There were mainly three things I wanted to study in Japan.

(1) Accessibility, (2) educational support, and (3) employment for people with visual impairment.

I came to Japan from Nepal, because I wanted to fulfill these goals and create a bright future for people with disabilities in Nepal.

Before coming to Japan, I had no knowledge of the Japanese language. I was very worried about how I could learn Japanese and Japanese Braille. It was very hard to learn them at first, but the teachers taught us patiently. Eventually I was able to speak Japanese. I was also very happy to be able to figure out Japanese Braille. Using Japanese, I would like to deepen the friendship between Nepal and Japan.

Our group training started after three months of studying Japanese. In the group training, we studied Japan’s welfare, educational support, employment support, leadership, U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and accessibility to information. I felt that Japan’s welfare and support for people with disabilities was not something that occurred naturally. The efforts of many pioneers created Japan’s situation today. I would like to apply what I learned in Japan about Japan’s disability movement to change the situations in Nepal.

After the group training, we went on individual training.

At the beginning of the individual training, we learned how to create a webpage. Applying what I had learned, I created a webpage for my organization “accessplanet”. I will launch the webpage when I get back to Nepal.

In February, I studied DAISY over a course of two weeks at Assistive Technology Development Organization (ATDO). I learned how to create audio DAISY, text DAISY and multimedia DAISY. It was a very impressive training course. I would like to produce DAISY books after I get back to Nepal.

One of my purposes of the Duskin training was to learn about the education for people with visual impairment. For one week at Uni in Kyoto, I studied support for students with disabilities in Japan. So, I went to Kyoto Seika University and Ritsumeikan University to study their offices that offer support to students with disabilities. Universities in Nepal do not have such offices. At Tsukuba University of Technology, I studied an app for people with hearing impairment the university had created, that helps students take notes remotely on a PC. The app is so useful, because using it, people with hearing impairment can receive inclusive education.

Once again, during the three-week training at Nippon Lighthouse Welfare Center for The Blind in Osaka, I studied educational support for people with visual impairment. I studied many Braille devices and technologies. It was amazing to see the volunteers at Lighthouse offering support, creating Braille translations and DAISY books. Through a visit to Toyonaka City Junior High School who has a student with visual impairment, I learned about support for inclusive education.

In May, I attended a training course at Tsukuba University of Technology. I saw their barrier-free installations and learned about support for education for people with visual impairment.

Afterward, I went to Special Needs Education School for the Visually Impaired, University of Tsukuba, for a one-week training course. I learned how to teach children with visual impairment, in ways that they find easy to understand. I also saw many tools and techniques to improve education for such children. I attended chemistry, music, art, English, acupuncture and massage classes to learn about effective educational methods.

My other purpose for the Duskin training was to learn about Japan’s employment for people with visual impairment. Mr. Sashida, researcher from the National Institute of Vocational Rehabilitation, kindly told me about employment for people with visual impairment in great detail.

During the training at Uni, Kyoto, I met a teacher with visual impairment, who taught English at a local public school. He told me what kind of support is available when a teacher with visual impairment like himself teaches at a public school, and what positive impact it has on students.

During the training at Nippon Lighthouse, I learned about various jobs for people with visual impairment, such as health managers of major companies and administrators of city offices or plants.

I also learned about many other types of jobs that were available for people with visual impairment, at Hamamatsu Work-Shop with The Disabled -WITH, and Kitakyushu Association for Promoting Independence for Persons with Visual Impairments AIZU. I saw many tools that facilitated work people with visual impairment.

Japan’s accessibility is incredible. I can go anywhere by myself, using braille pedestrian tiles and traffic light music. Public places are all accessible, so I can do many things alone. I saw many touch-and-feel objects that I had never seen in Nepal.

The other thing I learned in Japan is cross-disability. Two of the trainees are visually impaired, and two are hearing-impaired, and the other one is a wheelchair user. At first, I was worried about how we could live together and communicate with each other, but we created our own solutions.

In the New Year, I stayed at the home of the Takeshita family in Kyoto. In the beginning I was nervous about what I should do for one week with a Japanese family. But the one week turned out to be great fun. During the stay, I learned about Japan’s culture and daily lifestyle. I also enjoyed a lot of great food for the New Year and visited beautiful places in Kyoto. Mr. Takeshita always let me touch many things and explained to me about things I was touching, so I understood well. I also learned how people with visual impairment can enjoy sightseeing. The home-stay was so fun.

In January, we went to Niigata for skiing. I was scared at first, but gradually I learned to ski. Skiing was truly accessible for me.

Through the training I enjoyed Japan and Japan’s way of life. I did a lot of shopping as well. I also played sound table tennis. I would like to disseminate this sport in Nepal. In Osaka, I went on a tandem bike and in Hamamatsu, I enjoyed cherry blossoms with the members from WITH. In Hamamatsu, I went on a funicular for the first time and went to see the Pacific Ocean. In North Kyushu I went on a rickshaw in North Kyushu. I also visited an undersea tunnel. I also drew a fortune slip at a shrine. It was all very interesting. In May, I went to Disneyland. There was a tactile map and small models of all the rides, so it was easy to see where I was, and what kind of attractions were available. I learned how people with visual impairment could enjoy attractions in many more ways than just getting on the rides.

I came to Japan because I wanted to build a bright future for people with disabilities in Nepal. The training taught me that we need to improve education and income for the people to achieve this. That is why I would like to launch activities once I am back in Nepal, on education and employment.

In Nepal, there is not a single university with an office that offers support to students with disabilities. I would like to launch such offices jointly with the government. Also, there is no national library for people with disabilities in Nepal. It costs too much to produce Braille books. Nepal has a lot of mountains, so it is hard to transport Braille books. So, I would like to launch a national library for DAISY books.

In Nepal, there are 79 schools where people with visual impairment and people without disabilities can study together. I would like to introduce computer education in these schools.

I would also like to tell students with hearing impairment about the technique of taking notes remotely. With this technique, people with hearing impairment can easily study at universities. Today, people with hearing impairment can go to university, but with no support whatsoever, it is very hard for them to engage in their studies.

In Nepal, it is very hard for people with disabilities to find work. I would like to launch a job center that helps the people look for jobs. At this center, people with disabilities will be able to acquire skills. I will also enlighten companies to employ such people.

For me, the Duskin training was a wonderful learning experience. I will never forget the precious time I spent in Japan. I am sure I can improve the situations in Nepal if I apply what I learned from the disability movement of Japan.

I thank everyone who gave me their support. My Japanese teachers, my home-stay family, everyone at the organizations I visited on my individual training, our teachers for our group training, and the volunteers. I thank you all. I would appreciate it very much if you could kindly continue to offer your support to improve the situations of people with disabilities in Nepal.

The staff at the Japanese Society for Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities (JSRPD) always watched over me. Thank you so much. I would also like to say a word of thanks to the trainees who became my good friends. It is my strong belief that I can improve the situations of people with disabilities in the Asia Pacific region, if I could work with you and JSRPD.

Last but not least, I thank everyone at the Duskin AINOWA Foundation and the Duskin family who made this training possible.

Thank you very much.