Can you provide the source of this article? On 10/16/13, Ashik <[email protected]> wrote: > An Amazing Blind Personality from Nepal > > > > Dear Friends, > > > > Today I am going to introduce to you an amazing blind personality from > Nepal-Him Prasad Gautam. He is a gentleman of fifty-five with low vision. > His residual vision is about thirty percent. He is a master in civil > engineering. He works as an engineer in the water works department of > Nepal. > > > > Exactly eleven years ago, he encountered the problem of sight. One morning, > when he got up, it was not a good morningfor him. He experienced that he had > lost about seventy percent of vision. > > > > Naturally he was dejected. But he did not despair. Nobody knew God had a > plan for him. > > > > One day he came to know about JAWS and got a copy of it. He was thrilled. He > found a way to compromise with his loss of vision. Now he could use the > computer with ease. > > > > But most of the official correspondence in Nepal is done in Nepali, not in > English. So he felt he needed a TTS for Nepali. He found a cause in his > life. He set upon the task of developing a TTS engine for Nepali which could > work with JAWS. > > > > He went after it day and night. After the hard work of six long years, he > finally succeeded in developing one. He developed and re-developed it > several times until it became competent to his satisfaction. What a > surprise! A civil engineer developed a TTS engine! > > > > Now developing TTS engines for others languages became his passion. He > developed such software for Urdu, Sinhala, and now for my mother tongue > Gujarati. > > > > The happy news for Uriya and Bengali people today. Today he is going to > release a TTS engine for Uriya and Bengali. > > > > I have to informa you about another important thing. He felt that writing in > our regional languages on the computer is another handicap of the visually > challenged. So undertook the task of enabling the blind in this field. So he > developed software which can make the task of writing in the regional > languages easy. First he prepared such a software in his own > language-Nepali. Later on, he paid attention to developing such Varnamala in > other languages like Hindi, Telugu, Uriya Bengali, Gujarati etc. I am > pleased to declare that now I can freely write Gujarati on my computer > solely due to Mr Him Prasad Gautam. Nowadays I keep on talking to my > Gujarati fellows, and I assure you that they are extremely excited in this > regard. We are unable to repay his debt. > > > > I am proud of him when I say that he expects nothing from us when works for > us. He is a God given gift to us. He is completely dedicated to service to > the visually challenged. > > > > Now I paste below the text of the news in a leading Nepali newspaper on the > front page. > > It was when Him Prasad Gautam first released the Nepali TTS. Now follows > that text: > > > > Dristiwachak setting a clear viewpoint > > > > > > UJJWALA MAHARJAN > > During a program at Nepal Association of the Blind (NAB) in Maharajgunj on > January 21, people, mostly with black goggles, gleamed with excitement. > > > > Tapping their white canes on the soft ground, a group of girls made their > way through the blue chairs lined up in neat rows. > > In no time, the NAB backyard was filled with a mixed crowd of people of > different ages. There were > > > > mainly two groups of people -- those who could see and those who couldn't. > But both groups could equally feel the excitement in the air. > > > > "Who is sitting beside me?" asked Suresh Rajbhandari, a school teacher from > Kapilvastu. After a formal introduction he said, "I remember, because there > were no law books in Braille when I was studying law, I had to depend on the > lectures or have my friends read out to me and record it in cassettes." > > > > But things were about to change radically, for good. Rajbhandari and many > others had gathered at NAB for the launch of Dristiwachak, a Nepali Screen > Reader software. > > > > "This is indeed a historic moment in the technological development for us > blind and partially sighted (BPS) people in Nepal, isn't it?" an animated > Shova Neupane, the program officer at NAB and the host for the day said on > the microphone. > > > > And the audience unanimously cheered, "Yes!" > > > > > > > > *** > > > > "The software will help increase the information accessibility for BPS > people, from e-books to internet and also chat," Neupane told the Week, "It > will not only help improve literacy among the blind but also their education > level and with it add value to their life." > > > > Designed by Him Gautam, currently working as the senior divisional engineer > at Department of Water Supply and Sewerage, the software is intended to help > visually impaired people like himself, to listen and understand the text on > the computer screen; and all that in our own mother tongue-Nepali. > > > > Namaskar, Nepali Dristiwachack ma tapain lai swagat chha (Namaskar, I > welcome you to the Nepali Screen Reader): Gautam's voice greets the computer > user as the software is activated. > > > > "A, aa, ee, u" -- human voices, sounding like that of a child or woman's, > recite along every Devanagari (commonly used script in Nepal and India) > letter and symbol as Gautam types. However, when it reads out a sentence, it > speaks in an alien sounding machine voice "Mey-ro de-sha ko naam Ne-pa-la > ho." > > > > All along, the audience responds with liveliness and enthusiasm, flooding > him with barrage of questions and queries. Even after the end of the > program, Gautam was busy answering questions. His enthusiasm matched theirs > as he frantically struggled to communicate over a microphone that kept going > on and off. You could see it in his face how badly he wanted to make sure > that they fully understood how the software worked and how they could > benefit from it. > > > > "This is the most emotional day of my life," a tearful Gautam said. > > > > *** > > > > The third night of Dashain in 2058, Gautam had gone to bed like he normally > would and had woken up next morning to find that his life had changed > forever. He was loosing his eye-sight. Since that day on, he could not have > a clear view of things. > > > > He, however, never lost the ability of having a clear viewpoint. The > disability was not going to defeat him. > > > > Gautam had never learned computer programming in his life, except for basic > office packages. But when his partial blindness started hampering his > studies, his hunger for knowledge and his life, he set out to develop a > software that could overcome this barrier. > > > > There already was a software called Jaws that read out everything in English > but none that would read Nepali texts. He then taught himself about > developing fonts and speech software program, and collected almost 70 Nepali > fonts. He spent a long time studying them, making his own font and > converting the other fonts into his own. But once he realized that Nepali > Unicode was the common font used in most texts available in the net, he > erased his font and decided to work with Unicode for his software. > > > > With a single-minded determination, he toiled day and night for six long > years, often locked up in his room. "I set myself on to make this software > all alone, without any help from anyone. Either I was going to complete it > myself or accept my defeat and tell no one about it. Even my family had no > clue what I was doing." > > > > But once he completed the project, he realized this was not only his need > but of many like him. He then approached NAB and had some BPS people test > it. After their suggestions and feedback, he finally developed the package. > > > > "This is not an independent software, as you need to have Jaws installed in > your computer to make it work." > > > > Because people don't use computer in Nepali language, you need Jaws to read > out texts in English. But Jaws doesn't read Nepali Unicode and that's when > Dristiwachak comes in. "If computers operated fully in Nepali language, then > we would not have needed Jaws. But we use Nepali only when we're using > applications like Word or PowerPoint, so the two software work complimentary > to each other." > > > > Gautam is still working on the software to make it more sensitive on passive > reading. "A blind person can not distinguish between the number '4' and the > word 'four' or read symbols like semicolons. For that kind of passive > reading, I've mixed voices in different pitch that can tell them the > difference." > > > > According to him, passive reading is taken for granted by most people, but > it is an important part for basic learning. He admits, though, that he too > realized it only after he started loosing his sight. "When I lost my > eyesight, I gained new perspectives and new viewpoint." > > > > "Everyone in this world is disabled. For instance, you need a pen to write, > without which you'll feel disabled too. There are always things that one can > do and things that one can't. BPS people may not be able to do some things, > but they can excel at others, if given opportunity and access for > learning." > > > > And Dristiwachak is Gautam's effort to help provide the opportunity and > accessibility as he strongly believes no disability should deprive one from > learning. > > > > *** > > > > A flash review report of the National Blindness Survey of World Health > Organization conducted by B.P. Koirala Lions Eye Care Foundation in 2008 > states that there are 30,240 school going BPS children. But only about 6000 > are getting educational opportunity. About 750 BPS students have passed SLC, > 200 have passed graduate diploma, 50 have passed their master's degree and > only one has finished PhD. > > > > "Though the education for blind started in 1964, BPS students are still > facing problems like lack of text books and reading materials in accessible > form and blind friendly teaching and learning environment," says Nar Bahadur > Limbu, President of NAB. "This software will overcome that barrier as it > opens up the possibility of online education in Nepali language for BPS > people enabling them to pursue higher education." > > > > The software is now available at NAB, where they have been promoting and > distributing it with the support from Australian Embassy's Direct Aid > Program (DAP). "We install or prepare a copy of the software free of cost. > We also install Jaws and Nepali Unicode, necessary for Dristiwachak to work, > if the interested person doesn't have them already. It will also be set up > for free download in our website nabnepal.org soon." > > > > Sugam Bhattarai, one of the students in the first computer training batch at > NAB, who has been using and testing Dristiwachak since past six months, > said, "I have been using it to read Nepali novels and texts that are > available in the net and also for chats. I was finally able to read Muna > Madan. It is definitely a success for me." > > > > For Gautam, however, the software won't spell success until it becomes an > actual help in changing BPS people's lives and giving them access to > knowledge and barrier free communication. > > > > > > Published on 2011-01-28 10:33:56 > > Main Page > > Ashik Hirani > 9428855867 > 8000775222 > Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of > mobile phones / Tabs on: > http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in > > > 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.. >
-- "Life is like a piano. White keys are happy moments & Black keys are sad moments. But remember both keys are played together to give sweet music." "Focus on your abilities, not your disability." Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/starhoze Skype ID: star.hoze Warm Regards, Hozefa... Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in 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..
