Towards Establishing an Audio and Braille Library in Mongolia
I remember standing at the airport with my family on that fine morning in August. My mother kissed me goodbye on my right cheek and said that she will kiss my other cheek when I get back home. Only then, I truly believed that I had finally made it. On that morning, I was flying to the United States of America to begin my two years of Master’s program in Library Science at Louisiana State University (LSU).
One year ago, I was sitting in a room of the Embassy of United States in Mongolia, facing the Fulbright scholarship selection committee. I remember being so nervous that when asked to introduce myself, I said, “My introduction is Uyanga,” instead of saying “My name is Uyanga.” I didn’t need to feel so nervous though. A week later, I received a call from the U.S. Embassy saying that I was selected to receive the Fulbright fellowship.
My journey started with a long flight from Mongolia to Miami, Florida, where my orientation took place along with many other Fulbright scholars from all over the world. As I was sitting on the airplane flying to a place that is half the world away from my country, I started thinking of what I knew about America. I heard a lot about this country through the news, I was taught about its history and culture at college, and I knew I could speak English quite well. But what gave me the most confidence was my previous experience with American friends and teachers I met in my home country, and with whom, in addition to my family, I should share all my success and achievements. Two in particular made significant investments to my life that defined my future career.
Martha, my first English teacher, not only taught me English but also was an example of being brave and self-confident. When Martha came to teach English at our school she was walking with a white cane, and one of the kids told me that she was blind just like us. She taught us English Braille, something I still greatly benefit from.
I was diagnosed with retinoid dispegmentosa when I was 4 years old and started wearing glasses. I have lost my sight over time to a degree that I can no longer see myself in the mirror. Being a blind person in a developing country is not an easy thing. Imagine finishing high school and college having never had a single book in Braille or in audio format. I don’t know of a single school or library in my country that has any materials in Braille; even the country’s only high school for the blind has no textbooks for its students in Braille aside from 30-year old elementary reading books.
Given the lack of materials in Braille or audio, I typically had to rely on the assistance of others to read materials to me, which I then typed to Braille. I was always dependent on others to help me and I felt I had little control over my own time. However, I am lucky to have such a great family to support me in all my goals. With the help of my family, I graduated from one of the well-known universities of Mongolia with top honors. But not all blind people in Mongolia are as fortunate as I am. Because of all of these challenges, many have given up studying even though they have equal intellectual ability.
I met Mr. Peter Marsh, a specialist who worked at the Mongolian National University, in my third year at college. Mr. Marsh introduced me to audio books and gave me my first talking book. As there were no audio books in Mongolia, it was a great invention for me. I learned from many of my foreign friends about the opportunities and resources that the libraries around the world make available to their blind or visually impaired citizens including audio book service. Although I did not have much opportunity to read, I have always been fascinated with books and reading. As someone who has confronted the problems of lack of literature for blind people every day, I have developed a special interest in libraries and their importance to the communities they serve. Most of the difficulties that I faced at the university were related to reading and finding information. For all my life as a student, I dreamed of one day sitting in a library reading room and finding the materials I needed on my own. My ultimate goal is to establish a library or library service for blind individuals and other people who are disabled in other ways in Mongolia. So there I was, flying to America to fulfill my dream.
Since there is no mobility training for the blind people in Mongolia, I was never taught how to walk with a cane or a guide dog. However, the Fulbright Program and LSU were very understanding of my situation and let me bring a family member to assist me in my studies. It would be beneficial if all schools or organizations receiving foreign exchange students or scholars with any type of disability, inquire if they need certain types of training or just some time to get themselves familiarized with the environment or the facilities before the school, program or orientation event starts.
When we first landed in Miami, my first shock was so great that I almost couldn’t breathe! The air was so humid and heavy that it was hard to believe I was actually standing outside in the street. At first, everything was so new and different that I could not decide where to start, and what to learn first. However, the faculty and the students of the LSU School of Library and Information Science welcomed me with warm regards and supported me in every way. With the help of the professors and especially of my fellow student friends, I finished my first semester successfully.
After arriving in Louisiana, I was registered with the Louisiana State Library and I received audio books from the U.S. Library of Congress’ National Library Services for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. This service brings the world of literature to me. However, there are times when I have to stay up late at night working on my course papers as a result of my great reading habit.
There is yet another experience, a very new aspect of life that I discovered while in the United States. As an individual and a young person, I want independence and privacy as much as other people do, something that wasn’t always possible in Mongolia. Upon my arrival to LSU, the school’s Office of Disability Services put me in contact with the Louisiana State Rehabilitation Services, which provided me with computer skills training and mobility training with a white cane.
The first time I touched a cane, I felt so insecure. I could not help thinking “This is just a stick, how can I trust my life to it?” Also as a young person, the idea of walking with a cane did not seem welcoming or friendly at first. However, as I practiced more with my tutor, I came to understand how much independence, opportunities and self-confidence a cane gives me. After having been accompanied wherever I go for all my life, a cane assists me to know what it is like to walk alone, to take as much time as I want to reach a certain spot, to stop wherever I want to, and to enjoy traveling by myself. This added to my whole experience in the United States as being an interesting, dynamic and encouraging one. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the Fulbright Program, the Institute of International Education and LSU for giving me this great opportunity to expand my knowledge, enrich my experiences and accomplish my goals. I know I’ll be forever changed by my experiences in the United States, and I will share the skills that I learned with others in Mongolia.
