Harrison F. Carter, Bachelor of Arts
Tom's journey...
To illustrate the potential benefits of my educational programmes, one of the most recent successes of my approach has been a result of my collaborative engagement with Lions International. Lions International hosts an annual international essay competition for visually impaired children from around the world under the age of thirteen. For two years running now, the students I have worked with have each won the national stage of the competition.
This is the story of Tom, who is fully blind, and won the national stage of the 2018 Lions International Essay Competition.
Presenting at the British Houses of Parliament, 2018
Upon receiving the essay title, over the course of several weeks, Tom and I worked together to elicit his thoughts and ideas before beginning to compose his essay. Upon completion, Tom was quietly very proud of it and we submitted it into the local stage of Lions' competition in Liverpool. To each of our respective delight, Tom's essay won the Liverpool nomination, and this took us to the Liverpool Lions Club meeting where he was to read the essay to the asssembled members. Tom uses Braille for his written work, but struggles to read from Braille; so Tom asked me if we could read the essay together - a paragraph each - with Tom reciting from memory. Tom's parents and extended family were also in attendance for the reading and were so very proud of their son.
The essay was very well received and the president of the club then asked if we would be willing to read the essay for the Lord Mayor of Liverpool at the Town Hall and, afterwards, to the Education Select Committee.
Again, Tom's parents were able to attend the Town Hall event and a very special evening was enjoyed by all. The essay was very well received again, and this time, one of the committee members offered to frame the essay, take it to the Houses of Parliament in Westminster and present it to Robert Goodwill MP, the Minister of State at the Department for Education. We were really pleased to receive a photograph from Mr. Goodwill, with the essay, alongside local Liverpool MP, Stephen Twigg.
The essay then went on to win the national stage of the competition, which saw Tom, myself and his parents attend the Lions District Conference in Kendal, where we read the essay to a genuine standing ovation. It was an exceptionally proud occasion.
As a brief aside to this, with my advocacy of the United Nations programme of Sustainable Development Goals, I had previously attended a conference at the United Nations building in Geneva in November 2017 to support the objective, share my literacy initiative and to make some new connections. In February 2018, with specific regard to this connection, I strove to arrange attendance for Tom and I at the Lions / United Nations event at the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, whereby Tom and I read the essay to attending Lords, MPs, United Nations representatives and other distinguished guests.
It was another extremely proud day, and even though we couldn't organise it for Tom’s parents to attend, they shared their joy at the growth in confidence of their son, and offered me much praise for my support of Tom’s endeavour and the range of experiences that had been generated.
“Our son, Tom - who is blind, autistic and has a stammer - has always had an interest in fiction, but has always found it hard to express his ideas. Tom joined the writing workshop for a bit of fun - and with the superb teaching skills on offer - Tom has flourished! In fact he said of Harrison that, “He has helped me to understand how to get my ideas down on paper; I feel like a professional writer. It has given me confidence."
This experience has been an amazing journey for Tom. He was a little nervous at times, with his stammer, but every step of the way he has had the unconditional support from his amazing mentor - Harrison. As a parent, I could not have asked for more. I proudly posted Tom’s essay and journey on Facebook… what a response! Tom has loved hearing of all the accolades! Great stuff! Thank you soooo much, again!”
Tina - A proud mum.
Mum's endorsement...