Visit to Singapore Association of the Visually Handicapped (Hitachi Construction Machinery Asia and Pacific)
On November 13th, a total of 13 Hitachi Construction Machinery Asia and Pacific (HMAP) Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) committee members and volunteers visited Singapore Association of the Visually Handicapped (SAVH) and joined programs to raise awareness for visually impaired people.
SAVH is a national voluntary welfare organization of the visually impaired, founded in 1951. Its mission is to help the visually handicapped themselves by acquiring new skills and gaining self-reliance to cope with the integration into society. SAVH has implemented few initiatives to raise public awareness of the challenges that persons with vision impairment face in their daily life.
13 volunteers from HMAP experienced various programs.
・Dining in the Dark
Volunteers fully exploit their senses of taste, touch, smell and hearing during the dining session. The meals were served by specially trained visually impaired clients, providing opportunities for them to earn a means of living.
・Guided tour to the Day Care Centre, Assistive Devices Centre and Braille Production Unit
Volunteers also attended a guided tour and get to understand how the reading materials are being converted into Braille for the blind to read with their fingers and assistive devices.
・Touch Art and ‘Do-It-Yourself’(DIY) handicraft with use of blindfolds
Volunteers interacted with the visually impaired clients during the programmes. These programmes help the visually impaired clients to equip with skills to produce different handicraft items such as bookmarks.
・Massage session
Volunteers enjoyed an optional massage session by Mobile Massage Team (MMT) at the end of the visit. It creates opportunity for the blind masseurs to put into practice the acquired skills to remain employable.
In order to contribute towards a more inclusive society, HMAP supports these programmes to help visually impared people gain self-reliance and independence, remain employable. It also facilitates their integration process with the community.
