ICEVI - International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment

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North America / Carribean

Welcome to ICEVI North America & Caribbean Region

The North America & Caribbean Region of the International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI) includes the following countries:

Bahamas
Barbados
Belize
Canada

Grenada
Guyana
Haiti
Jamaica

Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Trinidad and Tobago
United States of America

Regional Chairperson

Kathleen M. Huebner
Professor and Associate Dean, Co-Director, National Center for Leadership in Visual Impairment
Graduate Studies Department
Pennsylvania College of Optometry
Elkins Park Campus
8360 Old York Road
Elkins Park, PA 19027
USA

Tel: 215-780-1351
or 215-780-1361
Fax: 215-780-1357
E-mail: kathyh@pco.edu

Regional Committee

S.No.	Name	Mailing Address	Telephone & Fax Numbers	E-mail ID
DEPUTY REGIONAL CHAIRPERSON
1	Celene Gyles	Mico University College PO Box 497, 1a Marescaux Road Kingston 5, Jamaica West Indies	Phone: 876-929-7720/2 or 876-929-5260 Fax: 876-754-2022	neckeito1@yahoo.com or gyles@hotmail.com
MEMBERS
CANADA
2	Penny Hartin	Executive Director Blindness International The Canadian National Institute for the Blind 1929 Bayview Avenue Toronto, ON M4G 3E8	Phone: 416-486-2500 Fax: 416-480-7677	penny.hartin@cnib.ca
3	Cay Holbrook	Associate Professor Scarge 2311 University of British Columbia 2125 Main Mall Vancouver, BD V6T 1Z2	Phone: 604 822 2235 Fax: 604 822 3302	cay.holbrook@ubc.ca
4	Fred Poon	Provincial Resource Centre for the Visually Impaired (PRCVI) #106-1750 West 75th Ave Vancouver BC, V6P 6G2	Phone: 604-269-2205 Fax: 604-261-0778	fpoon@prcvi.org
CARIBBEAN
5	Arvel Grant	Executive Director Caribbean Council for the Blind/Eye Care Caribbean (CCB/EYC) Lower All Saints Road P.O. Box 1517, Antigua, WI	Phone: 268-462-4111 or 268-462-6369 Fax: 268-462-6371	arvel.grantccb@candw.ag or ccb@candw.ag
6	Michel A. Pean	Prof. French Literature University of Haiti National Coordinator of SHAA Haiti Society of/for the Blind B.P. 555, Port-au-Prince, Haiti	Phone: 249-4884 /557-7585	shaal@hainet.net
USA
7	Susan Jay Spungin	Vice President Education & International Programs American Foundation for the Blind 11 Penn Plaza, Suite 300 New York, NY 10001, USA	Phone: 212-502-7631 Fax: 212-502-7773	spungin@afb.net
8	Tuck Tinsley	American Printing House for the Blind (APH) 1839 Frankfort Avenue Louisville, KY 40206-0085	Phone: 502-899-2241 Fax: 502-899-2274	ttinsley@aph.org
9	Susan LaVenture<	National Association for Parents of Children with Visual Impairments (NAPVI) PO Box 317 Watertown, MA 02272-0317	Phone: 800-562-6265 Fax: 617-972-7444	susan.laventure@perkins.org
10	Kay Alicyn Ferrell	Associate Director, Policy Research American Foundation for the Blind Director, National Center on Low-Incidence Disabilities at the University of Northern Colorado, AFB Campus Box 146, Greeley, CO 80639		Kay.Ferrell@unco.edu
11	Pat Kelley	Texas Tech University Box 41071, Lubbock, TX 79401		Pat.kelley@ttu.edu
12	Bernadette Kappan	Overbrook School for the Blind 6333 Malvern Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19151	Phone: 215-877-0313 Fax: 215-877-2466	bmk@obs.org
13	Michael Collins	Director Hilton Perkins 175 North Beacon Street Watertown, MA 02472	Phone: 617-972-7228 Fax: 617-923-8076	michael.collins@perkins.org
14	Chuck Young	President Hadley School for the Blind 700 Elm Street, Winnetka, IL 60093	Phone: 847-446-8111 Fax: 847-446-9916	chuck@hadley.edu
15	Dr. Kim Zebehazy	Department of Teaching and Learning 232A Graham Hall Northern Illinois University DeKalb, IL 60115		kzebehazy@niu.edu or kim_zeb@yahoo.com

Regional Update

The North America and Caribbean Region of ICEVI is pleased to say that there was an encouraging and dynamic meeting of the Caribbean Council for the Blind, held on Friday, July 27, 2007 in Nassau the Bahamas to discuss and plan for future ICEVI efforts in the Caribbean. This group served as the Working Group for the EFA-VI Campaign in the region under the leadership of Celene Gyles. The meeting was also expected to initiate proposals for projects and to complete situational analyses for the two selected countries, Jamaica and Guyana. The representative from the Haitian Society for the Blind [SHAA] briefed the meeting on a proposal prepared for Haiti. The meeting listed leadership and advocacy, resource development, teacher preparation, early identification of children, capacity building in mathematics and science, teaching low vision children, educational programme planning, serving children with additional disabilities as the common areas of interest in the Caribbean region for which appropriate capacity building activities need to be initiated.

The need for a focal person to coordinate the activities in the region, initiating dialogue with ministries concerned, carrying out follow-up activities, etc., were also listed as priority areas in specific countries and in the region as well for strengthening services for children with visual impairment. Kathy Huebner, the Regional Chair and Celene Gyles, Deputy Regional Chairperson of the NAC region will continue to make appropriate contacts in the countries and promote the EFA-VI campaign.