We are currently in our sixth month of the race, where we are reaching the half-way mark. This month we are serving in northern Malaysia at St. Nicholas’ home for visually impaired children and adults. There is around 100 residents at the home, so our team is helping in different areas that correlate with our experience level. I’m getting to spend a lot of time with the senior citizens doing pastoral care/counseling and just hanging out and chatting with them each day. I’m really enjoying spending time with them, I’m an old soul at heart so I fit right in with them. I’m also working in the library, pastry center and taking photographs for the organization that will be used in their fundraising and marketing material.
The mission of St. Nicholas’ home is to provide education, training and employment opportunities in a caring environment, thus empowering blind and visually impaired persons to fully participate in society while helping to promote the prevention of blindness. The vision of St. Nicholas’ provides quality services to people with low vision and the visually impaired in the community.
St. Nicholas’ provides an early intervention program for children who face considerable risks developmentally. In the program, they are given help and support in learning skills, thus helping them to develop in the areas of psychomotor, cognitive and social to the most optimum level possible. Absence or lack of vision in children with visual impairment affects their learning of skills as they are not able to see to imitate like other children. The children are taught basic life skills through the program as well as social skills and physical skills. If early intervention is not carried out as soon as the diagnosis of the visual impairment, then the child is at a high risk of developing secondary disabilities.
St. Nicholas provides a library with information and resources for blind and visually impaired people. The library makes books, magazines, news and other reading materials in media that is easily accessible. The library also loans braille and audio books. St. Nicholas also provides the visually impaired with computer skills through a ICDL licensed course. ICDL is an internationally recognized qualification in IT skills, certifying to a set standard the skills people already have, or the skills they attain through training.
Another service of St. Nicholas is the low vision center. This center provides an efficient low vision service to the visually impaired that still have residual vision. The Low Vision Center is now operated to promote and create greater public awareness, a better understanding of low vision and to start special programs and training to encourage people with low vision to maximize the use of their own residual vision.
The Skills Development Center is a place where the blind trainees will undergo basic living skills lessons such as how to brush their teeth, comb their hair and how to use fork and spoon. These lessons will encourage them to be independent. In this center, the trainees will also learn skills like orientation and mobility whereby the trainees will be taught to use the white walking cane and navigate their surroundings while walking. In addition, the trainees will also learn how to read and write Braille and learn social and communication skills such as interacting with others. Upon completion of this training, they are placed in different centers or other suitable training programs. The training programs provide each person with vocational skills.
At the Basketry Center the trainees will learn how to use and weave rattan into different types of basket of different sizes. They are taught the different techniques of weaving, from learning to weave smaller baskets such as pencil holders to bigger baskets such as clothing baskets and toy baskets. The trainees will also learn how to market their baskets, especially when they are invited for demonstrations and festivals such as the Georgetown Festival. When the course is completed, the trainees can decide to either work at the St. Nicholas’ basketry department or start their own business.
Another training program is the Pastry Training Center. One of the main objectives of the pastry training center is to equip the partially blind with the skills and techniques in pastry making to enable them to venture into their own baking business. The trainees will have the opportunity to learn how to bake different types of bread, cookies, cakes, tarts, pizzas, doughnuts and muffins. In addition, they will also learn about kitchen organization and cleanliness, as well as simple book-keeping and marketing methods.
The Massage Training Center equips the blind and visually impaired trainees the intricate skills of massaging. In the center, the trainees learn the basic techniques of massaging such as chair massages before advancing to higher level techniques such as Shiatsu, a Japanese technique. In addition to learning the different techniques, the trainees are also required to study the theories of massaging in order to understand the techniques best suited for the different parts of the body. After they complete their training, the trainees will have the opportunity to either continue working at the St Nicholas’ Home Wellness Centre or they can venture out on their own to work at commercialized massaging centers.
The programs and training that St. Nicholas offers the residents and visually impaired community is truly impressive. They learn so much here and enjoy their time working and/or living at St. Nicholas’ home. Our team is really enjoying serving here this month. It’s an excellent place for world race teams or anyone else just looking to volunteer in Malaysia.
