Latest technology ensures inclusion of Brazil’s visually impaired

BRAZIL — Visually impaired people in Curitiba are being offered the opportunity to become independent in reading and studying the Bible, thanks to a project being developed there by the Bible Society of Brazil and two specialist support agencies. In the heart of this thriving south-eastern city of 1.5 million people, the partners are using the latest technology to ensure that those who cannot read conventional text can fulfil their desire to access God’s Word for themselves.

Training

The Virtual Bible Agent project is the latest development in the Bible Society’s program Inclusion of the Visually Impaired, which has now been running for more than 10 years. In collaboration with the Professor Herman Görgen Information Technology Center for the Poorly Sighted and the Brazilian Evangelical Association for the Handicapped, the Society is training visually impaired people to use the Online Bible and Virtual Vision software so that they, in turn, can become ‘multiplying agents’, instructing other visually impaired people in how to access the Bible in the same way.

Five visually impaired people participated in the first 12-hour training course, which took place in October 2004. Under the guidance of instructor Márcia Fillizola, who is herself visually impaired, they were taught everything from installing the Online Bible CD-ROM, which includes three different translations of the Bible in Portuguese, a dictionary and Bible references, to running the Virtual Vision software, through which information appearing on the screen can be converted into audio data. On completion of the training, the participants received free copies of all the materials.

Having experienced the joy of hearing and studying the Scriptures for themselves, the students were enthusiastic about the prospect of sharing this with others.

Opportunity

“Everyone should have the opportunity to learn about the Word of God,” said Debora Kakol. “Before I took part in this project, I could only learn about the biblical texts if someone read them to me. Now I have several versions available to me and I can easily look up words and passages. I hope to be able to pass this knowledge on to other brothers and sisters.”

Optimistic

Mrs Fillizola, too, was very optimistic about the potential impact of the initiative. “The format of this project is important because of its ability to quickly multiply the number of people who can act as instructors,” she explained. “We expect a rapid expansion of the project, as it spreads it to other towns throughout the country.”

At the Information Technology Center, which hosted the training, further courses are already planned for 2005. “We think it is an excellent opportunity to support a project of the highest importance for the full inclusion of the visually impaired in society,” said Ivete Terezinha Bodaczny, its President. (WR 392/25 - 04/5.05) [2 photos]

Based on an article in A Bíblia no Brasil, January-March 2005.