IATP News: Disabled and Blind Citizens Benefit from Professional ICT Skills

Throughout Eurasia, IATP aims to bring the benefits of new technologies to the disabled and sensory impaired. Emerging technologies provide new opportunities for these citizens, rather than leaving them behind. Following are some of the successes of these participants:

Oraz Tachmuhammedov, a visually impaired employee of Turkmen Society for the Blind and Deaf (TSBD) and a participant of the IATP Sense Online—Turkmenistan initiative, has markedly improved the output of the TSBD Musical Studio since completing IATP training. As musical editor, Oraz was responsible for creating musical programs, playing the synthesizer during TSBD events, and updating the electronic library of musical compositions recorded at the studio. During the IATP computer training for visually impaired trainees in March, Tachmuhammedov mastered multimedia software skills and learned to record multimedia files to various digital devices. In the past, Tachmuhammedov conducted sound processing using outdated equipment, which required the assistance of a sighted person. Now he maintains the musical library electronically, and uses a computer to create musical programs for TSBD events without any assistance.

Lachin Yagshyeva, a formerly unemployed 24-year-old Turkmen woman with cerebral paralysis began offering private word processing services upon completing IATP’s computer productivity training. Yagshyeva mastered computer technolgy and fast typing skills using Solo Keyboard software during a series of ICT training courses for seven disabled citizens at the IATP center in Turkmanabat, Turkmenistan. Yagshyeva’s newly gained skills enabled her to offer private word processing services at home. On April 19, Yagshyeva successfully completed her first order, compiling a set of professional documents for a local entrepreneur who was applying to register his business. Yagshyeva also assists her clients with creating electronic versions of paper manuscripts, historical documents, and scientific publications. The young disabled woman is excited about the changes that ICT skills brought to her life as they have improved her quality of life, and integrated her into her community.

Gunay Omerova, handicapped at birth and from the village of Mashraf in Azerbaijan’s Siyazan region, has found a job as a result of ICT training offered by IATP. Omerova learned to use Microsoft Office and Internet tools during a series of training provided at the request of the Chairperson of the Siyazan Organization for the Disabled Qaranfil Niftaliyeva and conducted in July 2007 at the IATP center in Baku. Since December, Omerova has been working as a secretary in a high school in Mashraf. As part of her duties, she also provides assistance and consultations on how to use Microsoft Office applications and the Internet to other school employees. Omerova remarked, "It was a big problem for me to get a job because I am disabled and didn’t have any professional skills. Now I am a member of a big collective and people need me. I earn my own salary and solve my financial problems, which was not possible before.”