners. A natural start point may well be the following link:
http://www.chinadevelopmentbrief.com/node/811/print
The UK programme by the BBC ‘In Touch’ and the link to China for blind and partially sighted people. If we can do a show for the British version and then appear on the version in China.
The 19-month project plans to train 36 visually impaired people in China to produce and present radio programmes. Six of trainees are core members working in a studio in Beijing, and Yang is one of them. The project will train 30 people from different provinces so that they can work from their own homes as freelance correspondents for the programme. The output will be a weekly radio programme produced by the 36 visually impaired people.
As a teacher (Bernard) there are few opportunities for people to train to work with blind people in China http://www.amityfoundation.org/page.php?page=1447
Paralympics start in Beijing on September 6th !!!!!! This is one day after Cathy’s birthday.
Health programme for sight loss
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/english/200005/19/eng20000519_41172.html
Protection of rights for blind people
http://www.disabilityworld.org/01_07/china.shtml
Blind people and empowerment
http://www.amitynewsletter.org/index.php?issueNo=68
Various stories from around China
http://www.amityfoundation.org/page.php?page=23
Japan
Japan International Blind Exchange and Cooperation Network (JIBEC)
JIBEC's focus is on international exchange and cooperation specifically
related to people with a visual impairment. Activities are as follows:
Exchanging ideas with and supporting foreign visually impaired trainees and
students in Japan; Providing information and support for Japanese visually
impaired people who want to be actively involved in international exchange and
cooperation; Collecting and translating information about issues related to
the visually impaired community both in Japan and in other countries;
Organizing exchange programs for foreign and Japanese visually impaired
people.
Japan Guide Dog Association
To establish and manage guide dog training centers, To educate guide dog
trainers and instructors in walking with a guide dog, To research and develop
better ways of breeding, To share knowledge and experience with other support
groups or organizations for visually impaired people, To offer visually
impaired people several rehabilitation programs, To work on public relations
to spread and deepen the understanding of guide dogs.
Japan involved in Paralympics particularly in Judo
http://web-japan.org/trends/sports/spo041026.html
Would be interesting to follow martial arts for blind people in one of the homes of weaponless fighting.
Australia (Darwin to Adelaide to Sydney)
National Organisations
http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/fredhollows/
The Fred Hollow’s foundation deals with indigenous aspects of sight loss amongst aboriginal people.
Australians and blind cricket
http://www.rbs.org.au/info.aspx?page=1590
New Zealand
Blind sailing in New Zealand (Catherine loves sailing and has been on several trips!)
http://www.sailingblind.org.nz/frameset.html
Ngati Kaapoo - Support group for blind Maori
Banking and commerce
13 JULY 2005. TALKING ATMs FOR THE BLIND AND VISION IMPAIRED
Standard ATMs which are voice-enabled (“talking”) ATMs have been installed by New Zealand Credit Unions nationwide.
http://www.abcnz.org.nz/media-releases/index.html
Audio description of TV programmes
15 JULY, 2002. FOR THE BLIND, A WORD IS WORTH A THOUSAND PICTURES
Just as the sound of television is captioned for the deaf, so the pictures on television need to be described to the blind, according to the Association of Blind Citizens of New Zealand.
http://www.abcnz.org.nz/media-releases/index.html
Argentina
Digital Library for
the Blind
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=36901
BUENOS AIRES, Mar 13 (IPS) - Armed with a computer and their passion for literature, a group of blind people in Argentina have created the first digital library for Spanish-speaking people who are visually impaired. It already has some 20,000 volumes and over 3,000 subscribers in 40 countries.
National organisations
http://www.tiresias.org/agencies/countries_a/argentina.htm#argentina
Employment and using heightened smell? Testing perfumes.
http://www.unilever.com/ourvalues/environmentandsociety/casestudies/health/argentinatesting.asp
Peru
National organisations
http://www.tiresias.org/agencies/countries_p/peru.htm#peru
Peru is more than a postcard of famous Machu Picchu
Erik Weihenmayer, World Renowned Blind Climber
Erik was the first and only blind climber to summit Mt. Everest. He is also an acrobatic skydiver, long distance biker, marathon runner, skier, mountaineer, and ice climber. Erik is a former middle school teacher and wrestling coach who has made his way on to the cover of Time, Outside, and Climbing magazines. He has also been featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show, NBC’s Today, the Tonight Show, and Nightly News with Tom Brokaw.
In 2006, Global Explorers launched the Leading the Way initiative - international programs for blind and sighted students focusing on our core principles of leadership, service, science and culture. Our inaugural trip to Machu Picchu with 18 students was featured on ABC Nightline and ABC WorldNews. Erik will join a new team of students in 2007 as they hike through the magical land of the Incas high in the Andes.
http://www.globalexplorers.org/site/main/partners/
Brazil
Brazilian soap operas! The visually impaired.
América did strongly campaign for better inclusion of visually impaired people in Brazilian society. Three characters were blind and there was an attempt to show blind people as capable of leading normal and independent lives. Jatobá, for instance, lived alone in a flat, worked, used computers, paid his own bills (despite the lack of Braille markings in the Brazilian banknotes) and was engaged to a non-blind woman (whom he later married).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Am%C3%A9rica_(TV_series)
Changes to the built environment
http://www.disabilityworld.org/01-02_01/access/riocity.htm
America
National organisations
Famous Blind baseball commentator in Florida
http://www.eyeway.org/inspire/ac-enriq.htm
Actor, singer, author, producer
Founder of baseball rules and motivational speaker.
http://www.eyeway.org/inspire/ac-tomsul.htm
Acclaimed blind artist
http://www.eyeway.org/inspire/ac-lisa.htm
Blind singer song-writer and performer
http://www.eyeway.org/inspire/ac-feliciano.htm
Stevie Wonder
http://www.eyeway.org/inspire/ac-swonder.htm
Blind Doctor
http://www.eyeway.org/inspire/ac-timcor.htm
Blind Olympic runner
Marla Runyan – Athlete
http://www.eyeway.org/inspire/ac-marla.htm
Alabama
- Blind Boys of Alabama Featuring Clarence Fountain
Clarence Fountain and the Blind Boys of Alabama have been singing God's music
for over 60 years. In the course of that time, they've traveled the distance,
from playing small tent shows to picking up three Grammy Award nominations.
Along the way, they've changed and added members, but they've never lost the
faith. That sense of survival is reflected in the title of their latest album
"Holdin' On" on House of Blues Music Company.
http://www.savstate.edu/events/fest/musicians.htm#boys
Hollywood and links to film industry re. audio description on movies – link to UK campaigns.
Canada
National Organisations
http://www.tiresias.org/agencies/countries_c/canada.htm#canada
War blinded (England link)
http://www.cnib.ca/eng/about-us/work/sapa.htm
Blindness International
Established by The Canadian National Institute for the Blind ensuring that
blind women and girls in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean and
Central America benefit equally from programs concentrating on Braille
literacy, rehabilitation, technology, digitalization of library services and
organizational capacity building.
Last updated: 04/04/2006
Christian Blind Mission International (CBMI)
Christian Blind Mission International is the world's leading agency working
towards the prevention and cure of blindness and towards the enablement of
people with disabilities in developing countries. Founded in 1908, CBMI helps
over 10 million sick and disabled people each year at more than 1,000 projects
in over 100 of the world's poorer countries. Saving Sight - CBMI partners
carry out screening and treatment programs for children who are at risk of
going blind due to vitamin A deficiency. As well, treatment is available for
patients suffering from trachoma, saving them from eventual pain and permanent
blindness. CBMI-sponsored programs are responsible for distributing
sight-saving Mectizan® to approximately 2 million people in danger of river
blindness. Enabling People - CBMI supports schools for blind and deaf
children, as well as rehabilitation projects for adults. Community Based
Rehabilitation is one of the programs we support - giving people with
disabilities rehabilitative care and support within their own communities.
Last updated: 13/01/2003
Operation Eyesight Universal
Operation Eyesight Universal is the original and principal Canadian response
to issues of preventable blindness in the developing world. A not-for-profit
charitable organization, Operation Eyesight has been at work restoring sight
and preventing blindness throughout South Asia, Africa and Latin America since
1963. Its operations are directed from Calgary, Alberta, with offices in
Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. Currently, Operation Eyesight oversees 48
programs in 10 countries. The mission of Operation Eyesight is to provide
international leadership and encouragement in the development and funding of
self-sustaining blindness prevention and sight restoration programs for those
people in greatest need - that all people of the world may enjoy the gift of
sight. In addition to its direct efforts, Operation Eyesight participates in
initiatives like Vision 2020, an international alliance of eye-health
organizations dedicated to eliminating the major causes of preventable
blindness.
Sir Arthur Pearson Association of War Blinded
From a film point of view there are numerous examples from the following along
the route.
World Wonders
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
The Seven Wonders of the Medieval Mind
The Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa
The Porcelain Tower of Nanjing
The Seven Natural Wonders of the World
The Seven Wonders of the Modern World
The North Sea Protection Works
The Seven Forgotten Natural Wonders of the World
The Seven Forgotten Modern Wonders of the World
Mount Rushmore National Memorial
The Seven Forgotten Wonders of the Medieval Mind
The Forgotten Wonders
