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Netspring dialogues with an incredible social entrepreneur

Netspring Dialogues With an Incredible Social Entrepreneur 

Netspring has the honor of sharing the unique and moving story of Alex, our specialized trainer who is strongly dedicated to the digital inclusion of the visually impaired. 

N: Netspring Team                A: Alex

N: How have new technologies contributed to your daily life?
A: As technology develops, the society realizes the specific needs of the visually impaired in terms of Barrier-Free environment construction.
With the assistance of computers and applications, the visually impaired can work normally. In my case my computer and mobile phone are the pillars of my work. Without these technological skills, I wouldn’t have come to the Shanghai Disabled Occupation Skill Training Center, nor met my team members.

N: You presently run a service center, could you tell us a bit about it?
AYes, sure. Ren-Ping Gu-Mei Community Service Centre for the Disabled (RP-I) focuses on Barrier-Free environment construction for the disabled. Since 2015, RP-I has consistently put efforts into screen reader software and hardware development, in order to satisfy the needs of the visually impaired. So far, achievements of the service center include computer training, software and hardware service, Barrier-free technology research and application.

N: What motivated you to start your own business? 
A:  My lack of practical skills for the society and crisis awareness ignited my motivation to start my own business. The second step was apprehending the lifestyle of a visually impaired person and understanding the importance of interacting with others touched by the same condition.
Moreover, I read and studied some foreign cases to better understand the concept of “charity” and “volunteering” before pondering, if it wouldn’t be more efficient to teach the visually impaired to help each other rather than depending on people not touched by the condition.

N: How do you think this program can help the visually impaired? 
AI hope the Netspring Special Needs IT Classroom program will open up more opportunities for these children and that what we are starting in Du’An will spread in other locations. Ultimately, knowing how to use computers and the Internet will help these children build their self-confidence and interaction with their peers and one day, they can do even better than me.

 

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