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Spotlight on Braille instructor Juan Simon!
[Playa del Carmen, May 2014] It felt awfully good to meet Braille instructor Juan Simon last Friday after many years! We had worked on launching a blind school in 2009, and actually succeeded in receiving a generous donation from ViewPlus Technologies in OR, in form of a Tiger Cub Braille printer. Back then, our goals were to provide general curriculum and encouragement to blind children and adults, and to offer Braille translations of restaurant menus and room manuals to the hotels, aside from massage services, to generate income. The Rotary Club of Playa del Carmen was about to grant us a room in their building, but finally DIF (Family and Social Services) provided a room for schooling. Dominic at Human Ware, a large manufacturer of technologies for the vision impaired, happened to visit the Riviera Maya those days. We inspected the room together, and they also offered to help with donations.
In autumn of 2009 I had to abandon the project due to my relocation to California.
Until 2010, special needs students were schooled at the CAM Learning Center in a different part of Playa del Carmen. They had about 160 students and about 30 instructors, but little focus on visual impairment. In January 2011, CAM was integrated in the City’s CRIM agency for rehabilitation, counting more than 200 children, youth and adults in rehab back then. The new building had been remodeled to fit modern standards and technologies.
In early 2013, at the inauguration of the first accessible beach in Playa del Carmen, I received the good news that the blind school was indeed put in service and Juan Simon was teaching. However, it took me until 2014 to visit Juan Simon at the school, when I delivered an inner tube for a wheelchair which previous tour guests had donated. Juan Simon and I were in joy, and he looked great! He says the Tiger Cub is still in use, but most work is done digitally and with speech output now.
I’m thrilled that Juan Simon has brought our efforts to fruition. With his enthusiasm he has helped many blind people building self-esteem, a solid base of knowledge, and a career.
If you can, please consider helping with donations in form of note takers or other useful equipment – whatever you can send to Playa del Carmen. Please email me.
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