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If a blind man can run a marathon,
then what can't he do?
Paul Mung comes from Chin State on the
border area of India and Myanmar.
Paul is blind and we met him about 5 years
ago at the Education Centre for the Blind in Yangon,
the capital of Myanmar.
Paul's wife died of yellow fever in 1988
while pregnant with their second child. Finding himself
broke, unemployed, and a single father. He went to the
Jades mines in northern Myanmar hoping to strike it
rich. Paul didn't get rich he got Malaria instead. With
no money for a doctor he treated himself by eating quinine
bark. The bark quelled the malaria, but destroyed his
eyesight. He can see enough to eat and walk alone in
daylight, but he can't read text and he's virtually
blind in the dark.
In 1995, Paul turned up at the school
for the blind in Yangoon, so desperate and depressed
that he considered suicide. But the schools suportive
atmosphere and dedicated teachers rekindled his spirit.
He learned Braille, joined a band in which
he plays bass guitar and entered the sports program
that included jogging.
After a few weeks, Paul became the de
facto tract coach, shepherding kids on daily runs. Paul
remains at the school for the blind, eating white rice,
bean soup and dried red chillies for breakfast and dinner
everyday, because he can't afford his own home.
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While he can't focus clearly
enough to read text, Paul can see that his
picture appeared in a New York newspaper.
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Celebration Time! While
the race didn't go as smoothly as hoped,
Paul and Rick Lipsey had plenty of reason
to smile at the finish!
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In the year 2000, Rick Lipsey, a New York
based runner and golf writer for Sports Illustrated,
who works for Achilles Track Club, a handicapped foundation
in New York that trains handicapped athletes, asked
us to help him to find a candidate from Myanmar that
he could train for the Marathon. We suggested Paul as
he could get free medical treatment. A magazine sponsored
him for his story and he stayed in New York for 6 months
for training at the Blind Institute there.
While he can't focus clearly enough to
read text, Paul can see that his picture appeared in
a New York newspaper. Celebration Time! While the race
didn't go as smoothly as hoped, Paul and Rick Lipsey
had plenty of reason to smile at the finish!
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Now with the help of friends he has been
able to fulfill another of his dreams, to start a school
for the blind among his own people, the Chins of North
West Myanmar. He now has a small wooden school building
and eight blind students from the surrounding area.
Here is what he needs:
-Braille writing kits for 10,
including Braille boards, stylus and Braille paper.
-Braille math's boards and stylus for blind children's
math's classes.
-A Brailler (mechanical Braille typewriter
-A small petrol powered generator
-10 talking watches (digital watches that audibly
speak the time)
-Sponsorship to be able to feed the first 8 students
three meals per day.
-Tape recorders to listen to stories and music.
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