By Hanbin Oh, Asia Pacific International School, Grade 10
March 14, 2011___If you can read this article with your eyes, you are lucky. 1.3 million people in the United States have no choice, but to read by the tips of their fingers . The blind get socially neglected and go through much more arduous lives than ordinary people do, especially in the area of education. In Korea, blind students can rarely go to Hakwons because they are not required to install accommodating facilities for the handicapped. Even at school, the situation does not get better. Because of the insensitivity of their peers and teachers, the blind students face stiffer environment to study. Two female sophomores of Asia Pacific International School, Grace Park and Sophia Park, the famous twins, founded a community service club called ‘Theia’ to teach elementary school students English grammars and conversations.
The members of Theia visit Hanbit School for the blind every Friday after school to teach young students English. Two teachers pair up with a student, so even if one misses class unexpectedly, the other can still teach. Teachers read English books loudly, describe their plot, explain American culture, and help the students memorize vocabularies.
As international school students, all members of Theia are fluent English speakers. They meet every Wednesday to discuss and refine their teaching methodology and keep track of their students’ academic progress. Also, in order to understand their students better, each member undergoes ‘Blind Experience,’ a series of planned activities including eating, walking, and writing blindfolded. Theia also plans fundraisers, such as homemade food sales, to buy presents for their students.
Before they founded the club, the twins first volunteered at the school library. “We were not interested in teaching blind students back then,” Grace and Sophia Park stated.
However, the library provided the first opportunity for the twins to interact with the blind by suggesting to teach adult blind people English. After they became interested in teaching the blind, they volunteered to help producing brailed books. Also, they contacted Hanbit School for the blind and convinced the school to open a special English tutoring program.
“’Theia’ means ‘vision’ in Greeks,” said Sophia Park.
They passionately promoted their club through school announcements and posters, and more than enough students gathered to serve the blind children. When asked what motivated them to start such a rare type of club, they answered, “Serving is very important part of our life. We wanted to share the good feeling that comes after doing community service.”
