ABC Offers Hope for Blind

By: HIM Sokunthea
Economics Todya Magazine

“Blind people shouldn’t be disappointed with destiny but try to develop their life in a better way. I established this organization in the hope that blind people would judge themselves as advantaged people, not useless. I am happy to know blind people can support and earn money on their own,” Boun Mao, executive director of ABC


Sitting in his office typing at computer and chatting with other staff, Boun Mao is like any other worker, despite his blindness. Thanks to the Association of the Blind in Cambodia (ABC), non-sighted people like Boun Mao are living normal, productive lives.

Boun Mao, executive director of ABC, has been working with blind people for 9 years, and has helped over 1,000 blind people, giving them skills, hope and encouragement.

ABC, affiliated with the National Resource and Training Center and supported by foreign donors, was set up in 2000 to assist all blind and visually impaired people in Cambodia, aiming to add value to individual lives. ABC promotes equal opportunities for the blind and visually impaired in Cambodia society.

In fact, tragic events in Boun Mao’s own life would prepare him for his heroic role at the head of ABC. Born in 1970 in Kien Svay, he was the youngest of 8 children, though all his siblings and his parents died during the brutal Khmer Rouge regime.

After moving to Phnom Penh with his adopted sister, he began to put his life back together, enrolling at the Royal Agriculture University and working part time as a waiter and moto-taxi driver. Unfortunately, in 1993 he was attacked by a robber posing as a passenger. The criminal threw sulfuric attack in Boun Mao’s face.

“I attempted to kill myself when I realized that I was blind,” he recalled.

Boun Mao received orientation, mobility and daily living skills training from the Christian Blind Mission in Cambodia and then attended the Maryknoll Rehabilitation Center for the Blind in Sarawon Pagoda where he learned Khmer and English Braille, and how to touch type. He said the training gave him back his independence, and thus his will to live.

Boun Mao won a scholarship in Computer Training and Leadership for Visually Impaired People in Thailand in 1999 and, with support and suggestions from the Overbrook School for the Blind and the Nippon Foundation, he set up ABC.

ABC, supported by the Nippon Foundation, On-net Foundation, Dark and Light Foundation Blind Care in Holland and Norwegian Association of the Blind and Partially Sighted, provides an opportunity for blind people to hone saleable skills such as bracelet weaving, door-mat knitting and massage. It also has short course to teach Braille literacy in both Khmer and English, runs a computer training project and has onsite Braille literacy.

ABC also has a presence outside Phnom Penh, with branches in Preah Sihanouk, Kompong Speu, Kampot, Prey Veng, Kompong Cham, Kratie, Kompong Thom, Siem Reap, Bantey Meanchey, Battambong, and Pursat.

The organization tries to steer clear of handouts, Boun Mao said. “We help blind or poor virtual sighted people with the support of skills, not money. Our aim is to teach them how to find food, not to give them food,” he explained.



Boun Ammara, an ABC administrator, said that ABC is also wary of fakers, with only people who can show a doctor’s guarantee accepted. In any case, participants must be financially independent, with their own accommodation, transportation and money for daily expenses.

ABCs undeniable achievements in creating employment opportunities and giving hope and encouragement for blind and poorly sighted people have been recognized several times and Boun Mao has gained both local and international honors. In 2001, he received an Appreciation Letter from the Minister of Ministry of Social Affairs, in 2003 e won the Takeo Iwahashi Award, in 2006 he got a silver medal from the government, and most recently, in November 2008, he received a award from the Foundation for Encouragement to Social and Contribution (FESCO) in Japan.

But Boun Mao told Economics Today that his biggest reward was helping those in need. “Blind people shouldn’t be disappointed with destiny but try to develop their life in a better way,” he said. “I established this organization in the hope that blind people would judge themselves as advantaged people, not useless. I am happy to know blind people can support and earn money on their own.”