JANUARY 4:
International Braille Day
January 4 is celebrated as International Braille Day. It marks the birthday of Louis Braille, an educator and an inventor of Braille System.
Louis Braille was born on 4 January, 1809, at Coupvray, France. At the age of five, he lost one eye by accident and then the second one due to infection.
When he was just fifteen, Braille invented the system of reading and writing for the blind. Having mastered the Huay system and familiarized himself with the Charles Barbier system of communication at Royal Institute for Blind Youth, he worked for several nights to evolve his own system. Then he transcribed several books using his system with six dots. To accomplish his goal, he had to fight severely adverse conditions: ill-health (tuberculosis), bullying by his companions, mistreatment at the hands of the director of the institute, who burned all the transcribed books. The final battle was to prove publicly the efficiency of his system over that of captain Charles Barbier. Braille’s system finally saw the light of day in 1829.
Normally, we are inclined to believe that we have something to give to the blind. The contrary is true. I realized that Louis Braille had important points to teach me. He had a dream to offer a gift to his blind companions and to the rest of the world. And He did it. Further, he taught history, algebra and geography in the same institute till the end of his life. He was the official organist in two cathedrals in France until he died. He lived fully the forty-three years of his life.
Braille’s life touched me. He shook me out of my complacency. I was impelled to question myself about how meaningful my life is.
The world is enriched by score of musicians, artists, writers, poets, educators, sportsmen and women. Who can forget Helen Keller, Andrea Bocelli, Stevie Wonder, Ravindra Jain and several others? Louis Braille is a reminder to the world that the visually impaired have much to contribute. We cannot be indifferent to the 2.2 billion blind people in the universe. We have an obligation to provide them the possibilities of developing and sharing their gifts with the world. This is what Louis Braille accomplished.
JANUARY 24:
International Education Day
This day is celebrated to highlight the role of education in peace and development in the world. The celebration is an effort towards achieving the SDG (Sustainable Development Goal) 4 of the UNO: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
What can I do to make education possible for all? By way of answer, here are two true storis.
Christopher, my dad, studied up to Standard Two against the wish of his father. He was beaten and starved for attending classes. When his first daughter was born, he made up his mind to educate her at all costs. He had to fight the conservative outlook of the villagers regarding girls. He made huge sacrifices to educate her. He borrowed money, fought against his wife to get her daughter admitted in a distant boarding school. To meet the expenses of her schooling, he himself carried about 50 kg of rice and 10 kgs of dal on his shoulders and walked twenty-five kilometres through mountainous terrain at least twice a year for thirteen long years. He begged and borrowed money to pay the annual fee of Rs 250 as school, boarding and science lab fees. My elder sister Teresa matriculated and became a teacher in the primary school of my village. In the thirty-eight years of her career, she taught more than a thousand students. The ripple of education stirred by my father continues even now through her students.
The second story is about Miss Erin Gruwell, the main character of the 2007 film, Freedom Writers. In spite of her privileged background and excellent qualifications, she chose to teach at a problem school in a poor neighbourhood marked by inter-racial violence. Her students did not see the point in studying. Their life outside the classroom was marked by poverty and violence. Against all odds, employing her skills, love and patience, energy and money, she succeeded in motivating all the hundred and fifty students to graduate successfully. Her method of journal writing to help the weak students was adopted by several schools in USA.
The question worth thinking about is: What can I do to make education accessible to as many as possible?
Fr Shilanand Kerketta SDB
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