First disabled man to graduate from the Pedagogical Univesity of Beira Mozambique.

Blind man in Mozambique is the first individual with a handicap to graduate from the Universidade Pedagogica. Beira, Mozambique. 11/12/2008

December 11th 2008. today is the examination day of the Pedagogic University. Four people will defend their thesis here. Alvaro is one of them.

It was hard to find the examination room, but when I entered I happily recognized that the air-condition is working perfectly fine.

Alvaro asked me to take pictures. He himself will never see the pictures, because he is the first severe visually disabled graduate of the Pedagogic University. But here in Mozambique everybody likes photos.

Gladly I help him out

The jury arrives exactly quarter of an hour too late. Alvaro doesn’t mind, he has waited too many hours, therefore doesn’t even bother.

Today he will present his final paper. He will talk for 20 minutes, another 20 minutes he will be questioned about his work.

O manseamento das fontes historicas das pessoas portadores de deficiencias visuiais“, in english : “the management of historical sources of visually disabled people” is the title of his work. For the next 20 min I will listen to a list of insufficiencies of institutions concerning exceptionalities like Alvaro and his visual disability. He also refers to the changes of the institution in relation to disabled students.

When Alvaro finished defending his thesis, it was clear to me that I need to make a story out of it. Did I have to give it a name; it needs to be “Yes, you can.” So it will be.

He is competent. His disability can hardly be recognized. He has eye contact with his audience. He doesn’t need to consult his notes, they are empty anyway for seeing people. A member of the jury mentions that Alvaro despite his disability shouldn’t expect any privileges. Alvaro takes it easy, he is glad to be treated like everybody else.

When he was twelve, his sight started getting weaker. In the beginning he thought it was a temporary impairment, but he was wrong. One year later he had to admit to himself that he couldn’t read anything anymore. He only sees a blur of colours.

Doctors diagnosed atrophy of the visual nerve. This is a genetic disease that dissolves parts of the body. It’s Alvaro’s visual nerve that only allows to transmit a fraction of the ingoing information to the visual centre of his brain. There are no chances for a healing.

He can’t go to school anymore. In 1998, five years after Alvaro’s almost blindness the Instituto para Deficiencias Visuais, an institution for visually disabled people opens in Beira. For a year and a half he gets prepared for learning without seeing in Mozambique.

He was ready, unfortunately the school wasn’t.

....
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Blind man in Mozambique is the first individual with a handicap to graduate from the Universidade Pedagogica. Beira, Mozambique. 11/12/2008

December 11th 2008. today is the examination day of the Pedagogic University. Four people will defend their thesis here. Alvaro is one of them.

It was hard to find the examination room, but when I entered I happily recognized that the air-condition is working perfectly fine.

Alvaro asked me to take pictures. He himself will never see the pictures, because he is the first severe visually disabled graduate of the Pedagogic University. But here in Mozambique everybody likes photos.

Gladly I help him out

The jury arrives exactly quarter of an hour too late. Alvaro doesn’t mind, he has waited too many hours, therefore doesn’t even bother.

Today he will present his final paper. He will talk for 20 minutes, another 20 minutes he will be questioned about his work.

O manseamento das fontes historicas das pessoas portadores de deficiencias visuiais“, in english : “the management of historical sources of visually disabled people” is the title of his work. For the next 20 min I will listen to a list of insufficiencies of institutions concerning exceptionalities like Alvaro and his visual disability. He also refers to the changes of the institution in relation to disabled students.

When Alvaro finished defending his thesis, it was clear to me that I need to make a story out of it. Did I have to give it a name; it needs to be “Yes, you can.” So it will be.

He is competent. His disability can hardly be recognized. He has eye contact with his audience. He doesn’t need to consult his notes, they are empty anyway for seeing people. A member of the jury mentions that Alvaro despite his disability shouldn’t expect any privileges. Alvaro takes it easy, he is glad to be treated like everybody else.

When he was twelve, his sight started getting weaker. In the beginning he thought it was a temporary impairment, but he was wrong. One year later he had to admit to himself that he couldn’t read anything anymore. He only sees a blur of colours.

Doctors diagnosed atrophy of the visual nerve. This is a genetic disease that dissolves parts of the body. It’s Alvaro’s visual nerve that only allows to transmit a fraction of the ingoing information to the visual centre of his brain. There are no chances for a healing.

He can’t go to school anymore. In 1998, five years after Alvaro’s almost blindness the Instituto para Deficiencias Visuais, an institution for visually disabled people opens in Beira. For a year and a half he gets prepared for learning without seeing in Mozambique.

He was ready, unfortunately the school wasn’t.

....
Whole Text under...
http://www.enlumen.net/index.php?menu=Blog&type=gal&script=galeriePhotoAlvaro

Blind man in Mozambique is the first individual with a handicap to graduate from the Universidade Pedagogica. Beira, Mozambique. 11/12/2008

December 11th 2008. today is the examination day of the Pedagogic University. Four people will defend their thesis here. Alvaro is one of them.

It was hard to find the examination room, but when I entered I happily recognized that the air-condition is working perfectly fine.

Alvaro asked me to take pictures. He himself will never see the pictures, because he is the first severe visually disabled graduate of the Pedagogic University. But here in Mozambique everybody likes photos.

Gladly I help him out

The jury arrives exactly quarter of an hour too late. Alvaro doesn’t mind, he has waited too many hours, therefore doesn’t even bother.

Today he will present his final paper. He will talk for 20 minutes, another 20 minutes he will be questioned about his work.

O manseamento das fontes historicas das pessoas portadores de deficiencias visuiais“, in english : “the management of historical sources of visually disabled people” is the title of his work. For the next 20 min I will listen to a list of insufficiencies of institutions concerning exceptionalities like Alvaro and his visual disability. He also refers to the changes of the institution in relation to disabled students.

When Alvaro finished defending his thesis, it was clear to me that I need to make a story out of it. Did I have to give it a name; it needs to be “Yes, you can.” So it will be.

He is competent. His disability can hardly be recognized. He has eye contact with his audience. He doesn’t need to consult his notes, they are empty anyway for seeing people. A member of the jury mentions that Alvaro despite his disability shouldn’t expect any privileges. Alvaro takes it easy, he is glad to be treated like everybody else.

When he was twelve, his sight started getting weaker. In the beginning he thought it was a temporary impairment, but he was wrong. One year later he had to admit to himself that he couldn’t read anything anymore. He only sees a blur of colours.

Doctors diagnosed atrophy of the visual nerve. This is a genetic disease that dissolves parts of the body. It’s Alvaro’s visual nerve that only allows to transmit a fraction of the ingoing information to the visual centre of his brain. There are no chances for a healing.

He can’t go to school anymore. In 1998, five years after Alvaro’s almost blindness the Instituto para Deficiencias Visuais, an institution for visually disabled people opens in Beira. For a year and a half he gets prepared for learning without seeing in Mozambique.

He was ready, unfortunately the school wasn’t.

....
Whole Text under...
http://www.enlumen.net/index.php?menu=Blog&type=gal&script=galeriePhotoAlvaro