February 2004 Archives

The last time I was in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, I found myself with some time on my hands.

Wandering through one of the mega-bookstores in the mall I noticed a novel nestled somewhere in the middle of a shelf: "Taureg" by Alberto Vasquez-Figeroa. Unfamiliar with the author (although he's written 40 books!), or the title, I gave it a quick look and passed it by.

A few minutes later my friend Rosângela came up from another end of the store and asked, "Have you ever heard of the book Tuareg? I'm looking for it." I think her estimation of my skills as a knowledge worker rose a few percentage points as I took her straight to it.

The book is a jewel!

Marcus Ormerod has launched a discussion list on the process and application of Inclusive (Universal) Design

I just received a call from Abe Hopper of Vexel North America. The �Vexel Quovis� is the wheelchair-friendly car that I reviewed in Decmber (All I Want for Christmas is a Vexel Quovis )

It looks like I won't get my hands on one quite yet - California emissions testing and all - but I wanted to let you know so that you might be able to sneak a peek now that there are some in the US.

A woman, less well-known outside her immediate community than she should have been, Sara Zimmerman Conner has set aside her earthly work. Among many accomplishments she leaves behind the living legacy which is the non-profit affordable housing developer Eden Housing, Inc. where she was a member of the Board of Directors and well-loved by staff.

Her self-authored obituary follows:

The "other" WTO, standing for the World Tourism Organization, describes itself this way:

The World Tourism Organization (WTO-OMT) advocates progressive liberalization of tourism, with a focus on sustainability and on the special needs of developing states.

WTO-OMT enjoys observer status in the World Trade Organization on issues regarding trade in tourism services, in particularly in connection with the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).

It offers this answer to the question in the title:

The Instituto de Turismo Responsable is hosting a conference on Sustainable Tourism, "Turismo, Diversidad Cultural y Desarrollo Sostenible" in the context of Barcelona's Forum Barcelona 2004.

The Institute has recently become recognized by the UN's World Tourism Organization. I do not see Universal Design as a conference topic -- yet.

Below is a document presenting the goals of the event:

If religious symbol & ritual embody underlying values, and ritual involves the body, that is a place to tease out a spirituality's anthropology and theology of body. Similarly regarding place and sacrality.

Pilgrimage brings all these aspects to bear in one liturgical motion.

Taking it a step further, would it not be instructive to study the practice of those who merchandise religious travel -- services for missionaries, for Hajj pilgrims, for Kumbh Mela, etc. -- for cultural expressions of religious values?

This article, The Six Knows of Preparing to Travel, is the first in a series at Suite 101. It was picked up by e-bility.com, an Australian site on travel and disability, where it was awarded as article of the month for January 2004.

Huston Smith and Phil Cousineau were engaging at the East/West Bookstore in Mountain View, CA last night.

Writing on the travel, hospitality and Universal Design is not a far reach for someone familiar with the Benedictine monastic wisdom tradition. Monasticism revolves around such universals as a sense of place, embodiment, the proper place of work, community, transformation and, of course, hospitality.

The Adaptive Environments Call for Proposals is scheduled to close soon

Their conference, Designing for the 21st Century III seems an ideal setting to engage the travel and hospitality industry in a dialogue around Universal Design and the burgeoning worldwide market of travelers with disabilities.

This conference is set for December 8-12, 2004 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Here are some interesting statistics:

Jani Nayar, Director of the Society for Accessible Travel and Hospitality (SATH) is a tireless advocate and effective educator on travel & disability.

Does the dharma gem, "Participate with joy in the suffering of the world," offer a touchstone for theological reflection on the "New Paradigm" of disability with its dual emphasis - "function" and "participation?" Utne Reader offers a teaser reflection on the phrase from an eco-spirituality perspective but with no reference to disability.

Any reference to "suffering," in the context of disability, reflexively invokes arguments against the "medical model" and stifles dialogue on the topic. To pursue this reflection productively, the term "suffering" must be informed by the defintion of "dukkha" or borrow from concepts such as the Pauline understanding of "participatory suffering."
This excerpt from the Center for Accessible Society overview article on disability definitions illustrates the critique of the medical model:

The World Trade Organization developed an Code of Ethics in 2001. The following is an exceprt from the WTO site:

JamaLee Bennet of ASCOTWORLD shares a favorite quote, "Adversity doesn't build character ... it reveals it!" ASCOTWORLD is a support group and social club for amputees, other disabled, and their admirers.

Here's an amusing tool: the map generator at World66. Create an account with a database of all the places you have lived or visited. The result will be something like this:

create your own visited country map

Travel at this site almost always refers to business or leisure travel. Many of the posts deal with the business of travel itself-- and arguments for enlarging its vision to encompass persons of various ages and capacities.

But for many, travel operates within an entirely different economy -- geographic dislocation, forced migration, wars & skirmishes.

e-TurboNews reports on a Hajj disaster. The author provides interesting details on the rites and logistics of this pilgrimage I, as a non-Moslem, will never be able to experience.

What can you expect to encounter if you travel in a wheelchair and you want to use a taxi?

Jorge Gobi, of Argentina, provides thought leadership and conversation aggregation at his multi-lingual site Blog de Viajes. It is a worthwhile, regular read.

Candy Harrington, editor of Emerging Horizons, has been selected to write the new column on travel and disability for Go World Travel Magazine. Her first article takes a look at the Orgeon oast.

Bike-On.com, retailers of handcycles, now sells wheelchairs through their division Roll With It.biz

Their slogan?

Candy's book, Barrier Free Travel, and her magazine, Emerging Horizons, are excellent resources.

http://emerginghorizons.com/index.html