November 10, 1998
WE CARE Rhythm and blues Blind musician Nop Kulsilp, 18, playing the ranad ek,or Thai xylophone. Abandoned by his parents at a railway station at 8, Nop was taken by a policeman to the Northern School for the Blind in Chiang Mai where he has excelled at music. The young people at the Vocational Training Centre for the Blind in Chiang Mai are eager to acquire the skills that will help them lead fulfilling and independent. But the centre is in dire need of financial assistance Nilubol Pornpitagpan For Nop Kulsilp, music has been the best consolation in a life that has been horribly cruel. At 8 years of age, the blind boy from Ang Thong was abandoned by his parents at a railway station near his home town. "My parents took me to a crowded place and left me there. They didn't care for me," he recalls bitterly. "I don't have parents now. But I will try to find new ones." Nop was brought to the Northern School for the Blind in Chiang Mai by a policeman. "We tried to teach him to read and write when he came here, but he shut himself off," says Aree Plernchaivanich, assistant director of the school. "After three years, he still couldn't join in our primary class. But once he started the music class, he was one of the fastest learners." The school, which has provided formal education for blind students from elementary to high school level since 1960, only had an old, broken-down piano but Nop soon learned to wrestle a tune out of it. After a while, he surprised his teachers with his recitals. "He just listens to a song, then he can play the notes on the piano, just like that" says Mrs Aree admiringly. "Will you bring the piano here?" Nop interrupts with urgency when the subject of piano comes up. "I would like to play it. I haven't touched it for a while." "We'll see how to get one," says Mrs Aree. For now, however, he must be content with a broken piano. As well as teaching children, the school also accepts blind adults who feel uncomfortable studying with younger students, and mentally-handicapped blind people. Last May, the school launched a vocational training centre, located 30 kilometres from the main school on a 20-rai plot of land leased from the Wat Phra Chetuphon Foundation. Nop is among the centre's 50 students. As band practice begins, he takes up his position behind the ranad ek,or Thai xylophone. "I'm the teacher. I help teach some of the students to get the right movements on their instruments," boasts the self-appointed band leader who, at 18, is already skilled on the piano, accordian and ranad ek. A blind trainee collects eggs at the school's chicken farm. "I was pecked sometimes but it didn't hurt much," she says. The distinctive sounds of Thai classical music begin to fill the air. A joyful tune takes form as the all-blind band find their rhythm. Without missing a beat, Nop and the musician playing the ranad tum,or bass xylophone, start shouting over the top of the music to discuss their rehearsal with a curious journalist. Although music is mainly for recreation and therapy for the students, Mrs Aree hopes that the band will someday have a chance to play for the public. Nop thinks it's a great idea. "I love to perform for a big audience," he says. In the room next door, a handicraft session is underway. "Toyting, you can start weaving now," a female trainer tells her student who sits at a rug-weaving machine. The blind youngster pulls the wooden panel down to tighten the rattan threads. "Good, you're doing wonderfully," says the trainer, who then turns to two other teenagers sitting beside Toyting to remind them to insert another piece of rattan in the unfinished work. Since Toyting is mentally-retarded, the trainers have to give him constant encouragement to keep his attention focussed on the weaving. Every now and again he stops to ask for two one-baht coins. "You'll get them when your work is done," says trainer Varin Wongthong. "He loves to play with coins and listen to the clink of them. He asks people he meets for coins, but never more than two baht," she adds. As well as rug weaving, the young trainees also learn how to make decorative plants and grow vegetables. "We're new at this. So we're learning from trial and error," says the assistant director. "We plan to make the training more varied. We want to add courses in traditional massage and computers. But we must find the money to do it first." Since the meagre state budget is not sufficient to support the training programmes, the school administration is constantly busy raising funds. At present, the centre still does not have proper buildings for classes and dormitories. The students sleep in simple kuti where monks used to reside. Toyting learns how to weave a rug at the Vocational Training Centre for the Blind. "We cannot install more weaving equipment for the trainees because we don't have room," says trainer Daeng Kambeungban. The centre also needs materials for handicraft classes. At present, the teachers use their own money to buy materials and only get the money back after the crafts are sold. As Toyting and his friends are learning rug weaving in the open-sided shelter, Suree Tinan, 25, sits quietly nearby crocheting. She says she is also an accompished maker of paper flowers. "I've heard that swans made from foil paper are beautiful. I would like to try folding those," she says. Like other trainees, Suree gets to keep part of the money earned when her creations are sold. What does she plan to do with it? "I'll save up to buy some tapes. I love string music, especially the songs of Asanee and Wasant Chotikul," she says with a shy smile. Info for donations Name of organisation: Vocational Training Centre for the Blind Contact person: Aree Plernchaivanich Savings account name: Fund for the Vocational Training Centre for the Blind Account number: 587-005653-7 Bank:Bangkok Bank, Mae Jo branch, Chiang Mai Addresses: Northern School for the Blind, 41 Arruk Road, Muang District, Chiang Mai 50200, tel(053)49-8211 Or send your cheque payable to Post Publishing Public Company Limited (For Vocational Training Centre for the Blind). Send it to Mrs Kusuma Mintakhin, Editorial Manager, 136 Na Ranong Road, off Sunthorn Kosa, Klong Toey, Bangkok 10110. Her telephone number is 240-3700 ext 3224-5. Please also include your name and address with your cheque so we can send you a recipt.		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