but friends, Jeen is talking about willingness to be independent,
trying our own bit,so to say!!
i don't remember Mahesh replying to all this points, raised by members.
correct me, if i have missed out something from Mahesh.
At 10:56 AM 9/27/2010, you wrote:
Coming back to mahesh's case, need for guiding in mobility by team
members while in america, cannot be the denying factor, rather it
has to be considered part of enabling environment at workplace.
In other words, we cannot say that mahesh should go to US only
if he has independent mobility skills.
More often than not, being escorted by somebody makes us more safe
and brings much needed convenience in life.
So, Aisha, I request you to shed off your typically american
attitude and consider the things Indian way.
Hats off to Jean for explaining the things so nicely.
-----Original Message-----
From: accessindia-boun...@accessindia.org.in
[mailto:accessindia-boun...@accessindia.org.in] On Behalf Of Jean Parker
Sent: Monday, September 27, 2010 2:31 PM
To: accessindia@accessindia.org.in
Subject: [AI] additional thoughts on mobility
Further to my previous posting, here are some other things to consider.
Many of you know that my work requires a lot of travel both inside
India and to other parts of the world. The fact is that I could not
do my job if I lived in North America. Why? Because there is
inadequate transport and I don't drive. America is a country in
love with its cars and the transport infrastructure reflects
this. Even in the largest cities on the east coast it would be
difficult or impossible to do the kind of work I do because there is
inadequate transport.
America is set up for people who drive. India on the other hand, is
set up for people who don't drive. Even with the increase in the
amount of vehicles on the roads today, the infrastructure of trains,
buses and rickshaws remains intact. There is a culture of public
transport. Everyone uses it except the very wealthy. In America
most people who use public transport are the poor and those who have
lost their driving license because of drunk driving. Although in
cities like New York, Boston and Washington this is not as much the
case, there is no arguing the fact that America is geared to those who drive.
So what does that mean in a practical sense? In America where a
blind person can live is limited by the availability of public
transport unless they make a choice to ask others for rides all the
time. It means a blind person's work location is also limited by
the availability of transport unless he wants to depend on
co-workers or taxis which are extremely expensive. It also means
that a blind person's social life is limited by these same factors
unless he is accompanied by a sighted friend or relative. In most
places in the US, using public transportation is not a viable option
if one is seeking equality in the ability to move about in society.
When a blind person in the west encounters some blind person from
India or another developing country and that person has an assistant
with them, some look upon this with scorn. They observe that the
blind person allows the assistant to make decisions for them and is
not in control of how the assistant actually empowers that blind
person to do his job more effectively. But others look upon this
with curiosity and some envy. In America, one can not choose
whether or not to travel with an assistant. There are none. One
either does the thing himself or it doesn't get done at all.
One advantage we have here is that we can choose whether or not to
seek assistance and we can govern how that assistance is
utilized. We can be very creative about this. Having a personal
assistant is part of the culture. It is not at all considered
unusual to have one so if you're blind, you can have your driver or
your assistant and it's considered normal. Not so in America.
If we choose to use it, we have a lot of autonomy here that is not
available in the west. If I have an appointment ten kilometers away
for example and I either need or want to go there by myself, in
India I go outside my building and get a rickshaw and go there. In
America I have two choices depending on where the appointment is. I
might be able to take several buses in which case I would have to
plan ahead, figure out the schedules, find out if the bus goes
anywhere close to the place I want to go, and perhaps spend several
hours getting there and back. Or, I can get a taxi which would cost
an enormous amount of money. Neither choice leads to
equality. People ask me all the time why I have remained in India
as long as I have. One of the biggest reasons is transport.
There are also significant disadvantages in India that we all know
about and there is no need to reiterate them here, perhaps the
biggest exclusionary factor we all face is social exclusion and
paternalism. This is probably the root cause of most of the
difficulties of blind people. In America, things are in general but
not always more advanced in this department.
There are many other things that are more convenient here that are
again, beyond the scope of this list. All I want to say is that the
matter is not as simple as it appears.
Jean
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