And take note of this opportunity from Judith Lesner regarding sending materials to the Philippines From: Judith Lesner [mailto:mavenno1@aol.com] Sent: Wednesday, November 8, 2017 3:50 PM To: Kevin D McCormack <Kevin.McCormack001@umb.edu> Subject: Re: [Intlglobal] BrlBOX Sharing my email would be great, particularly if you let them know that we are always looking for toys and equipment. We also accept braille and large print books but not textbooks. Stories for elementary aged readers are what we most want. Money is always helpful. Checks can be made out to CAPVI (we are have a 501(c)(3) number) and sent to CAPVI c/o Ward 414 West Mill Street Ukiah, CA 95482. Books and equipment can be sent "free matter for the blind" to CAPVI c/o Judith Lesner 821 42nd Street Oakland, CA 94608 Unless toys are in braille or blind specific they can not be sent "free matter for the blind." Any help that you or your group could give us would be greatly appreciated. “All the trouble starts when people forget they're human.” ― Oliver Sacks, A Leg to Stand On -----Original Message----- From: Kevin D McCormack <Kevin.McCormack001@umb.edu<mailto:Kevin.McCormack001@umb.edu>> To: Judith Lesner <mavenno1@aol.com<mailto:mavenno1@aol.com>> Sent: Wed, Nov 8, 2017 6:49 am Subject: RE: [Intlglobal] BrlBOX This is amazing. Thanks for sharing. Would you mind if I shared this with everyone on the listserv? From: Judith Lesner [mailto:mavenno1@aol.com<mailto:mavenno1@aol.com?>] Sent: Tuesday, November 7, 2017 9:03 PM To: Kevin D McCormack <Kevin.McCormack001@umb.edu<mailto:Kevin.McCormack001@umb.edu>> Cc: inland2wards@gmail.com<mailto:inland2wards@gmail.com>; carlos@blindchildrenscenter.org<mailto:carlos@blindchildrenscenter.org>; amanda.lueck@gmail.com<mailto:amanda.lueck@gmail.com>; dottiebridge@earthlink.net<mailto:dottiebridge@earthlink.net>; george@sycip.us<mailto:george@sycip.us>; menchusarmiento@gmail.com<mailto:menchusarmiento@gmail.com>; marieaqua62@yahoo.com<mailto:marieaqua62@yahoo.com>; panet7771@yahoo.com<mailto:panet7771@yahoo.com> Subject: Fwd: [Intlglobal] BrlBOX Hi, Amanda Lueck forwarded me your email about shipping blind educational materials internationally. I am on the board of the California Association of Parents of Children with Visual Impairments (CAPVI). We have a small project of sending braille and large print books, equipment for the blind (i.e. braille writers, slates and styluses, abacuses, canes, talking watches, etc.) and toys to various programs for the visually impaired in the Philippines. This project has been going on for almost a decade. All of the books and most of the equipment has been donated to us by various schools, programs and individuals. We also get monetary donations. This money is used to purchase used toys and new equipment for students who are visually impaired and blind. It is also used to pay the shipping costs for the 20X20X20 cartons that we send. We have one "angel" who regularly flies to Manila and generously lets us ship a box which goes as his 50 lb. luggage allowance. Our contact in Manila collects the box from him. We support various programs and teachers in the Philippines. We support 2 elementary classrooms directly. One is for students who are visually impaired and blind with additional disabilities and the other for children who are blind and visually impaired without additional disabilities. We also support an organization of Filipino parents called Parents Advocating for Visually Impaired Children (PAVIC). They conduct workshops and do presentations for parents and educators all over the country. We send them books and toys to distribute to the parents and children they meet. We also provide new gifts for their annual Christmas party. Through PAVIC we have regular contact with a parent of a high school aged son who is blind. She distributes the books, equipment and toys that we send to visually impaired students throughout her school district. Our fifth program is the distribution of toys to children who are seen at various hospital eye clinics in the Metro Manila area. Also, since one of our teachers also teaches future teachers of the blind at the local college - we also send her books and equipment for her students. We are very much a "Mom and Pop" organization. With the exception of the teachers, we are all volunteers. Our headquarters is the basement of my home so there are no administrative costs or overhead. Our expenses are primarily shipping and purchase of some new equipment and used toys. If I can be of any help please let me know. Sincerely, Judith Lesner for CAPVI “All the trouble starts when people forget they're human.” ― Oliver Sacks, A Leg to Stand On Sent: Mon, Nov 6, 2017 10:59 am Subject: Fwd: [Intlglobal] BrlBOX FYI Best wishes Amanda ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Kevin D McCormack <Kevin.McCormack001@umb.edu<mailto:Kevin.McCormack001@umb.edu>> Date: Mon, Nov 6, 2017 at 10:17 AM Subject: [Intlglobal] BrlBOX To: "Intlglobal@lists.aerbvi.org<mailto:Intlglobal@lists.aerbvi.org>" <Intlglobal@lists.aerbvi.org<mailto:Intlglobal@lists.aerbvi.org>> “BrlBOX was created to connect teachers across the world to provide materials to students who are blind and visually impaired in countries that have less access to educational materials.” http://www.brlbox.com/ This is a neat idea. At this point this organization focuses on the Federated States of Micronesia but I wonder if it would be helpful in other contexts. Do any of you have experience in providing instructional materials to places that had little to no access? [Title: Signature of Kevin McCormack] Kevin McCormack, COMS Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist PhD Student in Global Inclusion and Social Development University of Massachusetts Boston [Title: COMS logo] [Title: UMass Boston logo] _______________________________________________ Intlglobal mailing list Intlglobal@lists.aerbvi.org<mailto:Intlglobal@lists.aerbvi.org> http://lists.aerbvi.org/mailman/listinfo/intlglobal_lists.aerbvi.org -- Amanda Hall Lueck, Ph.D. Professor Emerita Department of Special Education San Francisco State University