Blind teacher plays guitar with fingerless hand

Strength to overcome difficulties

Born in Tam Ky city (Quang Nam province), blind teacher Dang Ngoc Duy (SN 1976), is bringing an energy to live with people with disabilities.

Holding a guitar in his hand, pondering for a while, he recalled, he was born healthy like many other children, when he was 10 years old, unfortunately he had an explosive accident that damaged his eyes and left hand at that time. Only 3 fingers left.

“At that stage, I was completely devastated, I didn’t know what to do next. After a period of familiarization in the dark, I was determined to return to learning in Braille”, Mr. Duy confided and said that besides studying culture, he himself wanted to develop a certain skill. .

And finally, he chose the path of music. At this time, the family did not support, because they thought that this is a subject that people with good eyes are still difficult to learn.

“Ordinary people would play the guitar with their right hand, press the keys with their left hand, but my left hand only had 3 fingers so I had to switch the guitar upside down.

Therefore, it is difficult for a teacher, for a student like me, it is even more difficult. I go online, search and listen to people teach and learn, ordinary people try 1, then I have to try 10. Listening to other people say and then I practice it is very difficult because I can’t see it, and it takes a long time. Just the right tune.”

In the process of learning music, the most difficult thing said by the teacher was sensing sound in the dark. The teacher groped for each note, feeling on his fingertips: “Each note takes me about a day to learn. It’s more difficult for me than most people to not see anything, besides, my hands are not healthy, which makes learning even more difficult.”

Mr. Duy continued, that time he was studying culture and pursuing his passion. Every day he had to spend more than 12 hours studying. After more than a year of hard work, he basically played the first songs.

Along with learning the guitar, Mr. Duy continued to explore and learn the organ. In the high school years, he began to compose music, with themes about love for his motherland and country.

Later, Mr. Duy entered Quang Nam University to pursue Literature pedagogy. It is the wish of his family and loved ones to choose a gentler and “safer” path. Faced with many difficulties in accessing the lessons, at that time, Mr. Duy had to ask his classmates to record the textbooks on cassette and listen to them again and again.

“In class, I need to focus a lot to listen to the teacher’s lecture, I neglect a little bit as if I have lost all the knowledge the teacher imparted”, Mr. Duy confided.

“Speaking Fingers”

After becoming a new bachelor in Literature pedagogy with the age of over 30, with the desire to help people with difficult circumstances like me, Mr. Duy opened the Quang Nam Huong Duong Center in Tam Ky City.

The center is a nurturing place for 50 children with disabilities, here, they not only learn about culture but also learn their talents. Mr. Duy is both the manager and teacher of Literature and music instruction for the children.

“The time I worked at the center was also the time when I returned to my passion – composing music. Over that time, I have composed about 60 songs, my songs focus mainly on the themes of homeland, country, and love”, Mr. Duy shared.

When it came to those 60 songs, which one did you like the most, Mr. Duy replied: “That’s the song Fingers that can talk. This song was composed in 2010, first as a poem, published in the magazine Van Nghe, and then, I put the music into a complete song.

The song I wrote for deaf and dumb students. These children cannot communicate with words, gestures, actions on their fingers instead of words to people.”

On April 22, Mr. Duy released his first album titled “Vietnam sings” including 11 works he has ever composed. These songs are uploaded by him on his central youtube channel.

“In any situation, we must be optimistic and love life. My opinion is that, if we have a mediocre job, but when we do it well, it will become great,” Mr. Duy reminded.

Cong Sang