(ANS – Bangkok) – Father Carlo Velardo, SDB, has spent the past thirty years in Thailand making it easier for the blind to experience healthy and productive lives. As director of the Nonthaburi Skills Development Centre for the Blind, Bangkok, his facility is dedicated not only to offering his students not only training but also friendship.

Fr. Velardo arrived in Thailand in 1978 from his native Italy just four months after ordination. “A Belgian priest and I were the first Salesians in Thailand. We didn’t know much about what we were doing then, so we just winged it.”

His Centre today is the result of careful patient planning and a willingness to defend the rights of the marginalized. “When I started, the blind were shunned and the common perception was that they could do only two things – sell lottery tickets or be telephone operators. But we started teaching our students carpentry and woodwork and were able to get jobs for some of them. But it was difficult.” The realities of insurance, malpractice and on-the-job injuries gave many factory owners cold feet.

“The ironic thing is, we showed them statistics that proved that the blind have far fewer instances of injuries than those who are sighted! But given the resistance to what we were trying to do, we rethought our programme. We came up with the idea of training our students to be massage therapists. We managed to find two excellent instructors, and the programme began in 1983.”

Fr. Velardo’s program was recently approved by the Ministry of Public Health to license graduates of his Centre as Doctors of Thai Traditional Massage, an acknowledgement of the high quality of training being offered. Most graduates find work right away and continue to hone their skills for many years. The Centre, located in the northern part of Bangkok, in the Nonthaburi’s Pakkred district, sees about 150 customers each day.

The two-year course accepts 40 first year students each year. The campus includes a gymnasium where students can get exercise and improve their self- confidence. “It’s quite daunting for a blind person to play baseball or run a race, but once they get good at it, they think ‘Well, what else can I do?’” said Velardo. One of those things is judo, which is also taught at the school. “I came up with the idea of teaching the students self-defence, and managed to get the police to supply us with instructors.”

“It was rough at first, but it quickly got better. I got some newspapers to cover the story, and pretty soon the assaults all but stopped! Some students have even won national judo competitions,” said Fr. Velardo, smiling.

Published on 10/03/2014