International Efforts in Blindness

On this episode of Change Makers, we are learning about a Fulbright Scholar’s trip to Lagos to address critical gaps in services and training.

On this episode (In order of appearance)

• Narrator
• Sara Brown, APH Public Relations Manager
• Elyse Connors, Fulbright scholarship recipient

Additional Links

• An Interview with Dr. Elyse Connors on Her Fulbright Trip to Lagos & the Delivery of APH Press Books
• Fulbright U.S. Student Program
• Email Change Makers

Transcript

Narrator: 0:00

<silence> Welcome to Change Makers , a podcast from APH. We're talking to people from around the world who are creating positive change in the lives of people who are blind or have low vision. Here's your host.

Sara Brown: 0:15

Hello and welcome to Change Makers. I'm APH's Public Relations manager, Sara Brown . And on today's episode, we're learning about a Fulbright Scholar's trip overseas to assist those who are blind or low vision. I have Elyse Connors here to share her story and detail her experience. Hello Elyse, and welcome to Change Makers .

Elyse Connors: 0:34

Hi, Sara. I'm glad to be here.

Sara Brown: 0:37

I'm so excited to hear your , your story today. Um, but before we get into that, can you introduce yourself to our listeners and let them know what it is that you do?

Elyse Connors: 0:46

Sure. Uh , my name is Dr. Elyse Connors , and I am a faculty member in the Blindness and Low Vision department at Western Michigan University. So I coordinate the Vision Rehabilitation Therapy Program at Western Michigan.

Sara Brown: 1:02

You're also a Fulbright recipient. You can, you share more information about the Fulbright program, and it's a very prestigious award to receive, so kudos to you on receiving that.

Elyse Connors: 1:13

It is, and I feel really fortunate to have received it. I had applied for one the year before I got one, so it was my second , um, time applying. And , um, I'm just so thankful for the opportunities that it provided , um, and has provided, and the connections has helped me make. But the Fulbright program is a program, the U. S. Government, and it's basically for international education and cultural exchange. So it offers both to students and to faculty members or scholars. Um, and I think like in 160 countries, the opportunity to study, to teach, to conduct research , um, to exchange ideas and all of it is the goal of mutual understandings and kind of , um, working together to find solutions. So bringing together people from different worldviews to help , um, solve challenges that are , um, facing us. And so I received a U. S. Scholar Award through the Fulbright program, and mine was for teaching and for research, and it was stationed at the University of Lagos in Lagos, Nigeria.

Sara Brown: 2:24

Yes. That segues right into my next question is how did you get involved with the University of Lagos and the West African Regional Research and Training Center for Low Vision rehabilitation?

Elyse Connors: 2:37

Right. Like with many of the things in our life, we just sort of stumble into the right place at the right time. And , um, there was a Fulbright Scholar who came from the University of Lagos to the Department of Blindness and Low Vision at Western. And so , um, I found out about , um, Lagos and these new programs and WARTCLOR , uh, through a previous , uh, Fulbright scholar, so the West African Regional Research and Training Center for Low Vision and VI vision rehabilitation. And we shortened that to WARTCLOR for obvious reasons , um, was established , um, um, looking so Nigeria spent a lot of time and money looking at the burden of low vision , um, in its country. And it did some really nice work getting some good statistics , um, at both the national and the regional levels. And this WARTCLOR, the Center for both research and training professionals, was designed to serve not just Nigeria, but Nigeria and all of West Africa. And so , um, currently there are no institutions that train people , um, in blind rehabilitation. Um, nor is there a center that , um, really spends , uh, much time looking at the rehabilitation aspects of vision loss. So there's some medical , uh, clinical types of research, but not really rehab. And so that is the kind of , um, what they're , what the center is trying to address on how to provide access to services , uh, low vision service or rehab, how to , um, build up a capacity of professionals who can do that work and to do research in order to develop , uh, best practices or , um, help better understand , um, vision loss and its impact on daily living. So , um, doctor , um, Patrick Oji , he was with the Fulbright Scholar who came to Western, and he's , uh, a senior research fellow at the University of Lagos. And we sometimes call that Uni Lag, so University of Lagos. And he works in the research management office. So in January of, let's see, it would've been 2021, he came , um, to Kalamazoo. He and his family, he's got three beautiful sons and a wife. And , um, his goal was to look at our departments , um, academic standards and the way we approach , um, training new professionals, providing opportunities for clinical practice, and also research as a department. And so he studied what we do here. And then from that foundation, he developed , uh, curriculum and , um, standards for what would be taught at the work floor through their programs. So they would have a program in VRT Vision, Rehabilitation Therapy and Orientation and Mobility. So , um, the programs in Lagos will be , um, have the foundation of what we do here, but of course, what we do here in the United States doesn't fit the culture and the environmental conditions in Nigeria. So he also , um, took the wisdom he has from growing up in Nigeria and being Nigerian and African, and then tweaked that , um, curriculum in order to meet the needs , um, back in West Africa. So that was the connection that brought me , um, let me know about work floor and how I might be a part of it.

Sara Brown: 6:37

That's so interesting. So, and that just blows my mind, just hearing that. So you learn about all this program through, through your colleague?

Elyse Connors: 6:46

Mm-hmm <affirmative> .

Sara Brown: 6:47

And next thing? What you're, you're on a plane traveling there? How did you talk about traveling to Lagos, Nigeria? What all did that entail and what was that like?

Elyse Connors: 6:58

Um, so , uh, Lagos, Nigeria is really far away. <laugh> , um, from my home in Kalamazoo, Michigan, it took 15 hours of flight time , um, but I left Kalamazoo and 22 hours later arrived in Lagos. Um, previous to that, there's pretty extensive visa prob , um, process. In fact, I had to fly to Atlanta, Georgia, where there's a Nigerian , uh, embassy in order to get my paperwork done. So , um, so even just getting through the process of a visa was quite , um, quite convoluted, lots of steps and , um, the whole trip to Atlanta , uh, to get the paperwork done and verified. And then , um, the Fulbright , um, folks were the ones who sort of made my travel arrangements. So once I had a visa in place, once uni lag , um, the University of Lagos was, knew I was coming and had vetted that it was safe for me to come and all of that , uh, the, so the Fulbright was working behind the scenes also making the connection and making sure , uh, that things would be set up for me. But Lagos is , um, it's the largest city in Nigeria, and it's also the largest city on the whole continent of Africa. So it has about 21 million people. And just for context, New York City has about 8 million. So it is huge , and it's really fast growing . So, you know, in the United States in general, we have many more older adults than we have children. Well, Lagos and Nigeria and all of West Africa, that, that pyramid is the other direction where they have few older adults and many children. And it's just a very fast growing population. And in fact , um, it , I think it was like, I don't know , maybe three and a half percent. The population grew between 2023 and 2024. So it's really a very fast , uh, one of the fastest growing cities as well. A little bit more about Lagos is that even though it's not the capital, it's the center of commerce and entertainment , uh, technology, lots of arts , uh, and fashion music. So it's really , um, just a very vibrant and alive , um, city.

Sara Brown: 9:28

It sounds so cool. I, I feel like I personally have heard of that, of Lagos being a hub for, you know, entertainment and whatnot that you mentioned. Um,

Elyse Connors: 9:40

Yeah, one thing they , um, like , uh, you've probably heard of Bollywood, which is sort of the Hollywood in India. Yes.

Sara Brown: 9:48

Yes.

Elyse Connors: 9:48

Kind of a huge film. Well, Lagos has Nollywood with an n Nollywood, and it's the same thing, a real sort of grassroots , uh, film industry. So it's kind of fun.

Sara Brown: 10:02

Now, when you arrived there was, were there any sort of what culture shocks or anything, or was it, you know, not too far off from what we're used to in Kalamazoo?

Elyse Connors: 10:12

It is really different , uh, wonderfully different <laugh> . Um, when I arrived, I was met , um, in the airport by someone from the U. S. Consulate in Nigeria, so that would be, it was a Nigerian person, but hired by the consulate. And he came , um, he met me at the airport. He , um, remember this is a huge, huge mess of city. Everything is crowded. He helped me get through to the right lines through the lines to get my luggage. And then , um, kind of through Customs, all the way outside, outside the airport, there are many hawkers selling wares. Kinda gets me all the way through there. And then I get to his, his , um, armored vehicle, and there is a Nigerian , um, police officer there with this huge gun. So kind of this, it was like, "wow, where have I landed?" Gosh. And , um, you know, so the, the kind of armed guard was in the front seat. The driver from the consulate was driving, and I was in the back seat , and it was a little, you know, of course I'd been up for 24 hours and it was a lot. Um, and I was like, wow, what, what is happening here? <laugh> ? Um, and so they drove me to , um, onto the campus and then where they had housing arranged for me. And then the next day, the consulate, somebody from the consulate came and picked me up again , uh, brought me to the consulate's office and , um, gave me a security briefing. And , um, through the security briefing, they kind of told me , um, you know, safer areas , um, areas that I probably shouldn't travel to, some recommendations on how I should travel. Um, um, like they recommended, I only use a vetted driver, so not to use Uber or Lyft. Um, they had recommendations about, you know, how far out I should travel, things like that. And also just information about the culture. And , um, and also I was able to exchange money there. So having that connection to the console that was really, really helpful kind of helped me understand the lay of the land , land. And , um, and you read lots of things on the internet, but like any topic you study on the internet, you, you get sort of a skewed picture mm-hmm <affirmative> . So it was really helpful , um, and I felt really cared for and really provided for by having this connection with the consulate. Um, but yeah, it was , um, quite a bit of culture shock, even just in the, just landing and negotiating and getting to my apartment <laugh> .

Sara Brown: 13:04

I bet . But that sounds so cool. Just, just like the, the shock of, "whoa, you're in a , an armored car with an armed guard." Wow.

Elyse Connors: 13:15

Yeah, it was a lot.

Sara Brown: 13:16

What a

Elyse Connors: 13:18

<laugh>

Sara Brown: 13:18

What a way to arrive! <Laugh> .

Elyse Connors: 13:22

I mean like a little, like a celebrity. I saw people waiting to go through customs and the U. S. Consulate person just nodded, and then they just sort of parted way for us to get through. So , um, I definitely was very well protected and cared for. Um, having those connections.

Sara Brown: 13:42

People probably thought you were royalty, <laugh>,

Elyse Connors: 13:44

<laugh> , they would be wrong, but they might have thought that <laugh>.

Sara Brown: 13:49

No . Um, I, I know APH Press, they donated the textbooks for you to share with the university. Can you talk about what textbooks were provided and how they were used during your time there?

Elyse Connors: 14:01

Yeah, so APH was incredibly generous in supplying books for this project. I think in total they donated 11, which of course are all the books. All of us in rehab know, right? They're the foundation books , um, that we're so familiar with, like, oh , I hope I'm not missing one. But there's education, O and MVRT, low Vision Rehab Counseling. Hope I didn't miss any of those. But yeah, so the whole series of the foundation books. And then also a smattering of their books as well. Some other ones on o and m , um, the physical education book , um, some CVI books as well. So these books were all donated to WARTCLOR , uh, to be used by faculty, both the teaching and research and for future students. And it's, it's hard to communicate how important this sort of access to information is in the developing of a new program. But remember, Nigeria doesn't have a history of services. They have no provisions for , uh, blind rehab. So really they are, you know, just starting from scratch. Now, there's not, that's not to say there aren't blind people in Nigeria who are very capable , um, and , uh, groupings of people who are work blind, people who are working together and helping each other and getting through daily life and learning how to travel. So it's not to say that there isn't , um, people with visual impairments in Nigeria already figuring things out, and there's a culture of sharing that information. But in terms of setting an , an academic program where you're developing best practices, you're setting , um, sort of those professional , um, cultural things, like every individual is an individual, and every , uh, client needs to be respected, and the client has, should have the ability to say what they wanna learn and what they don't wanna learn. So all of that cultural provision of services and then the adaptations, all of that goes into an academic program, and it, it sort of systemize the education so that , um, there's a consistency in providers. It also gives a chance to develop best practices and again, set that cultural respectful professional tone. And so the foundation books and the other books , um, are just sort of a starting place and of sort of an agreement about what in general we value as true , uh, accommodations and techniques that through lots of experiences we know work well. Um, so it's like not having to reinvent the wheel, that there's a starting place. And again , um, it's not like the information in our textbooks that , um, we all can see in agreement with. It's not that they're gonna fit the Nigerian culture or the Nigerian traditions or the Nigerian environment, built environment perfectly, for sure. They're all gonna need to be modified. Um, 'cause Nigeria has their own style of teaching and their own , um, definitions about , um, who cares for each other and what are our traditions and how we care for people with disabilities. But at least it's a starting point. And , um, so just , um, a kind of a, a a place to jump off from as they develop their own , um, best practices and teaching methodology. And the other thing that's kind of hard to imagine is just that here we have access to books so quickly, so easily, but access to information is just harder in Nigeria. Um, internet is less reliable. Uh, there's less publicly available information. Um, you know, and the poverty, the poverty is huge. So students in college, they're not buying books, students, elementary students, nobody, very rarely do people have books. Um, it's, you know, it's, it's hard to imagine because books are just part of our everyday life, but , um, that it's very different. So having actual books that people can check out and read and have access such easy access to , um, is, is, is just such a gift. So it may seem like, oh, you know, they donated, you know, 15 books or whatever. But it is huge , uh, the information within that book. And then the books themselves, having that available to those faculty who will be developing new classes and who , um, you know, there are faculty there who can know, you know, know about teaching methodology in Nigeria and that culture. And there's faculty that already know about , um, about how people come to terms with losing vision or, or that sense of loss. So there's social workers and there's teachers, but what Nigeria doesn't have is all the accommodations. Those tried and true best practices of how do we hold the cane? How do we move the cane , um, how do we tell if , um, what we're cooking is done? So all of those techniques that have been developed just through the wisdom of lots of service providers. So it's really a gift. And it was very generous for APH two , have , um, given those books and I, so appreciated it. And so did they,

Sara Brown: 20:03

Are the rates of blindness and low vision extremely high in Nigeria? Or, you know, is it something that they're foreshadowing that that's gonna be on the rise and they're already trying to take steps to sort of provide resources ?

Elyse Connors: 20:18

Yeah. Um, their rates are definitely higher , um, than here in the United States. Some of that, of course, is , um, just , uh, not having access to eyecare, so , uh, un refracted error. So just not having access to spectacles , um, that will correct vision loss. So, and also cataracts. So think about, you know, they're in the, it's a tropical country, very warm, very sunny, so cataracts start earlier. Um, and while cataract surgery is pretty commonplace here in the United States, and especially for most older adults, will have a cataract, you know, removed at some point. But , um, that access to service isn't really there. Um, so some of it is preventable blindness, the, and there's not really , um, funding for healthcare . So there's not really health insurance , uh, in Nigeria in any sort of large, meaningful way. Um, so most all healthcare is , uh, self-pay and , um, you know, it's a very poor country. And so for it's few people, you know, have access to that. Um, so there is definitely a higher burden for low vision given, but some of it is definitely preventable. Um, and then , um, you know, less prenatal care, less early access to information or, you know, to healthcare for children as well as part of that too. So across the board, there are definitely higher rates of low vision or blindness , uh, than , um, many place , but comparable to other developing countries, I would say.

Sara Brown: 22:06

And one more time, how long were you there?

Elyse Connors: 22:10

I was there for five months.

Sara Brown: 22:11

Okay. And so during your, your five months there, what stands out to you the most?

Elyse Connors: 22:17

Uh , oh , let's see. Um , well, probably the people, the, the people are just wonderful. It's , um, they are so hardworking, they are scrappy, they work really hard. Um, they are such a hopeful people. Um, I would say Nigerian, most Nigerians are pretty religious. There are, I think like 370 tribe different tribes or groups in Nigeria. Yet in , even though there are so many tribes, they really also see themselves as Nigerian. So they also are able to have a real community sense, even though they are very different in their traditions and their language. Uh, within Lagos, there are three main tribes, Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba. And each one of them has their own flavor. But , um, the, the vibrancy of people and , uh, their creativity and trying to kind of , uh, scrap together a living , uh, uh, their entrepreneur spirit where , um, they're looking to build a skill that will help them , um, bring in an income. So , um, they're just, just really very open about partnerships and about , um, how can they help all Nigerians, there's just very much a real community spirit in the midst of very different , uh, cultural and also religious traditions. So I think, you know, that diversity and that ability to see themselves as Nigerian, as well as their individual tribal language, and , uh, religion just was really , um, really pretty wonderful to see kind of that cohesiveness in the midst of what could potentially be very , um, you know, factors that would drive people apart or more territorial. So at least within the city of Lagos, there is definitely a real , uh, understanding of their community and wanting life to be better for all of them.

Sara Brown: 24:39

So can you talk about why this trip was so important for individuals who are blind or low vision that live in Lagos?

Elyse Connors: 24:47

Yeah. So , um, so the first part of my trip, I spent kind of just at the university helping to develop. So why the classes were sort of developed, I spent time just gathering resources, potential , uh, assignments that students would do, so kind of building the syllabi for classes. But the second half of the trip , um, I was able to go out to different , um, blind agencies in Lagos and, which was really very fun. And I got to interact with more Nigerians and get a better picture of how they , uh, provide services and , um, understand the blind community , um, a little bit better. And I went to about 10 different agencies. They're all very different. They all have their own unique flavor. Um, some are just an office, some are an extensive campus. But , um, some , let me just talk about a couple of them. Um, one was the Pacelli School for the Blind and Partially Sighted Children. And this one , um, again, remember the , the , the country doesn't subsidize any of these. So all of these are self-funded and basically run by people who are blind serving, people who are blind. But , um, so the Pacelli School for the Blind and Partially Sighted, it's supported by the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, and I don't know , it's maybe about 60 years old, and it's residential, and they don't, people or students who go there do not pay anything for it. Again , nobody has any money. Um, and it's primary function is to serve primary school age students . So this is like 6, 7, 8, maybe up to 10 year olds. And so the student leaves their home, comes and lives in the dormitory, and there they learn braille, they learn Slaton stylus, they learn keyboarding. And then those students, you know, second, third, fourth graders go back to their homeschool and it's up to the child to make their own accommodations. So , um, so there's nobody visiting that child within their homeschool. They've gotten, their perspective is they've gotten all the accommodations that they, all they, that the students, these little ones have gotten all the information they need to know, and then they go home and actually apply it themselves, just sort of , uh, doing the accommodations for themselves. Um, so that's sort of the model they are. Um, and then at that school, they also had some adults who were new to vision impairment, who they were also serving. So again, that's sort of that scrappiness, you know, here's the school established for , um, students, you know, little ones, but yet the need is so great. And so they just carve out more space. And then, so they'd have classes for, you know, adults and then classes for little ones too, all sharing space, you know, within the same classroom there might be three pockets of , uh, small groups. Um , at the Nigerian Farm Craft Center for the Blind, this was a resident, again, a residential program for individuals , um, who became blind as adults. So these were sighted individuals who became blind in their, you know, early adulthood. Generally they were , um, kind of working age folks, maybe they look like 18, 19 year olds all the way to early forties. And , um, it's sort of a selective group. It , again, there's not as many spaces in that class as , uh, there are people who need the services. Um, and anybody who's allowed in makes a one year commitment to go there. And there they get, it's basically vocational rehab. So they get , um, they learn braille, slate and stylus . They , um, learn keyboarding, they learn JAWS, they learn how to use the accessibility on their phone. They, but then they also learn , um, kind of handcrafts and farming. Um , so they had basketry, they had farming , uh, making , uh, chemicals for cleaning products, making , um, kind of self-care, skincare products , um, anything that potentially , uh, these people could then go back home and have a way to make an income. One of the things they had too is petite , uh, fabric king . So , um, Nigeria is known for their beautiful fabrics. And , um, usually we think of , uh, batik , which is kind of wax resistance. So they're dyeing cloth in all these bright, vibrant colors. Um, but in this part of the world, they put , um, like a starch based on the fabric, and wherever that starch paste is, the dye doesn't absorb. So they're making these intricate beautiful , um, vibrant , um, lead , um, fabrics. And so that's another skill that is taught to students at this farm craft school. Um, and it's, you know, a very , um, it's the , uh, Aruba tribe. Every tribe sort of has their own take on this, but the Aruba tribe makes a DRA cloth, and these are very , um, desirable cloths sold around the world, and really a large part of their heritage and their customs. Um, so it's also kind of integrating people into their communities too, by teaching these, touching these skills that are so culturally bound. And then one other, let me just quickly say one other, the Nigerian Association for the Blind, that's basically a consumer group. It's a group of people who are visually impaired and they're providing mostly computer training , um, to others, and they're gathering for advocacy work. So , um, really every place, every agency I visited was so different. Um, and everything is so grassroots trying to figure out how do we provide services. So just people kind of empowering each other to meet the needs of visually impaired people, but it's imperative that the , um, university program and these agencies work together. So it would be awful if the university program, which likely will be mostly cited , people are deciding what blind people need to know or what blind people need. So it's imperative that , um, people with visual impairment are in the foundational , um, roles within the university programs informing what is taught, informing best practices, informing what really are the needs of people with visual impairments in Nigeria and West Africa. Um, so it's really, really important that both the university and these agencies are working hand in hand and they have so much, you know, opportunity to benefit from one another. So that was my goal, sort of the second part of this is of my time there, is to make those connections so that , um, each of those, the university and these agencies can benefit from one another and work collaboratively with one another. So they, they do so much , they're all almost independent that

Sara Brown: 32:38

They need to work together to really make that difference. I see.

Elyse Connors: 32:43

Yeah, absolutely. Yep . They need each other. Mm-hmm <affirmative> . Just like the universities here. Yes. And , um, in order to do research, we need these agencies that have access to people with visual impairment. So , um, that collaborative , uh, feel is imperative. And Nigerians are excellent at collaboration and partnership. They really, really do that well.

Sara Brown: 33:09

You know, it's all about partnerships. We APH partners with so many different organizations, and so , and I've learned over the years of doing this podcast, partnerships are important. Collaborations and partners, partnerships, collaborations, partnerships, it goes to show that partnerships and collaborating with others is vital. Mm-hmm <affirmative> . It really is.

Elyse Connors: 33:29

Yeah. We are definitely better together,

Sara Brown: 33:31

<laugh> . Absolutely. Now, do you see any additional trips in your future going back there?

Elyse Connors: 33:38

I so hope so. I , you know, there's nothing, there's nothing , uh, on my calendar yet, but my hope is that that will be the case. Um, ideal . When I was originally slated to go, the programs thought that they would have recruited their first group of students and I would be teaching the O and M skills and the VRT skills. But , um, um, they are still, there was some delays. Again, the economy and the government are not always , uh, very stable. Um, and so they are still working on funding , um, and they have a lot of the pieces there. But again, what they don't have is people who have those kind of clinical skills that go with , um, uh, blind rehabilitation. So , um, ideally once they have recruited their first group of students , um, I'll be able to go back again. And then between the faculty, you know, kind of the traditional clinical , um, knowledge that I can bring along with the students and the faculties understanding of their culture and the daily living needs that will work together to develop what are those best practices or what are the best ways to teach, and what sorts of things need to be teach and taught. Um, so ideally that collaboration will happen , uh, once again, once we have their first group of students. So I, I certainly hope so.

Sara Brown: 35:10

And if you do, you know, just let us know. We would love to hear how it goes here on Change Makers. So yeah, we're, we're pulling for you too, to do another return visit. Um, before I let you go, is there anything else you would like to share or discuss with us on Change Makers?

Elyse Connors: 35:28

Um, I just wanna say that , um, a lot of people have asked me, you know, how can I get involved in international travel and , um, international opportunities? And for one, the Fulbright is a, a great place to start, especially if you're in a university setting or if you're a student, student who's doing their doctoral work in blind rehab. There's opportunities for students as well. Um, but also a ER, which is our professional organization. Uh, I think it's division 18. I'm not sure I'm gonna get this name right, but it's like , uh, global interaction or international opportunities. Um, it's, I'm pretty sure it's division 18, even though I can't quite get the title. Uh , but they're a great place to start too because , um, a lot of this is just networking and it's sort of what word by word of mouth, you know, there's not really established channels yet for how to get involved , um, with , uh, you know, around the world in terms of spreading , uh, blind rehab. But , um, so that would be a good place to start.

Sara Brown: 36:39

Wonderful. Elyse, thank you so much for coming on Change Makers and sharing your story with me today.

Elyse Connors: 36:45

Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it.

Sara Brown: 36:50

Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Change Makers . I have put a link in the show notes to an APH blog about Eliyse's trip. Do you have any follow up questions about what we just discussed, or do you have a podcast suggestion? Send them to me at changemakers@aph.org. And as always, be sure to look for ways you can be a change maker this week.