HumanWare joins the World Cup Fever!
HumanWare has joined forces with the South African National Council for the Blind and the Swiss Association for the Blind Sponsorship and Audio description service, to send 33 Blind and Visually Impaired people to four FIFA World Cup football matches.
The South African National Council for the Blind (SANCB) is offering sponsorship packages that will enable blind or visually impaired persons to experience the atmosphere at a World Cup match. To enhance the experience further, the Swiss Association for the Blind (SAB) has set up an audio description service that will provide a live report on the action happening on the grass field.
HumanWare will be sending 15 Blind and visually impaired people to the South Africa vs. Uruguay match in Johannesburg and 15 to the England vs. Slovenia match in Port Elizabeth. Each participant will be accompanied by a sighted companion. Of the three remaining tickets, 2 will be for the 3rd and 4th place playoff match in Port Elizabeth and 1 lucky ticket to attend the World Cup 2010 final in Cape Town.
HumanWare is proud to be part of this project as it has very strong links in South Africa through Neville Clarence Technologies, South African Libraries for the Blind and South African National Council for the Blind.
"These events are an opportunity for us to extend our relationship beyond the companies we work with in South Africa and extend our hand to the visually impaired population during this very special time for the rainbow nation." says Pedro Polson, CEO HumanWare Europe.
From now until July 11, HumanWare will keep you posted on our patrons' experiences in and around the stadiums! So stay tuned and check out the updates from our football fans in South Africa posted right here!
Want to know more about this audio description initiative? Go to the FIFA world cup website: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/organisation/media/newsid=1231378/index.html
6-23-2010 - England vs. Slovenia: Part II
A sighted person may wonder why a visual impaired person would want to go see a football match. The answer becomes very clear when listening to Hazel’s story, who first became interested in football over 20 years ago. “Leaving a board meeting, I suddenly came across a small group of kids watching the big boys playing football. They were hearing what I was hearing – the shouts and laughter of boys running, running, running, the instructions of their supporters urging them on, a momentary silence, the thud of a ball and then… cheers! I was hooked.”
Hazel Marchall (left) with friends Hilary and Courtney
The thrill of a football match still rejoices Hazel, and the Slovenia vs. England World Cup match was no exception! “As we arrived at the stadium, we walked with the thousands of fans from around the world. The excitement was rising.” The organization of the event increased her enjoyment even further. Everything was handled professionally and Hazel felt really comfortable, walking in such a crowd: “Everyone was feeling safe and secure in the orderly arrangements, showing their tickets, passing through security checks, being shown to our seats by the guest manager and fitting the earphones of the Sony walkman for the audio description. It was all like clockwork.”
The audio service did not come in second, however. The clear description of the events kept Hazel in touch with every action on the field and with the audience. It even allowed her to join the Mexican waves going through the stadium. “I’d like to thank Jason, Ross and Xolane for keeping us in touch with the action, instant by instant, so that we could join in every gasp, every cheer, and every groan. Thanks to all the sponsors and others who made it possible for hundreds of blind and partially sighted South Africans countrywide to join in the event. And last but not least, thanks especially to Humanware for procuring the tickets to the match between England and Slovenia.”
6-23-2010 - England vs. Slovenia
Pasha and her husband enjoying the match.
Pasha and her husband were delighted with Wednesday's match, calling it a “historic event accessible to blind and visually impaired people.” She enjoyed every minute of the match and wants to express a sincere thanks to HumanWare, SANCB and FIFA for this wonderful experience.
For the first time, Pasha was able to cheer simultaneously with the crowds when a goal was scored, and she was able to follow the game “without the obligatory delay brought by a companion, not trained in audio description, doing their best to relay as much as they can of the game.”
Furthermore, due to the professionalism of the trained commentators, Pasha was even able to witness more than the people around her. “A further joy was often telling my spouse things he did not even see and facts he was not aware of!”
Finally, Pasha was also rejoiced by the way everything was managed: “the event was organized extremely well and we had a super guest manager: My sincere thanks to all for a most memorable occasion.”
6-18-2010 - Uruguay vs. South Africa
"I must say that I was rather impressed with last night's game", said our first participant Hanif Kruger, who attended South-Africa's second match last Wednesday against Uruguay.
The stadium was jam-packed Wednesday and the bafana bafana supporters showed they truly are the rainbow nation by filling the Pretoria stadium with a festive atmosphere. Amazed by the spectacle and delighted by the quality of the audio description, Hanif didn't really mind seeing his country lose the match: "I enjoyed the game thoroughly."
In spite of the overwhelming Vuvuzela sounds somewhat impeding our participant from fully appreciating the audio description, the ambience was definitely a big part of the event. Maybe that's the reason why Kruger was pleased with the 3-0 defeat for South-Africa...
It was truly an exceptional opportunity and an experience to never forget for our first participant who really seemed to have appreciated his evening: "I would just like to thank the SANCB, FIFA and HumanWare, for making this possible."
