Voices
China Vision supports people with disabilities to discover their voices, tell their stories and express their concerns, hopes and interests throughout their society.
One Plus One Group for Disability
Self-advocacy and mutual support for persons with disabilities in China
From 2005-08 China Vision’s chair, Stephen Hallett, worked with a group of young disabled people in Beijing to set up a radio production centre run for and by people with visual disabilities. The original idea was partly inspired by BBC radio’s “In Touch” programme (a long-running show providing essential information to the visually impaired community). With funding from the UK’s Big Lottery Fund, Stephen worked with the BBC World Service Trust to help establish a radio production centre in Beijing, and this became the basis for the founding of Beijing One Plus One (OPO), one of China’s first independent disabled people’s organisations.
Since 2008 China Vision has partnered with One Plus One, providing various kinds of support, skills exchange and capacity building to help it become a catalyst for change within China’s disability community. Over the years OPO’s team has proved to be highly innovative, using radio, podcasts, social media, research, facilitation and policy advocacy to voice the concerns and interests of blind and other people with disabilities. OPO has also monitored China’s observance of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and has produced periodic reports entitled “Annual Observation Report on Disability” 中国残障观察报告 (see canku.org.cn).
OPO is now made up of a network of organisations. Its radio and media work, run by blind and visually impaired persons, continues work under the name “Shengbo Disability Service Centre.
CRPD Lives (2013-14)
Collecting testimony and identifying actors in China’s independent disability rights movement.
This project, initiated by China Vision and implemented together with One Plus One, aimed to capture the lived experience of disability of a number of disabled people in different parts of China, inviting individuals to share their experiences and their voices. The project also aimed to raise awareness of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and help individuals to reframe their experience within the context and values of the CRPD.
(Please see the PDF document below for details.)
CRPD LIVES: Collecting Testimony and Identifying Actors in China’s Independent Disability Rights Movement
(May 2013 – July 2014)
Click to read the CRPD Pamphlet:
Non-visual Photography 非视觉摄影 (2009)
Visually impaired people explore the visual world and express themselves through photography
China Vision worked with the UK-based NGO PhotoVoice and two photographers from the UK, Chloe Dewe Mathews and Cheryl Gabriel, to run a workshop introducing the idea of sensory photography to visually impaired people in China. This resulted in several exhibitions held in Beijing. Since that time “Non-visually photography” (非视觉摄影) has become a well-known concept within China’s visually impaired community, with workshops and exhibitions run as widely as Shenyang, in China’s northeast, to Tibet.
For the article in Chinese see click here.
Shengbo Disability Social Service Centre
Information and support services provided by and for blind and visually impaired persons
Shengbo (Sound Waves) is part of the One Plus One Group for Disability based in Beijing. China Vision has worked with independent groups of visually impaired broadcasters, journalists, self-advocates, educators and facilitators since 2004 and has closely engaged with Shengbo since it was established in 2010. It was one of the first DPOs in China to work on visual disability and its work has always focused on community empowerment to address problems that affect the lives, employment and development of visually impaired people. Through exploring radio production, community activities and other services the group gradually clarified its purpose: the realization of Article 19 of the CRPD (i.e. “Living independently and being included in the community”) within the viually impaired community, through self advocacy and the development of independent living skills. Shengbo has developed several “brands”. including ‘Golden Cane’, ‘Shengbo Helping Hand’ WeChat Group, and the ‘VI Hotline Radio Show’.
Talang Online Magazine
Providing international information about disability, education and human rights to the disability community in China
In 2007 China Vision began discussing ways to provide international information about education and disability affairs to an online readership in China. From 2007-2017 we supported a small team of visually impaired translators to run an online magazine and information service entitled “Talang” (literally “treading waves”) which over the years provided hundreds of articles in translation to readers throughout China. Talang now continues to provide specialist material to visually impaired readers, teachers and parents’ groups on an occasional basis.