Visually-impaired – brimming with vision
When the Bible Society of Brazil launched the first complete Bible in Braille in Portuguese recently, among those present was the woman responsible for drawing attention to the need for it SÃO PAULO, Brazil — She can read music, she plays the guitar, the bass, the recorder and the flute and she sings; she swims four different strokes and does aqua-aerobics; she travels, she looks after her house and she is a volunteer worker in community services. She has been either blind or visually-impaired for almost 40 years and she was the proofreader of the text and layout of the new complete Portuguese Bible in Braille, launched recently by the Bible Society of Brazil (BSB). Moreover she was the person who communicated to the BSB the need to take this giant step forward on behalf of visually-impaired people. Her name is Paula França and she has spent more than 10 years making this dream come true. It is one of many ways in which her life seems to be devoted to showing that visually-impaired people are active citizens – and active Christians – like everyone else. At a younger age she had her times of rebellion, too, but now she sees them as part of a learning process which her disability made necessary.
“I had to learn to love myself and to see myself as important,” she says, “in order to become integrated and overcome the obstacles.” Seeing her today, at 43 years of age, active, happy and with competence in so many different areas, you could be forgiven for imagining that she must have had every resource to help her overcome her disability but it is not so. In fact, during her childhood, she had only her mother to support her. “She took care of my sister and me with great difficulty,” says Miss França. “When I became blind [at the age of four] she was very strong. Even without much money, she tried all the treatments. I owe her everything.” At the time, however, her mother did not know that there were schools for the visually-impaired. Consequently, Miss França only began studying at the age of 21, after undergoing a second operation that left her partially sighted. “It was no miracle, as many people imagine,” she says. “I could see again – but it meant I had to reprogramme my life to live as a sighted person. Even walking was difficult!” Two years later, already reading, writing and studying normally, she found Jesus – through music, which had always been her love. Her sister Márcia took her to the Ebenezer Presbyterian Church of Brazil, where Paula felt spiritually at home and quickly integrated. “I began to sing in two choirs, I helped to take care of the nursery and I met a group of friends who showed no prejudice towards me. I saw that I could do much more.” She devoted herself to music and to spreading the Gospel; she studied musical scores and theology. Then, at the age of 30, she lost her sight again. Again, her reaction to her changed physical circumstances is not the one you might expect. “I didn’t feel the loss so much,” she says, “because I led a fully integrated life and had the friendship and the support of so many people and the love of God.” At that time, some friends put her in touch with a visually-impaired girl who had been beaten up by her father, had fled from her home to take refuge at the Fundação Estadual do Bem Estar do Menor (State Foundation for the Welfare of Minors). This organisation looks after young delinquents under the age of 18, but is not noted for its success in rehabilitating them. The girl wanted to go to an evangelical institution because her mother, who was by then dead, had been an evangelical Christian. Miss França tried to find such a place for her but there didn’t seem to be one. In the course of her search, however, she came into contact with a number of people who shared her ideals and together they decided to found the Evangelical Visually-Impaired Association of Brazil, and together they developed a strategy to defend the rights of the handicapped. It was through this group that she discovered that there was no complete Bible in Braille in Portuguese. Erní Seibert, Communications Secretary of the BSB, confirms this. “We did a lot of research looking for a complete Braille Bible – in Brazil and Portugal,” he says, “but the answer was always negative. We found the New Testament in Braille and books of the Old Testament but not the complete Bible.” “It was an obstacle we had to overcome,” says Miss França firmly. She duly went to the BSB and met the Rev Luiz Antonio Giraldi, the General Secretary. “I saw that they were really concerned about the matter and I became a BSB volunteer. To start the work, I learned to proofread the Braille text and layout. I gradually learned about the publishing business and discovered the ways there were of making a publication meet the needs of visually-impaired people. Thanks to the support of the entire BSB and dozens of people who believed in the project, we are managing to fulfil our mission.” In her opinion the launch of the Bible in Braille is a great accomplishment, but it is only a start. “With the knowledge I now have, I can work to ensure that the visually-impaired become integrated, have books, go to school, and have the ability to lead full lives,” concludes this inspiring musician, sportswoman, proofreader, Christian and citizen Paula França. (WR 376/12 - 4/5.03)
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