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“I May Have Lost Sight But Hope Stays Alive.”
2013.07.08
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| “People with visual disabilities may read books on their back on the floor or even in a fast-running car all day long and still don’t get their eye sights poor,” chuckles Principal Kim Gi-chang, 59. Kim himself is visually handicapped. Nevertheless, he served as a lighthouse and walking staff for other visually challenged people for almost 35 years. His dedication and commitment were recognized with the 13th Nunnopi Education Award by the Daekyo Culture Foundation (Chief Director: Kang Yeong-jung). Seoul National School for the Blind where Kim serves as Principal is not only his workplace but his alma mater-elementary/middle/high school. At the age of six, he became visually disabled for lack of treatment of his eye disease. Many people lose their eyesight after birth and lose their hope and dream along with it. But he was different. Graduating from the school with great grades and acquiring certificate to teach the disabled, he started to teach at his alma mater. “I have never thought I was unhappy because I am visually disabled. Born with a goal-oriented personality, I felt a great sense of achievement every time I overcame physical, psychological, legal, and institutional barriers that block the visually disabled,” Kim says. When he started to teach, he felt sorry for the absence of textbooks for the visually disabled that properly describe massage, finger-pressure therapy, etc. From 1985, he as a chief editor took part in the production of specialized textbooks and played a leadership role in advancing vocational education of the school for the blind laying the groundwork for established teaching methodologies for the blind. “The visually challenged are deserted to the blind spot of information. They gather information from such broadcasting media as TV and radio rather than from print media. But there is a limit to what they can get from the broadcasting media. They must read books to obtain more specialized and systematic knowledge,” Kim points out. In 1991, he suggested to the Ministry of Education that law be revised to newly accredit teachers for massage, finger-pressure therapy, and electric therapy. In 1995, he had a three-year course department certified for the first time in Korea by the Ministry of Education to produce the degree for the specialized areas of physical therapy. These achievements earned him meritorious service medal from the government on Teacher’s Day this year. “There are many mentally blind people who fail to see with their clear vision. Although my body lost eye sights, I want to do my due part so I can have the eyes of mind able to see life, future, and the world,” Kim says.
Kim Yoon-suk; Photo: Nam Ho-jin, Reporter
[2004. 11. 19] The Kyunghyang Shinmun
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