Blind Citizens Australia
Contact Details
PO Box 24
SUNSHINE VICTORIA 3020
13 Barrett Street
KENSINGTON VICTORIA 3031
Telephone 03 9372 6400
Toll Free 1800 033 660
Facsimile 03 9372 6466
TTY 03 9376 9275
BLIND CITIZENS NEWS
September 2003
Published by
Blind Citizens Australia
ABN 90-006-985-226
Edited by
Nadia Mattiazo
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Our mission is to achieve equity and equality by our empowerment, by promoting positive community attitudes, and by striving for high quality and accessible services which meet our needs.
COPYRIGHT: Reproduction of articles appearing in Blind Citizens News is permitted, provided Blind Citizens News and the author(s) are acknowledged.
Large Print ISSN 1441-449X Braille ISSN 1441-5658
Cassette ISSN 1441-564X
Blind Citizens News is distributed in Large Print, Braille and Audio. Electronic copies in text format are available from our Web page, on Disk or by Email. To change your format, please contact Blind Citizens Australia.
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Other Publications
Accessible E-Commerce in Australia
Community Development for Blind Women
Everybody’s Business
(see Tune in and Keep up to Date, in this issue)
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Blind Citizens Australia Identity Card
BCA’s Identity Card carries a photo, address and signature. It may be used where photo identification is required and is worth 25 points when opening a bank account or entering into business transactions. Application forms are available from the BCA Office.
World Blind Union Asia Pacific Region Assembly
An Advocate in Paris (and Italy)
Message from the Australian Braille Authority
How to Ensure the Ongoing Work of BCA
Articles for the Next Issue of Blind Citizens News
Welcome to the third edition of BCA News for 2003. I hope that these past winter months have not been too cold for members.
In this issue, we have several letters to the editor, along with information regarding the upcoming National Convention to be held in Canberra from 4 to 6 October. We also have a very interesting article from our National Policy Officer, Collette O’Neill who has just returned from six weeks travelling in Europe, in which she discusses general access for blind and vision-impaired people.
I would also like to remind people that our theme for the March 2004 edition of News is "recreation" so we hope to get you all thinking of how you spend your recreation time! In order to wet your appetites just a touch, we also have an article for those who might be interested in participating in a skiing event to be held in the United States early next year.
Lottery Results
For some time, Blind Citizens Australia has been running lotteries as part of its fundraising efforts. We would like to congratulate the winners of our last lottery which was drawn on 27 June this year:
First prize –E.J. Bourke
Second Prize – C. Pharo
Third prize –B. Jolley
Our next lottery will be drawn on 12 December and I wish those who purchase tickets good luck!
Hope you enjoy this issue.
Nadia Mattiazzo
I am writing on behalf of one of our fourth year Honours students, Deborah Warren, who is undertaking a research project and you have kindly agreed earlier to help by distributing information about it to clients of your service. The project concerns emotional reactions to blindness experienced from birth or developing later in life. I am supervising the project.
Deborah had hoped to get substantial numbers of responses from blind people, but so far has not been achieving this. This letter is simply to ask if it is at all possible for you to send out a further request to your client list, reminding them about this project, and asking again for their help in taking part in it. If you need further details about the project, or about the materials associated with it can I ask you to contact Deborah direct. Her email address is debwarren@ozemail.com.au
With thanks for your assistance to date.
Sincerely
William Noble, PhD, FAPS
Professor and Head
School of Psychology
University of New England
Does it still happen?
A Reminiscence of the "Stoosh" Concerts
It was Diana Braun’s article, "The Old Men", which first got me thinking about the phenomenon of the "Stoosh" concerts. I enjoyed the article and found it appreciative and sensitive. Then I thought of setting the record straight about the word that men used to describe the Sydney Blind Institute. The "Stute" would have been more logical, but to those men and to some of later generations, it was "Stoosh."
For most of the last century, the Royal Blind Society, previously known as the "Sydney Industrial Institute for the Blind", was located in a rather shabby part of Sydney. However, William Street, where it was located, was very accessible, being close to the city and well served by public transport.
I don’t exactly know when the concerts were first started but for many years, once a month, blind people with any performing ability, usually in music, presented programmes. These programmes were organised by a member of the RBS staff and the artists were paid, in my time, anyway, one guinea, about $2.20.
Several people were employed to sell tickets – at one shilling each, (about ten cents – cheap even for that time.)
The ticket-sellers travelled all over Sydney and quite often far beyond. I suppose a shilling wouldn’t break the bank for many people, so even if someone had no intention of turning up, it wasn’t a great hardship to spare a coin. If everyone who bought a ticket had turned up, there would have been pandemonium.
Looking back, I have to admit that the standard of performance was not always of the highest, but the people who came along to that rather run-down little hall were usually in a mood to enjoy themselves and rewarded us with generous applause. I don’t suppose it would have been the height of everyone’s ambition to be asked to perform there, though perhaps valuable experience was gained, and it does seem to be a rather Mickey-mouse kind of fund-raising; but perhaps there were times when the money raised by the sale of those tickets meant the difference between solvency and penury. I always felt that the unsung heroes were the ticket-sellers doing their soul-destroying work, day in and day out.
Well, the Stoosh is long-gone but does this practice still go on? I know that there was a similar situation in Melbourne at one time. I should be very interested to know if anyone can tell me.
Joan Heckman
Consumer Representative Report on Xenotransplantation Working Party
My name is Twanny Farrugia, a vision impaired self employed consultant in the Human Services Sector. In December 2000, I was appointed as a consumer representative to the Xenotransplantation Working Party (XWP) established by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) - to provide the Council with advice and guidelines on the scientific, ethical and technical issues related to Xenotransplantation (animals to human transplants) research. The XWP’s brief was to consider the human and animal issues and to undertake wide public consultation in the preparation of guidelines.
Xenotransplantation is being considered as an alternative therapy to help overcome the shortage of organs available for transplantation. The viability of this therapy is dependent upon the resolution of a number of safety, efficacy and ethical issues.
Numerous meetings were held by the XWP to discuss various issues relating to Xenotransplantation (i.e. social, human ethics, scientific, technical, animal ethics and other issues). Draft guidelines and discussion paper on Xenotransplantation was released for public consultation in July 2002 to various interested organisations and individuals.
To facilitate direct public input, meetings were conducted in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. The XWP reported to Council on its experience in February 2003. Numerous submissions were received from individuals and organisations within Australia and overseas. Significant concerns were raised in these submissions, which needed to be addressed. Accordingly the XWP recommended to the Council that a further round of public consultation is needed in 2003.
Some of the concerns raised through these public consultations were: animal welfare, infection risks and resource allocation.
These issues are being addressed in a second discussion paper, which will form the basis for the second round of wider public consultation. A plain English guide to Xenotransplantation will also be made available to assist community access to the information.
Further information about the release of documents and public meeting dates will be widely publicized through metropolitan and regional media and posted on the NHMRC website www.nhmrc.gov.au as it becomes available.
From Pokey Machines to Musicals
My name is Gena Kacowicz and I am totally blind. I want to make people aware that I am no different to anybody else, when it comes to recreational activities. I find that when I am out and about, people ask me questions like: "How can you play the pokey machines when you can't see?" "What do you do with your day?"
One night I was at a pokey venue with my mother. While I was playing on a machine, a very drunk guy came over to me and asked how I manage on a machine when I can't see, and he also asked me what I do with my day. I don't mind if people are interested in what I do, but I find this very patronising too, because I get out just as much as anybody else. I felt excluded and degraded by this experience. I actually walked away from him, because it was an invasion of privacy. It also made me feel quite unsafe. Mum ended up taking me to another machine. I enjoy this activity because it is challenging and the staff at the venues are very helpful.
I am also in the Australian Abba Fan Club and in fact I am saving up to travel overseas, because I enjoy travelling. I like going for weekend trips to country NSW, and last year I went up to Rockhampton to stay with friends. I explored the Capricorn Coast and visited the beaches. I have many contacts and friends all over Australia, from the Abba club. We regularly go out to dinner, shopping and movies. I love reading and going to musicals and enjoy the company of other people. I would be very interested to listen to the experiences of other vision impaired people, because it is good to communicate with others.
If people want to provide feedback on this article or correspond with me they can do so by writing to me in either braille or cassette through the National Office.
Robert Altamore
Staff changes
I am pleased to welcome Judi Potts and Rowena Jitts to Blind Citizens Australia. Judi replaces Cheryl Gration who has resigned, after nine years with us. Many of us have appreciated Cheryl's friendly and capable assistance and I am sure you all join with me in acknowledging her contribution to our organisation and extending our best wishes to her, her husband Jason and daughter Jessica.
Rowena Jitts joins us as the Administrative Assistant in our NSW Office. Rowena is one of BCA’s newest members and commutes from Bomaderry. Rowena will be in the office on Mondays and Wednesdays and may be contacted on (02) 9744 9844.
New South Wales Consortium
I believe that advocacy for blind and vision impaired people in NSW has taken a major step forward in recent months with the formation of the NSW Blindness Action Advocacy Consortium (BAAC). BAAC is a joint venture of the Association of Blind Citizens (NSW), the Deafblind Association of NSW Inc, Retina NSW and Blind Citizens Australia. Each organisation has two representatives and David Blyth is the Chairperson. Its primary purpose is to enable the four organisations to work together to achieve a funded state wide advocacy service for people who are blind and vision impaired in NSW. As its first achievement, BAAC put a combined response from the four organisations to the review of advocacy and Information services in NSW currently being conducted by the NSW Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care. The four organisations are continuing to work together to build the case for a state government funded state wide advocacy service for blind and vision impaired people in NSW. This will mean that BCA will be in a better position to make a strong application for funding for such a service when the opportunity arises.
The experience of these four key NSW organisations working together was a very positive one. I feel sure that our combined approach to the Department on this issue will have a much greater impact than our separate efforts. In the end, of course, we work towards and hope for better outcomes, in terms of information and advocacy services for people who are blind and vision impaired in NSW.
DDA Standards
There has been a promising development in the quest for Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) Standards for Education.
By way of explanation, the DDA Education Standards are regulations under the DDA which clarify and provide explanation and guidance as to the rights of people with disabilities to non-discriminatory access to education and the obligations of service providers under the DDA. At there recent meeting, the State and Territory Ministers for Education considered the latest draft of the DDA Education Standard. The outcome was that the Commonwealth, with the support of Tasmania and the ACT, has decided to accept the current draft Standard and to move to introduce it into law. Unfortunately, States and Territories, other than Tasmania and the ACT, did not support proceeding with the current draft Standard. However, the Commonwealth has resolved to proceed with the DDA Standards and does so with the strong support of the disability peak organisations who participate in the DDA Standards Project.
DDA Education Standards are still some months away, however, Blind Citizens Australia welcomes the leadership shown on this issue by the Commonwealth Education Minister, Dr Brendan Nelson. We continue to urge State and Territory Education Ministers to support the enactment of the current Draft DDA Education Standard and commend the Tasmanian and ACT Education Ministers for their stand in support of the educational rights of people with disabilities in general and in particular people who are blind or vision impaired
BCA National Convention
By now you will have received information about BCA's National Convention to be held in Canberra from 4 to 6 October 2003. The Programming Committee and the Local Organising Committee are working very hard to ensure a stimulating program and an enjoyable occasion. I hope I will be able to meet you personally in Canberra and share the Convention experience.
Maryanne Diamond
This article is adapted from the latest update sent to staff at RVIB, RBS and VAF August 2003.
Project Nexus is alive and well following the recent signing of the Heads of Agreement. July was a busy month during which the planning framework was developed to manage the various activities necessary for the merger to take place.
One of the requirements under the Heads of Agreement was for RBS to change its legal status as a body corporate to an incorporated company limited by guarantee. This would then enable RBS to enter into a Scheme of Arrangement to merge with VAF and RVIB. RBS held its Special General Meeting on Thursday 17 July 2003 so that its members could consider the following resolution:
"That the Royal Blind Society of New South Wales proceeds to convert to a public company limited by guarantee registered under the Corporations Act 2001 and that as part of that process, the membership base of the Royal Blind Society of New South Wales is changed but continues to be available to anyone on application."
The President, Graeme Innes, declared the motion carried by a majority of votes of members voting in person or by proxy. The final vote was 484 in favour of the motion and 28 against the motion.
Meetings are now being undertaken with the Attorney General’s office to prepare the necessary Cabinet Minute and draft legislation for the NSW Parliament to consider during the spring session. It is expected the repeal of the RBS Act to be completed by the end of the year and RBS will be registered as a company limited by guarantee.
In March this year the steering group on which I represented BCA was disbanded and currently the three CEOs constitute the Project Nexus Steering Group and are responsible and accountable for the oversight and direction of all project activities. The CEOs will report to the interim Board, once it is constituted and to their individual agency boards during the life of the project.
Jim Campbell was employed in late March, as the Nexus Project Manager and he is responsible and accountable for the overall management of Project Nexus. He is also the head of the Project Nexus Management Team and manager of the sub-project team leaders. He is the first point of reference and support for team leaders and, with the Project Nexus Management Team, responsible for the co-ordination and control of all sub-projects. Jim reports directly to the three CEOs.
The Project Nexus Management Team comprises Jim Campbell as leader with Graeme Shears VAF, Jane Evans NILS, Katherine Purcell RBS and Tim Griffiths RVIB. The Management Team will perform the following tasks for the duration of the project:
Provide the team members to assist the project manager in the overall management, co-ordination and control of Project Nexus and all sub-projects.
Twelve teams have been established with representatives from each of the three agencies, with some teams also having team members or team leaders from NILS or sector representatives i.e. BCA. The teams are listed below and the names of team members who are sector representatives are also included.
A project methodology has been adopted and training workshops were held during the last week of July and in August for all team members to attend.
The Heads of Agreement noted that each of the organizations and Blind Citizens Australia would nominate three board members for the interim Board. These nominees are:
The interim Board will start meeting and take over from the previous Steering Committee as soon as all nominees are able to do so. The first meeting of this group is scheduled for Friday September 26.
The current timetable notes the requirement for Special General Meetings of the members of VAF, RVIB and RBS for their members to vote on the merger to take place some time in April/May 2004. The implementation of the combined organization is due to occur in June 2004. It is really important that we, as consumers of services provided by these agencies, take an active and leading role at all levels of decision-making in the planning of, transition to and the resulting outcome, depending on the vote.
Over the coming months, we will provide updates on the merger using BCA’s various communication media to ensure that all members, consumers of the agencies and friends are kept informed about this most significant move. There is a link from the BCA web page to the Project Nexus web page which is at
http://www.rvib.org.au/nexus/
This year Blind Citizens Australia National Women’s Special Interest Branch has welcomed 15 new members from all around Australia. A large proportion of these joined at the Women’s Branch breakfast held at the Queensland State Convention last year. Our thanks to Amanda Tink for her efforts in organising this very successful event. Regretfully the Committee accepted Amanda’s resignation earlier this year. A number of the Branch’s new members also are new members of BCA and have already made a valuable contribution.
The Branch has published a further three issues of its quarterly magazine. These have been well received by members, prompting very positive feedback both written and verbal. Contributions to the magazine have been sent from around the country and also from outside Australia. The magazine has been christened and is now called "Aspirations".
The Branch would like to acknowledge the commitment and hard work of Christine Simpson. Christine has edited, produced and distributed the magazine for the Branch and has been instrumental in establishing it as an informative and professionally presented publication.
Theresa Smith, the Branch representative on the National Policy & Development Council, has performed this role very well. She has brought many issues being addressed by the NPDC to the notice of the Branch committee and continues to be very active on the Council, chairing the Employment Working Group.
Committee members Jordie Howell and Theresa Smith attended the World Blind Union Youth Leadership Forum in late 2002. Both brought back skills learnt at the Forum and have applied these to the benefit of the Branch. Tracey Cross has served on the Committee for the past 18 months. She has used her many talents to represent and advocate for all Branch members living in Western Australia. After taking over from Fiona Woods as Branch President two years ago, I have been very grateful for Fiona’s support, advice and experience as a long-standing committee member and immediate-past Branch President.
At the Blind Citizens Australia Convention 2003 the National Women's Branch will present its inaugural "Aspirations" award. The focus for the past few months has been on Convention, and the committee looks forward to a very busy and productive one.
I would like to thank the Women’s Branch members, for the support and encouragement shown to me during my term as Branch President. Finally, I thank the current Committee as a whole for their hard work and friendship over the past two years.
Lee Kumutat
President
National Women’s Branch
Education Working Group
A significant milestone was reached regarding education in July when the Federal Minister for Education, Science and Training, the Hon Brendan Nelson, moved to introduce an Education Standard within the Disability Discrimination Act, despite the opposition of a majority of the States and Territories.
It is early days yet but the NPDC Education Working Group will certainly be watching the progress of the standards with a keen interest.
In June 2003, the Senate Employment, Workplace Relations and Education References Committee announced an Inquiry into the Government’s Federal Budget initiatives related to tertiary education called the Senate Inquiry into Higher Education Funding and Regulatory Legislation. The terms of reference are to investigate the likely financial effect of the proposals on universities and students in the areas of fees, research, institutional governance and autonomy, rural universities and industrial relations.
Submissions to the inquiry were due by 15 August 2003. Our submission focused on two key issues - the cessation of payment of the Pensioner Education Supplement between academic years and the proposal to introduce full fee-paying for tertiary students who have already completed five years of full time study. The Committee is due to report by 30 October 2003.
The Committee, comprising of myself, Karen Knight, Maree Brown, Michael Simpson, Leanne Smith and Vicki Alipasinopoulos, are always interested to hear from members who have any issues regarding education. Please contact the BCA National Office for contact details of NPDC Education Working Group members.
Greg Madson
Chair
Membership and Development Working Group
Since my last report, the Membership & Development Working Group worked hard to finalise items to be presented at the May NPDC meeting. This Working Group presented three major items at this meeting. These were:
These items were distributed to all NPDC representatives prior to the meeting giving them a chance to provide feedback on the day. Members of the NPDC agreed that the Working Group’s role was a critical tool to achieve BCA’s strategic objectives. It was further discussed that this Working Group should no longer be a chosen priority on a yearly basis, but an ongoing priority with a permanent role within BCA for the years ahead. The two advertisements discussed had favourable comments and the Working Group hopes these will be used, by BCA in the future. The Working Group sees the creation of further advertising strategies as future projects. Finally, feedback was provided for the Guide for Branch Committee Members. This feedback has been taken back to the Working Group for review. As the current Chair, I would envisage this Guide would be trialled by BCA members late this year.
As BCA will be conducting its Annual General Meeting shortly, I wish to thank all Working Group members for the time and commitment they have shown to this group during this year.
You can contact Craig Magill, the Chair of the Membership and Development Working Group, by telephoning the National Office, or by email at craig_magill@acslink.net.au
World Blind Union Asia Pacific Region Assembly
The World Blind Union Asia Pacific WBU-AP Region will be holding it's mid term Assembly in Singapore between November 15-20, 2003.
Australia has two delegates to the Assembly, Graeme Innes and Maryanne Diamond. Anyone interested in attending as an observer is most welcome.
The meeting schedule is:
Registration forms can be obtained by phoning the National Office.
An Advocate in Paris (and Italy)
Collette O’Neill
I recently spent 5 weeks in Italy and 1 week in Paris. Despite my best efforts to forget work for the duration, I could not help taking almost as much notice of such things as tactile ground surface indicator installations and wheelchair provisions as I did the art and food, and I thought I would take advantage of that to provide members with some idea of what access was like in those places.
I must begin by reminding members that I am not vision impaired, so these are the observations of a sighted person trying to imagine what it would have been like to travel as a vision impaired person.
Tactile ground surface indicators (the tiles with dots and bars that are used to provide warning and directional information to people who are blind – know, in Brisbane at least, as a ‘braille trail’) were rarely used and when they were, were inconsistently applied, and in some cases, dangerously. There was no standard tile design – some cities had narrow tiles filled with rows of widely spaced dots, some had strange tiles which were an amalgamation of both the warning dots and the directional bars. I cannot remember seeing an installation which would meet Australia’s requirements for colour or luminance contrast.
There was also no consistency in application – in fact, the application appeared to be random. Rome’s central train station has directional tiles running the full distance between the train station and the metro system – a distance of several hundred metres – despite the existence of adequate alternative cues (such as continuous walls). Yet, there were almost no installations in the streets of Rome, despite the notoriously dangerous traffic, and the few installations on train platform edges (for example, Milan’s central station) were so narrow and un-contrasted as to be useless. (Interestingly, train platforms in Italy tend to be no higher than about 2 feet from the ground.)
In Padua, I saw a row of directional tiles which led the unwary follower straight into an artistically placed metal pole, rather than to the bottom of the steps, some feet to the left!
Audible traffic signals were installed in several locations but the beep rarely successfully competed against the surrounding noise. One installation had a beep which was only audible when the crossing light was green, providing the blind person with no location assistance at all.
I can only imagine that a blind traveller in Italy would find navigating the public transport system quite difficult. Even more difficult would be navigating the complex metropolitan system in Paris, where a large number of stations have more than one line running through them, and several are large complexes connecting different types of train system.
I noticed only one blind person (a cane user) while in Italy – he was using the train system – and none in Paris. By contrast however, I saw many people in wheelchairs in both.
I was most impressed by the efforts that had been made to make Italy and Paris’ historic sites and monuments accessible to people using wheelchairs. Most venues had at least a ramp, many had lifts. In Venice I saw what appeared to be the first installation of a moving ramp over a canal, replete with traffic signals to stop the gondolas! It wasn’t yet operational, but it was still pretty impressive. Every city bus we caught in Italy was electric and had excellent wheelchair access.
These access measures seem to have paid off as there were many tourists in (manual) wheelchairs, despite the remaining problems of cobbled roads and an almost total lack of ramped curbs.
In the end, in terms of access for people who are blind, Australia was streets ahead of Italy and France. However, we may lag in terms of wheelchair access. If the Italians can install a lift in a 14th medieval cathedral to give people in wheelchairs equal access to the roof of the duomo in Milan, surely we can make our public sites accessible.
Working Credit
Working Credit is a new initiative that starts on 20 September 2003. It aims to help working-age people keep more of their income support payments when they start full-time, part-time or casual work.
Will Working Credit help you?
Working Credit will help blind people who receive a Disability Support Pension (DSP) and also receive Rent Assistance. Currently DSP is not affected by any extra income you get, but Rent Assistance can be. Working Credit will help blind people to keep more of their Rent Assistance when they start paid work.
How will Working Credit work?
When you have little or no income in a fortnight, you will automatically build up working credits. You can build up to 48 working credits each fortnight, up to a maximum of 1000 over time. Then when you start work, Centrelink will automatically use your working credits to increase how much you can earn before your Rent Assistance is reduced.
Example
David is a single blind disability support pensioner who also gets Rent Assistance. He has no extra income other than his Centrelink payment. From 20 September 2003, he will build up working credits every fortnight. If, for example, David gets a job in April 2004 he will have over 600 working credits by then. These working credits will let him earn an extra $600 before his Rent Assistance is reduced. This will help him keep more of his Rent Assistance when he first starts work.
How do I tell Centrelink about my income?
Centrelink only needs to know how much you earn if you receive Rent Assistance. A small number of people whose earnings vary a lot and who get Rent Assistance may need to notify Centrelink of their income each fortnight. Centrelink will be in contact if this applies to you.
You can use the existing ways to contact Centrelink such as phone, fax or in person.
Centrelink is working to provide Braille cards with your Customer Reference Number to help you when calling. As well as your Customer Reference Number, Centrelink can also provide you with a PIN, which means you need to spend less time on the telephone. You can get a PIN by ringing Centrelink and asking the Customer Service Officer to issue you with a PIN.
From 20 September 2003 people will be able to call a priority line to report their employment income. When you call this number you can either speak to a Customer Service Officer or you may also be able to use a new voice recognition phone system. You will need a PIN if you want to report your employment income to Centrelink using this priority line.
The Centrelink Internet site is being reviewed by Vision Australia Foundation to improve its accessibility to vision impaired people. You may want to use some of the self service options available through the Internet. You can register for this through the On-line Service tab on Centrelink’s Internet site at www.centrelink.gov.au Currently you can use this to update your Family Tax Benefit Income Estimate, and from 20 September 2003 you will be able to use it to report your employment income.
Additional self-service options will be available through both the telephone and the Web over the next few months.
What happens next?
You do not need to do anything. You will automatically build up and use working credits. Centrelink will contact you if you need to report your income regularly.
Editor’s note: This is a media release which may be of interest to those who enjoy the sport of skiing.
For immediate release
Marie Huston, SFL 2004 Event Chair\
Email: Marie@sfl.org
Duane Farrar, Publicity/PR Committee Chair
Email: duane@sfl.org
IF I CAN DO THIS, I CAN DO ANYTHING
Ski For LIGHT RETURNS TO Green Bay, Wisconsin, FEBRUARY 8-15, 2004
It was the autumn of 2000 and 36-year-old Georgian Kevin Dunn thought he needed glasses. An avid hiker and backpacker who worked as a kitchen & bath designer, Kevin went to see an optometrist. Three months later he was totally blind due to retinal detachments caused by a virus. "I had to wait six months to enrol in Atlanta's Centre for Visual Impairment (CVI) and that was a pretty rough time," recalls Kevin. At CVI Kevin teamed up with mobility instructor Sally Eldridge. Sally heard about the Ski for Light program and signed them both up for the 2002 event in Colorado. It was Kevin's first time on skis.
Kevin is one of about 250 active adults from across the U.S. and around the world who will celebrate the 29th annual Ski for Light (SFL). An international, week-long, cross-country skiing event, SFL pairs visually and mobility impaired Skiers, like Kevin, with non disabled Guides, like Sally. Held at a different U.S. location early each year, SFL brings its "If I can do this, I can do anything" spirit to Green Bay Wi, February 8-15, 2004.
While primarily a recreational event, SFL attracts Skiers at all proficiency levels, from beginners to competitors, and has even launched Olympic careers. Skiers and Guides come from every adult age group and occupation.
"Ski for Light was an awakening for me," says Kevin. "For the first time I was in the company of active, productive people with disabilities. It was inspiring." Kevin discovered he truly enjoys cross-country skiing and that it gives him a sense of accomplishment. "It's easier than learning Braille!" he jokes. "I'm looking forward to Green Bay."
"When Kevin came to SFL he was unsure about his future," says Nancy McKinney, a veteran Guide of 20 years. "He seemed to come alive during the week. Learning to ski taught him there are no limitations on his future. Each year a large group of newcomers, like Kevin and Sally, are welcomed into our SFL family and, in return, they inspire us."
At SFL, the Skiers set the pace, asking their Guides to assist with skills, technique, endurance or simply enjoying the outdoors. The week ends in a Race/Rally and for many Skiers the goal is completing the 5K or 10K course, while others compete against the clock for gender and age-group ranking.
SFL's multicultural flavour grew out of its close ties with the Ridderrenn, an annual international event held in Beitostølen, Norway. Founded in 1963, the Ridderrenn served as the model for Ski for Light. Every year a delegation of Norwegian Skiers and Guides attends SFL and SFL sends two Skiers and two Guides to the Ridderrenn.
In addition to Norway and every corner of the U.S., SFL participants hail from countries such as Australia, Canada, France, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. While priority is given to new registrants, it's also common to find both Skiers and Guides who have participated for 5, 10 or 20 years.
SFL is always seeking new Skiers and Guides and those interested in attending SFL may contact the appropriate coordinator. Visually impaired individuals may contact Lynda Boose at 906-250-7836 or lynda@sfl.org. Mobility impaired individuals may contact Jeff Pagels at 920-494-5572 or jeff@sfl.org. The application deadline for Skiers is November 1, 2003.
To be a Guide, no experience with visually or mobility impaired people is necessary. For those who are confident on skis, SFL holds an intensive one-day training session with seasoned Skiers and Guides. Contact Brenda Seeger at 507-274-5502 or brenda@sfl.org. The application deadline for Guides is December 1, 2003.
SFL, a registered non profit organization, also maintains an extensive Web site, with application forms, at www.sfl.org
Message from the Australian Braille Authority
The Australian Braille Authority invites applications for the 2003 Test of Proficiency in English Literary Braille
HOW TO ENSURE THE ONGOING WORK OF BCA
Members of Blind Citizens Australia and generous members of the public have, for many years, partly funded the work of BCA through donations and lotteries. In recent times a number of friends and members have also shown their support by leaving a bequest or legacy from their estate in a Will.
This kind of support is vital for our ongoing work and we encourage all members and friends to ensure that Blind Citizens Australia will be here to work for blind and vision impaired Australians in the future. BCA’s advocacy to ensure that services and facilities do not discriminate against our members and other blind people has proved to be of enormous benefit to all blind Australians and we need to make sure that our work continues.
You can help by making a bequest in your Will. Please include Blind Citizens Australia in your Will by using the following wording:
"I give to Blind Citizens Australia the sum of (include sum both in words and figures) free from all duties or other taxes, whether State or Federal."
We would like to thank all members who have generously donated to BCA recently. If you would like to make a donation to BCA, but find it difficult filling out forms you may like to call the National Office on 1800 033 660 and donate over the phone using your credit card.
ARTICLES FOR THE NEXT ISSUE OF BLIND CITIZENS NEWS
The closing date for articles for the next issue should be submitted no later than Friday, 24 October. Articles should be sent to Blind Citizens Australia National Office, if possible in large print (16pt or larger) or preferably in electronic form (disk or email attachment).
If you would like to discuss your ideas for a possible article please call on 1800 033 660, or email bca@bca.org.au
Blind Citizens News accepts material in the following categories:
Information about new services, facilities or events of wide interest among blind and vision impaired people is accepted for inclusion within the news content.
Announcements, for sale notices and other advertisements from individuals and small non-profit organisations may be included in a "Notice Board" section, provided that they do not exceed 25 words and are targeted to a national readership. A charge of $20 will apply for each notice.
Advertising on behalf of government, commercial or community organisations that is considered to be relevant to the general readership will be included under the heading "Advertisements". Advertisers must provide a copy suitable for inclusion in all formats of the publication and the following rates will apply.
For greatest impact, why not consider sponsorship of an entire issue of Blind Citizens News? For $800 you will obtain:
a credit of up to 25 words on the front cover;
2 print pages for the sponsor’s message (equivalent space in other formats).
Blind Citizens News is published four times a year and is now read by more than 3000 people with a direct interest or involvement in the services and facilities available to Australia’s blind and vision impaired population. We circulate 980 large print, 1000 audio, 200 Braille and 50 electronic (computer disk and email) copies to members, libraries, service agencies, government departments and equipment suppliers throughout Australia. Blind Citizens News also appears in full on the internet website of Blind Citizens Australia.
For the latest information from Blind Citizens Australia tune in to Horizons on your RPH station, on a Community Station near you, or via the BCA website. Horizons is broadcast regularly on RPH stations. It is also becoming available on Community Stations, but you may need to contact your local station to ask it to receive Horizons by Satellite.
Adelaide
5RPH 1197 Khz
9.15 pm Wednesday,
repeated 6.00 pm Friday
Brisbane
4RPH 1296 Khz
7.00 am Friday;
repeated 6.05 pm Monday
Canberra
1RPH 1125 Khz
11.15 am Tuesday;
repeated 8.00 pm Tuesday and 9.30am Saturday
Hobart
7RPH 864 Khz
1.30pm Friday;
repeated 5.15pm Saturday
Perth
6RPH 990 Khz
10.30 am Friday;
repeated 9.45 pm Saturday
Sydney
2RPH 1224 Khz
3.00 pm Wednesday;
repeated 8.15 pm Saturday
Victoria
8.30pm Wednesday;
repeated 6.30pm Sunday
on the following stations:
Melbourne RPH 1179 AM
Albury RPH 101.7 FM
Bendigo RPH 88.7 FM
Geelong RPH 99.5 FM
Mildura RPH 107.5 FM
Shepparton RPH 101.1 FM
Warragul RPH 93.5 FM
Warrnambool RPH 94.5 FM.