Dialogue, In the Dark?

 
by Ali Velazquez, Short-term DSE Associate

If you are reading this post, you probably know or have heard about Dialogue in the Dark. And you have probably asked yourself the same questions as I did: dialogue and darkness? What do they have to do with each other?

About a month ago, I joined the Dialogue Social Enterprise team, the creators of the Dialogue in the Dark exhibition.  Since I joined the team, I’ve had the opportunity to visit different DID exhibitions and meet several of the blind guides and trainers who work at the different venues around the world. During this time, I have come to appreciate the power that darkness has when used as a tool to raise awareness of  our own perception of the world and how this perception has an impact in the way we communicate with others.

While inside the DID exhibition, in complete darkness, there is not difference between you and the blind guides—nobody can see. You cannot make judgments based on what you perceive with your eyes. For example, in the dark, I don’t know whether you are White, Black, Latino, or Asian. I don’t know  if you are wearing the latest fashion. In the dark, I can’t see your rebel’s  tattoos. I can’t see how tall you are, or how “good looking” you are.  All I can see in the dark is who you really are, and the substance of what you have share with me.

A few weeks ago, during an event with blind trainers from different parts of the world, one of the trainers challenged me to go from a nearby metro station back to the office–about a four-block trip–with my eyes completely closed, the blind guide following me but giving me instructions on how to do it. I agreed! I had a mental map of the area, a cane, the lead, and my instructor following me and giving me directions on how to navigate a city without using my eyes.

The important lesson during that trajectory wasn’t that I understood how a blind person goes around the city. Believe me, blind people can do it just as good and efficiently as we the sighted ones do. The real lesson was that I had to shut my mouth, listen, learn, and “see” the city in the way someone with a different perspective of world does—so that we both could get the office quickly and safely. After about 30 minutes, we eventually arrived to the office. The trip was successful. After crossing streets and going around a couple of constructions sites, and following my lead, we both made it back to the office in one piece.  At the end of the experience, I was still sighted and the guide was still blind, but the desire to get to the same place while experiencing life in a different way created dialogue. It created the type of understanding that allows you to see that the other person does not and probably will never look at things the same way as you do, but you can still achieve goals together.

With this idea in mind, I am not asking you to go blind folded around the city, but I am asking you to take the Dialogue in the Dark challenge of overcoming the barriers between us and the others by  taking a the “blind approach” and create dialogue.

Social enterprises: breaching the gap between charity and business

Technologies, global markets, and even demographic compositions of cities are changing at a speed never experienced before. Many of these changes are moving towards a more efficient way to perform tasks in our daily lives. But these fast changes have also brought with them the challenge of the unknown, the new, and the different, which in many cases causes a polarization among groups of people. This polarization tends to slow down the progress in our communities, work places and countries as a result those barriers created in the process

In a recent UN summit for social innovation, held on June 6, 2011, much was discussed about whether or not nonprofits can have the financial capacity to make a sustainable social impact, and if private organizations’ corporate social responsibility operations are the only other hope to tackle pressing social needs. The answer to that question is still unclear. However, it is a well-known fact that many nonprofits struggle to raise the funds to advance their causes, as well as the fact that CSR portions of private organization have a limited scope of action dictated by their mother organizations. That is why social enterprises are needed to help breach the gap left in between charity and business, and that gap, in many instances, has been left unattended for the lack of organizations that can look at social challenges in a different way.

Social enterprises, for-profit organizations with the mission to advance a social cause in sustainable manner, offer an approach for taking on social needs with new and creative ideas. True to these principles, Dialogue Social Enterprise seeks to improve the situation of marginalized people by running exhibitions, workshops, and trainings that focus on interpersonal skills, team leadership, diversity training, and sensitization of others’ situations.  All of these skills cultivated through the use of the powerful of vehicle of darkness.  

Just as Dialogue Social Enterprise tackles the communications barriers between different groups of people, at the same time that other social business focus on other areas of the social spectrum that need attention, two questions arise: Should social enterprises remain one more tool to tackle social challenges left behind by the nonprofit sector and CSR? Or are social enterprises a better way to approach social challenges all together?

If you have a view on this, please click on www.facebook.com/dialoguesocialenterprise

Or on twitter  at  http://twitter.com/#!/dialoguese   using the hashtag #socent.

DiD Thailand (National Science Museum)

Dialogue in the Dark (DiD) is an hour long tour where participants holding a blind cane are led by blind guides through a pitch dark exhibition hall consisting of several rooms to get a first-hand experience of the world of the visually impaired. The exciting and adventurous experience consists of navigating in the dark, conducting monetary transactions, eating snacks,
and even riding a motor vehicle through town. The First DiD tour took place here in Thailand in September 2008 at the Science Festival, BITEC. The feedback from visitors was very positive, since it provided them mind-opening insight into the world of the visually impaired. This experience reportedly uplifted the spirits of those attending, putting a smile on their faces as they exited the darkness of the exhibition hall. The exhibition enabled the participating public to appreciate the unexpected abilities of the blind and realize the importance of the sense of vision. Also, the work opportunity for the blind as tour guides appears to provide the guides a greater job satisfaction and improved self-worth. Observing the benefits of the exhibition to the general public and the tour guides alike, our vice president decided to make DiD a one year exhibition at the Science Square, a branch of our National Science Museum located in the heart of Bangkok.

The construction of the exhibition had to take into account safety concerns for the visitors since the walkway is pitch dark. For visitors’ safety, there are emergency lights in every exhibition’s rooms. Assuredly, there are fire & safety equipments such as fire alarms, smoke alarms, heat detectors in the exhibition as well. Thus, the construction took around a year and a half to
complete. The construction was completed in October 2010. I (Belle) was assigned to take care of the DiD exhibition just a few months before the guides were recruited and trained. In early September 2010 we began the recruitment of visually impaired persons to serve as guides at this
second Dialogue in the Dark site by placing an announcement through the Thailand Association of the Blind. We interviewed many enthusiastic and highly energetic candidates, after which we (NSM team), Daniela and Volker (two of our master guides) and Laura (director of Dialogue in the dark), selected 16 candidates. The candidates were quick in developing the required skills in communication and hospitality with their self-confidence visibly improving throughout the training process. All the guides had their trial tour during September 14-15, 2010. We also trained our sighted volunteers who work at the museum alongside our blind guides to take on the role of lobby staff and facilitators, working under my management.

We worked very hard during the first period, hoping to achieve the best possible outcome. We had free tours for about 3 weeks starting September 24th, until our grand opening on October 15th. We had many visitors during the free tour period. After the grand opening many group tours from schools and universities have visited us, in addition to tours by families, tourists, couples, and individuals. The tour appears to have a greater impact on the children and students, as they appear to find it somewhat frightening yet exciting, often comparing it to an amusement park ride. As of today, two TV programs have visited the DiD exhibition to make their scoop story on the exhibition. The positive publicity has further sparked the interest of the general public to attend our exciting, must-experience Dialog in the Dark exhibition. Thus, in addition to bringing us closer to our vision of expanding public knowledge on issues of science and technology, DiD also improves people’s appreciation for the social diversity afforded us by a mixed community of people from all walks of life, including the visually impaired.

We are so happy and very relieved that our Dialogue in Silence website is back working fine. Please accept our apology for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.

Good day everybody!!

http://www.dialogue-in-silence.com/

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DiD Johannesburg

DiD goes Africa! Finally we will open our first Dialogue in the Dark exhibition on the African continent! After a successful teaser-workshop in Nairobi last year DSE is proud to announce that there will be a grand opening in Johannesburg in 2011. Our CEO Andreas Heinecke is currently visiting the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre and the South African National Council for the Blind, our partners in this exiting venture:

http://www.mediaupdate.co.za/?IDStory=34008

DiD NewYork

DiD goes Big Apple! For the first time there will be a Dialogue in the Dark exhibition in New York City! This summer visitors will experience mindset-changing darkness lead by visually impaired guides at South Street Seaport! Below a related CNBC article:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/41424103

Dialogue in Silence Hong Kong

Dialogue in Silence Hong Kong

Inside Dialogue in the Dark Thailand

The First Dialogue in the Dark took place here in Thailand in September 2008 at the Science Festival, BITEC. The feedback from visitors was very positive, since it provided them mind-opening insight into the world of the visually impaired. This experience uplifted the spirits of those attending, putting a smile on their faces as they left the darkness.  The exhibition enabled the participating public to appreciate the unexpected abilities of the blind and realize the importance of the sense of vision. Also, the work opportunity for the blind as tour guides appears to provide the guides a greater job satisfaction and improved self-worth.  Observing the benefits of the exhibition to the general public and the tour guides alike, our vice president decided to make Dialogue in the Dark a one year exhibition at the Science Square, a branch of our National Science Museum located in the heart of Bangkok.

The construction was very complex and thus took around a year and a half to be completed. I was assigned to take care of the Dialogue in the Dark exhibition just a few months before the guides were recruited and trained.  In early September 2010 we began the recruitment of visually impaired persons by placing an announcement at the Thailand Association of the Blind. We interviewed many enthusiastic and highly energetic candidates, after which we selected 16 candidates. The candidates were quick in developing the required skills in communication and hospitality with their self-confidence visibly improving throughout the training process.  All the guides had their trial tour during September 14-15, 2010. We also trained our sighted volunteers who work at the museum alongside our blind guides to take on the role of lobby staff and facilitators.

We worked very hard during the first period, hoping to achieve the best possible outcome. We had free tours for about 3 weeks starting September 24^th, until our grand opening on October 15^th. After this mostly groups from schools and universities have visited us, in addition to tours by families, tourists, couples, and individuals. The dark has a greater impact on the children and students, as they appear to find it somewhat frightening and yet exciting. As of today, two TV programs have visited the exhibition to make their scoop story about it. The positive publicity has further sparked the interest of the general public bringing us closer to our vision of expanding public knowledge on issues of science and technology and raising peoples awareness for social diversity.

Greetings from Bangkok Thailand

Belle, Manager of Dialogue in the Dark Thailand

2010 – a short review about an exciting year

2010 was certainly one of the most successful years in Dialogue in the Dark’s 20 years history. Apart the fact to celebrate Hamburg‘s 10th and Frankfurt‘s 5th anniversary we ran exhibitions and workshops in 21 countries throughout the year. New sites as Bangkok, Hong Kong or Hyderabad were opened as permanent centers and will certainly generate new interest in the regions. Our plan to “land” in China could be accomplished by running successful workshops in Shanghai and to set the basis for another permanent hub. 2010 was a very busy year and the entire DSE team is proud and happy about the accomplishment. I would like to express my deepest gratitude how privileged I feel to lead such a company. Thank you for all the trust throughout the year. 2011 is starting today. Let’s take off for another exciting journey!

Threepeat

I always work in to the beginning of my tour a question to my group if anyone has ever done this before. So I find out right away about experiences and feelings and how to deal with those.

On Sunday i had a couple that was doing the tour for the third time! This lady and her significant other man said they were led by me their first tour about two years ago. They came back and had another guide for their second tour, along with friends they brought with them. And now they were doing it again. At the end of the tour we spoke a little longer in the light next to our signing book. So I asked them: So what do you get out of the tour on your third visit?? How was it different? And what did you learn that you did not before??

The lady answered that she likes the feeling of just being relaxed and calm in the dark. She likes how she physically and emotionally feels when she is in the path and going through the tour. Her touch of objects in our different galleries is surprising each time, but she keeps learning and re-educating tactile input she feels on each item. She said she might come back again, she likes it so much! And the man said he liked how intimate it was this time. It turned out to be a completely new approach to this world.

They both loved their third time and made me feel great at the end!! That is it. I just wanted to share what a nice feeling I got from hearing from some customers who are really big fans of the dark!!

Have a great new year!
Erik from Atlanta