Dear All, Greetings from the National Eyeway Helpdesk. Please, find the below Daily Eyeway Alerts: 1. News- Coronavirus: Being blind during the pandemic. The coronavirus pandemic has caused daily difficulties for everyone. But what if you are visually impaired? Blind journalist Kate Pounds explores the particular challenges the virus has thrown up. As the train approached London Waterloo on my last journey home from work before lockdown, a fellow passenger remarked he didn't want to press the button to open the doors because of Coronavirus. It got me thinking. As someone who cannot see, I have to touch objects and surfaces much more than your average person. Just at the station I have to feel around the ticket machine to find the card reader, touch the escalator's moving handrail to see if it's going to take me up or down, and touch the side of the train doorway to gauge the width of the gap I'm so often reminded to "mind". Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/disability-52118942
COVID-19: Students with vision impairment shift to new platform. During the lockdown, 200 undergraduate students from various Indian cities are picking up employability skills through an online initiative; Help the Blind Foundation framed the curriculum and runs the programme It is a quarter past six in the evening, and A.R. Vasudha’s students are clutching their mobile phones. As the first lesson of the day, Vasudha plays them an audio clip from an English commercial and asks them to make a mental note of the unfamiliar words they come across. “Ma’am, can you repeat the clip?” a voice pipes up. This seems to be a trigger opening a flood-gate of similar requests from other students. It is a distance learning programme, and all the 10 students are visually-challenged, and they have logged into the virtual classroom through their mobile devices. With some prodding, Vasudha makes the class participatory — some students mention the words they are hearing for the first time. The participants are under-graduate students and they are beneficiaries of learning initiatives from Help the Blind Foundation (HTBF), a non-governmental organisation focussed on offering university education for the visually impaired. HTBF started offering employability classes, five days a week, in English and Computer Science in mid-March. Previously, these classes were offered on campus after college hours. Now, teacher-volunteers offer lessons, correct homework and give feedback on WhatsApp and some also offer one-to-one classes. Source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/covid-19-students-with-vision-impairment-shift-to-new-platform/article31276355.ece 2. Training- Stress Management through Meditation (Vipassana) We at BGFI, thought of something different. Understanding the high levels of stress, given the current situation, for the first time ever, BGFI brings to you an inspiring and insightful session on Vipassana virtually. This session will be conducted by a very experienced Vipassana practitioner Mr. Subhash Agarwal on Zoom. Date: Sunday, 12th April Time: 5.30 to 7.15 pm Venue: Zoom Mr. Subhash Agarwal presently works as Assistant General Manager in Foreign Exchange Department of Reserve Bank of India at Mumbai Central Office. He has done his Masters in Commerce from Lucknow University. He is a Vipassana meditator for the past 6 years, has completed about 7 courses including the Sattipaththana Sutta. He has maintained his daily regular practice which has immensely benefited him physically, spiritually, professionally and personally. What you can expect from this session: 1. His experience with Vipassana. 2. What's Vipassana meditation in brief. 3. A brief of the 10-day course. 4. How those who have not done 10-day course can benefit from Aana Pana? 5. A little practice of Aana Pana meditation Please note registration is compulsory for this session and the meeting details will only be shared with registered participants. To register fill the below Google form: https://forms.gle/TW4VkX6HoJ1jJzuP8 Last day to register Friday, 10TH April Should you wish to know more about the Zoom app, a tutorial is available at: https://mosen.org/zoom/ For any technical queries contact Ratul Arora on +91-9711881717 or Sadaf Khan on +91-8454999217. Let’s fight this battle together and emerge from this healthier and stronger. More at http://www.eyeway.org/?q=stress-management-through-meditation-vipassana -- -- With warm regards, Helpdesk Team Toll free: 1800 53 20469 Working days: Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Helpdesk: [email protected] Website: www.eyeway.org You can stay connected with us on WhatsApp: Eyeway-9968329329 Facebook: facebook/projecteyeway Twitter: @friendsofeyeway Youtube: www.youtube.com/user/Eyeway India “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow.”―Mary Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
