Vision from a dark world

‘VISION FROM A DARK WORLD’
MACON RAMOS- ARANETA
JUNE 24, 2012

“I DO whatever you do. I also do the Facebook. I chat. I surf the internet and go out with friends,” said Erick Marco Ramos

Marco is one of the 12 IRIS Awardees for ATRIEV’s outstanding graduates. He belonged to the more than 4 million Filipinos who are blind based on the latest estimates from the Department of Health.

Despite being blind, Marco was among those who fought to conquer the old cliché that blind people were limited only to massage and music. The story of Marco and his likes inspire others that there is “success beyond limits.”

ATRIEV or the Adaptive Technology for Rehabilitation, Integration and Empowerment of Visually Impaired is the country’s only computer school for the blind. It makes use of adaptive technology so that the blind and sight impaired individuals will have access to higher education and mainstream employment.

Adaptive technology allows the blind to gain access to computer-based content through various software applications. The screen reader program translates every keystroke and mouse click into a vocal response. The screen magnification software allows font size changes, color contrast changes and color and shape changes of the mouse pointer.

The ‘tools’ he learned from ATRIEV are what make Marco cope up with his studies at the Philippine Normal University (PNU) on Taft Avenue where he is a senior student in the Bachelor of Science in Education major in English Composition.

Marco was belting out an Edwin McCain song “I’ll Be” when we arrived at the SM Activity Center in SM Manila where the awarding was held Saturday (June 23) night.  The audience- and it was a crowd composed mostly of young ‘mall rats’, was enthralled by Marco’s cool voice. But one thing they didn’t notice was that Marco who wasn’t wearing any dark glasses, is blind.

After his performance was over, we sat with him for an interview. He blurted out with pride when I asked him about being an exchange student of the US Fullbright program that he had gone to the United States.

“Yes, I went to the University of Indiana in Evansville under the Rhetoric and Composition program of the College of Liberal Arts,” said Marco.

During his studies in the US, Marco performed at the top of his class. He also extolled he led a normal life there. “I moved around. I lived all alone by myself. I had no tour guide,” he related.

He recalled one of his PNU professors asked him if he’s serious with his plan to get a study-grant abroad. He believed it would be an excellent experience.

Conceding it was a kind of “weird” because of his disability, Marco remembered telling himself and his professor that “It would be fine with him to study abroad.” So he filed the application forms for the Global Undergraduate Exchange Program funded by the US Department of State.

In April 2010, Marco became the first visually impaired grantee for the program which is a global competition involving 20 from the Western Hemisphere and East Asia-Pacific regions. Applicants are initially judged on the basis of academic and co-curricular merits.

Back at the PNU, Marco said he is the only visually impaired in his classes of sighted people. But this was no hindrance for Marco who is expected to graduate with honors during the school’s commencement exercises in 2013.

Marco is also the president of the school’s Debate Society, and has won competitions. Last February, Marco and his team competed in the 21012 Manila Intervarsity Debate Tournament sponsored by UP. Their team ranked 15^th among over 60 teams. Marco finished third out of nearly 200 speakers in the tournament.

At present, he is completing his practice teaching at St. Joseph School of Pandacan in Manila. And he does his job using computers. “Everything now is computers- the school works are being encoded. Without that, I can’t do my work independently. I can’t scan book without computers. I do my job through power point presentations,” related Marco who lost his vision in his right eye when he was three. He was almost completely blind before he reached his 21^st birthday on December 21, 2006.

“There was the stigma, the social stereotype. That was the time I went through bigger challenges. But I’m happy and thankful to God that I survived those trials,” related Marco who lost his vision due to Retinopathy of Prematurity during birth.

A year after being blind, he took ATRIEV’s PC operations with Access Technology program .

After graduating from college, Marco told MST he intends to pursue higher studies in Literature or Creative writing. He wants another study grant. He will teach and inspire others. He also plans to take course either in social entrepreneurship and social development.

Asked if he has a girlfriend, Marco said he has one when he was in high school. But after becoming blind, he never had one.

Like Marco, Josefina Guillermo Olorocismo said the knowledge she got from ATRIEV keeps her struggling for life.

Olorocismo, ATRIEV’s chairman of the Board of Trustees, started her welcome remarks by saying that she had the chance to see the event’s guest speaker, Manila Vice Mayor Isko Moreno, before she lost her sight.

“I worked in a TV station, “That’s Entertainment” (the youth-oriented show hosted by German Moreno) was then very popular. And I saw how handsome the vice mayor, now a respected politician,” recalled Olorocismo.

It was in 1999 when Olorocismo became blind. She was at the peak of her career. That was also four years after she got married. She woke up one morning seeing nothing but darkness. “Those were the lowest moment of my life. So I believe in this venue, that there is still life after blindness,” said Olorocismo who belonged to the first batch of students of ATRIEV.

“So for those saying that there is no hope for the blind, I say it’s WRONG! There is still hope after blindness,” stressed Oloricismo. She said a blind people can also equal the sighted.

After taking a curse on medical transcriptionist offered by ATRIEV, Oloricismo said she now works as a transcriptionist of the Philippine Olympic committee and also the associate editor of their Parish newsletter.

The other IRIS awardees are Rhea Althea Guntalilib, first totally blind software developer; Ma. Criselda Bisda, first totally blind recruitment specialist in a call center; Glen Dimaandal, first low vision SEO manager; Raymond Reyes, low vision Rookie of the Year sales agent awardee of BPI/MS Insurance; Rene Orense and Jesse Gervacio, both low vision call center agents; Irish Ayesa Mendez, academic excellence; Mariecell Fornis, totally blind transcriptionists and virtual secretary; Lourdes Borgonia, totally blind web master; Julius Charles Serrano, web accessibility specialist award and Neil Lumba, most inspiring student./END