During the seven months of individual training, I have experienced two worlds of the disabled. Firstly, the world of independent living as represented by “Japan Sun Industries.” Secondly, the world of The Human Care Association or CIL(Center for Independent Living) where the fundamental human right to life well-lived is highlighted. In this world, although sometimes without a job or income, the disabled are entitled to live independently.

As internet and e-mail skills are indispensable in the future, an acquisition of these skills would facilitate the participation by the disabled in society. I have studied how to make HTML files for the creation of a homepage in cyberspace, and also learned about some computer software such as illustrator, Photoshop and JAVA.

Although it is not so essential to the leadership training objective of this past year, I made it a personal goal to learn how to swim, which I had not tried before. It took me about three weeks to be able to swim 25 meters using the backstroke. I shall remember the great feeling that I had when I conquered 25 meters over water. This spiritual nourishment would help me when I undertake different activities in the future.

I am studying how the disabled can work and contribute to society and live independently. Unfortunately, a safe environment where the disabled can live independently has not yet been realized in Japan as well as in many other countries. The significant aspect in living independently is to make one’s own choices and decisions. Thus, training in decision making is necessary. This is the reason why I would like to focus my effort on training and education for the disabled.