October 8, 2025 • 28 mins
Talking Vision turns 800! To celebrate Sam takes us on a trip back over the years to feature some of his favourite conversations with people from the blind and low vision community who have made an impact on the world in their own way.
We also hear from Wayne Speers from Yarra Trams to tell us about the upcoming Try Before you Ride event at Southern Cross on 16 October.
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Episode Transcript
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S1 (00:21):
From Vision Australia. This is talking vision. And now here's
your host, Sam Colley.
S2 (00:31):
Hello, everyone. It's great to be here with you. And
for the next half hour, we talk matters of blindness
and low vision. Welcome to this special 800th episode of
Talking Vision. This week we hear from four different guests
whose conversations have had a profound impact on not only myself,
but hopefully all the listeners around Australia and the world
(00:56):
who've been able to hear from them. We'll get into
that very shortly, so make sure to stick around. But
then later on in the show to wrap up, I
chat with Wayne Speers from Yarra Trams, who's here to
chat to me about an upcoming Coming event in Melbourne
on October 16th to try before you ride on the
(01:19):
public transport network. I hope you'll enjoy this special 800th
episode of Talking Vision. Our first guest is Arken Yousef,
who I caught up with halfway through 2022. Arken is
a maths teacher from Iraq who moved here in 2006
(01:42):
and has been working in the community in Western Sydney
ever since, and it was this work which had him
nominated for a Blind Australian of the year award in 2021.
So let's hear from Arken now as he describes his
journey from Iraq to Western Sydney.
S3 (02:00):
Firstly, I thank you for recognizing my journey in this
life to become an inspiration to another and I thank
all the people from all the organization for their caring,
supporting help me to arrive to this stage. I give
(02:23):
I get it a lot along, a lot help from them.
Should I give that return back that are helping to them?
I my goal before I start my past. My goal
is just to show to all the people in all
(02:44):
the world. That's a multi people, especially a blind people.
He can do more than they expected. And this is
what all what I am doing is a little thing
as a gift to my beautiful country surrounding my name,
(03:05):
are totally blind, are 63 years born in 1959 and
English language as a third language. I will, uh, after
I will, uh, recognize why I mentioned this English language. Uh,
(03:26):
my journey in Iraq. Uh, I finished the year 12,
1975 and finished bachelor's degree in 1982, a complete master's
degree 1986. All that in Iraq. I started teaching 1982
until 1999, uh, during three uh stage in high school
(03:52):
and the Taif and the unique always my maybe my
personality I want to give because I get a lot,
a lot, a lot I think I give like short
summary about the past in Iraq.
S2 (04:08):
As a result of your dedication to community service are can.
You were recently a finalist for Blind Australian of the year,
as we did mention in the introduction. So how did
it feel to have that recognition.
S3 (04:23):
Since 2011 until 2020? Before corona time, every day I
meet about 4 to 5 people, speak with them about
my journey, speak with them about just the three words
are how to challenge, how to inspire, and how to
be trust in yourself. I have a lot of people
(04:47):
know me. A lot of people mentioned what I am doing.
They nominate me and they write it all. That in
their report to be a finalist in Australian Blind 2022
this year and always, I mentioned all what I am
doing is I give to my beautiful country and it's very,
(05:10):
very little. Look when you won't be in desert and
won't give you a water, how much you will thank him?
I'll be outside of Iraq and Australia accepted me now. Never.
I will forget this or how much I will give
to this country is very, very little.
S2 (05:35):
Our next guest is Tafadzwa Muzorewa, who I caught up
with later on in 2022. He is a Holman Prize winner,
a small business owner, radio host and DJ, and we
started off our conversation by having a chat about his
organisation Shine On Africa.
S4 (05:56):
Okay, so soon I became blind and I was in Zimbabwe.
You know, um, I had a lot of questions for myself,
but I had no answers. So this is what, uh,
gave me the hope of starting on Shining Africa, whereby
I started up to to train blind people in order
to allow them to access technology, because the world has
become a global vision and it are. Everything is found
(06:18):
on the internet. Um, and the world is based now on,
on more technology. So we thought, no, why don't you
train the blind people to be able to, to access technology?
And then we also looked at the issue of, uh,
advocating for, uh, equal opportunities for, for persons disabilities like
their rights. We also looked at the issue of, of
the health, you know, uh, issues like sport issues like
(06:38):
HIV and Aids, you know, that involves, um, but at
the end of the day, disabilities are also they also
affected at the end of the day. So this is
what actually gave me the dream to start, uh, Shannon Africa,
you know, but, um, yeah, to be able to, to
make an impact, you know, in the small little way
that I could.
S2 (06:56):
Yeah, yeah. And, um, you know, it is this impact
and the work that you have done within the disability community,
which has seen you become one of the three winners
of the yearly Holman Prize. So congratulations again. can you
describe what it was like to be one of the
winners when you found out?
S4 (07:15):
Okay. I first just want to thank the prize. Um,
from the lighthouse in San Francisco in America for coming
up with such a competition. It is so empowering. Uh,
it gives someone else who's blind hope and a vision.
I'll tell you this, uh, Sam, I was so over
the moon. I had to dance. I had to jump.
(07:36):
I had to sing. It was just like, wow. Because, um,
so when I. When I actually saw what I read
about the prize, I looked at it, I started what
what executives are looking for. I then compared with what
I had in my mind on the vision that I had,
and I said, okay, I'm going to go for this.
And I, I say to myself, I'm going to win
this competition because I believe that I'm a winner. You know,
(07:59):
when I get into competition, I go with the spirit
of a winner, you know? So yeah, the whole journey
and the process was all exciting, you know, just challenging, exciting.
But you need to keep pushing. You need to keep going.
S2 (08:12):
And I guess to understand the vision and the idea
that you do have and that you, um, now are
able to get that one step closer to fulfilling. I
understand your passion for radio and for being a DJ
goes back quite some way. So could you tell us
about how that all started?
S4 (08:30):
So when I got blind in 2009, I first asked
myself a question that now that I'm blind, what do
I do? What is it that I can do? What
is that I'm passionate about? So I then said, I've
always wanted to do radio. I've always wanted to be
a DJ, and I've been keeping this, uh, this talent
and ability in me for a while. So I just then, um,
moved from one side of the world to the other side,
(08:52):
and that's when I started trying to figure out, okay,
if you're blind, how do you become a DJ? How
do you become a radio presenter? How do you become
a radio host? I went for some auditions, uh, in Zimbabwe.
I was told I never made it. Uh, I had
journalists following me and saying to me. No, you had
a good audition. But what you felt, what you felt.
What happened was just stigma. Discrimination. That was then the auditions.
(09:13):
Until finally I. I went to one radio station in
Zimbabwe and they I said to them, just give me
the opportunity. Let me try it out and let's see
how it goes when they give me the opportunity. Boom,
I just went. So the journey has been exciting, interesting, challenging.
And then you actually figure out that, um, there are
(09:33):
jobs that are being said that are only meant for
for the blind. Like for example, I, I'm going to
be using Zimbabwe as an example. Most people in Zimbabwe
are only expected if you're blind. Either be a teacher
or be as, um, a telephone operator, like you work
at the call center or at the reception. And I said, no, no, no, no.
(09:53):
I think, uh, people with disabilities also have got their
own abilities that they want to do. So I said
the same challenge that I face to get to radio.
I do not want someone else to face the same challenge.
I want them to be want to have an easy
way to mainstream radio doesn't. I had this whole idea
to say, let us have a radio station that will
(10:15):
be broadcasting online, but we'll use the studio to train
the raw talent in able to equip people with disabilities
and give them a platform, a voice, and to also
empower them to be able to work on their own
two feet.
S2 (10:29):
Our next guest is Cameron Albino, who I caught up
with around the time of World Radio Day in 2024.
Cameron is an avid listener to Vision Australia radio in Shepparton.
He's also a community health worker and somebody with lived
experience of blindness. Cameron had a chat to me about
(10:51):
his story and how he ended up in Shepparton.
S5 (10:54):
1995 I came to Shepparton from Melbourne. Before that I
was in Jabiru, Northern Territory, so I moved to Melbourne
and from Melbourne came to Shepparton. I got married with
my beautiful wife Susan and I've got a son, then
his name is. And this is how I end up
in Shepparton. And my wife is third generation Albanian Australian.
S2 (11:19):
And how did you get involved with Goulburn Valley Health
where you're currently involved now?
S5 (11:24):
Yes. Uh, ten years ago I was employed at the
Goulburn Valley as a senior mental health peer support worker,
and after three years I was a manager and due
to some financial circumstances, the funding. Now I'm a team leader,
but I hold the portfolio of social justice and human rights.
(11:44):
So it's very interesting portfolio here.
S2 (11:47):
Oh, it's very interesting and super important work. But there's
also some other important work going on elsewhere in Shepparton
at um Vision Australia Radio. So when did you start
listening to Vision Australia Radio from Shepparton?
S5 (12:02):
Yes, it was a great pleasure and eye opening experience.
I started approximately seven years ago, and I knew a
few people who were presenters on the local radio here
in Shepparton. And there were people with dignity, respect, tolerance,
understanding and very, very inclusive. This is how I started
to listen to the radio.
S2 (12:23):
Cameron, I want to give you the opportunity to, you know,
speak a bit about the importance of, you know, resources
and adequate facilities for community radio stations around the country
to provide such a crucial service to their listeners. So,
you know, how important is that for you? And, you know,
(12:44):
what do you think could be done?
S5 (12:46):
Resources are very important for any business. I'm talking business management.
Regional Australia is not a business. It's people's voice volunteers.
But we need, I think as a listener, I believe
that we need more resources. The federal, state, local government
and of course support to those who can afford to
(13:07):
support whichever means they can to continue with this very
valuable program and by doing so, giving us the world
in our places. At the same time, some people may
not be familiar with the Sustainable Development Goals of United Nations.
Goal 17 is partnerships. Goal three is good health and
(13:31):
well-being and go for quality education and gender equality. Goal
five so I think they are fulfilling the requirements of
the United Nations. It's called United Nations. It's not disunited.
Sometimes there's shortcomings, but we are, after all, as a
human being, this radio allows us and brings in a
(13:55):
light that we as human beings, we share each other's
humanity and human dignity. So I will just mention at
the end that the article three from Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, which was accepted on 10th of December 1948.
It says everyone has a right to life, liberty and
(14:16):
security of the person. So being alive, different people are
motivated in different ways and some people are more physically,
some intellectual. However, you are giving us food to satisfy
our intellectual curiosity and to be part of this community.
We are proud of our Australians, after all, and proud
(14:37):
to be global citizens. And if you don't mind me saying,
I would like to say that Australians are upholding the
Australian values, which are very important. They put in practice
the best of traditional Australian values might achieve fairness, justice
and equality. I think humanity is in pain. Our planet
(14:57):
is in peril. But if we stay strong together, we
can overcome all. What we need is a good will
to understand each other and respect each other.
S2 (15:11):
And last, but by certainly no means least, Anthony Rocco.
Anthony is a musician and DJ who I caught up
with a little while later in 2024, and he tells
me all about how his vision loss impacted his music
and how he overcame these various barriers to achieving everything
(15:34):
he wanted.
S6 (15:35):
Yeah, absolutely. So I was born with a hereditary eye
condition called retinitis pigmentosa, which deteriorates over time. When I
left high school, I did a course in audio engineering.
You know, I felt that was sort of the right
path for me to go. And then I sort of
(15:56):
moved on to I actually started producing music for a
local independent record label. But from then till now, my
eyesight sort of slowly, increasingly deteriorated. So I was recording
people in sort of a freelance audio engineer. And as
(16:18):
my eyesight deteriorated, it became increasingly more difficult to do
what I could do in the same amount of time.
I became slower at doing things. Things that normally would
take a few seconds would start to take, you know,
a minute or two minutes. And as a business, it became, uh,
(16:41):
it didn't it wasn't viable to sort of keep doing
it that way.
S2 (16:46):
Did you come up with any sort of life hacks
or work out some adaptations to get around certain things
over a period of time, which helped you get back
into the music that you're doing now? What sort of
been the most helpful thing for you?
S6 (17:04):
Yeah, so I use a screen magnifier on my computer.
I also use Jaws screen reading technology, which has helped
a lot. I use a lot of shortcuts or hotkeys.
I may know them as just to sort of get
to certain places I need to go faster without using
(17:24):
the mouse. I've also got like hardware controllers where I
can control certain volume knobs and different functions of my
recording software, with a physical hardware mixer and different lighting
puts lighting above my keyboard. And, you know, above things,
I want to be able to see a little bit better.
(17:47):
LED strips around the place so I can see the
outline of the room a little bit better and things
like that. And just all sorts of little bits like that,
that kind of, you know, make a big difference.
S2 (17:59):
And um, we'll go back to a few years ago
when you were experiencing those vision issues, and you moved
away from music for a little while and got into
doing a few other things, pursuing other sort of career
options like working in the community services sector. So tell
(18:20):
us a bit about your time there.
S6 (18:22):
Yeah, so my passion has always been within music, but
I also had a passion for community services. You know,
I love supporting people that need support in the community.
So that was a passion I wanted to pursue. So
in 2021, I started a community Services diploma course and
(18:43):
completed that in 2022. And last year I was on
the hunt for employment and was unlucky and didn't manage
to secure anything at that time. So when it came
to 2024 this year, I decided that I wanted to
do something that I've always wanted to do, but had
(19:04):
never gotten around to it, which was to release my
own music. Totally. Everything done by myself. Which means, you know,
produce the music, write the songs, mix the songs, master
the songs, release the songs. And although I had been
in a few bands previous to that, and we've released
(19:25):
music as a band, but, you know, I've never released
anything solo on my own. So I set a goal
for this year to back myself and really conjure up
all the skills and knowledge that I've gathered over the
years and put it in my own music and get
that journey on the road, I guess.
S2 (19:51):
I'm Sam Culley, and you're listening to this special 800th
episode of Talking Vision on Vision Australia Radio, associated Stations
of Disability Media Australia and the Community Radio Network. I
hope you're enjoying the episode so far. If you missed
any part of this week's episode or you'd love to
(20:14):
hear it again. Talking vision is available on the podcast
app of your choice or through the Vision Australia library.
You can also find the program on the Vision Australia
Radio website at Radio.com. That's VA radio. All one word.
And now to wrap up this week my chat with
(20:36):
Wayne Spears from Yarra Trams, who joined me to talk
about an upcoming Try Before You Ride event taking place
on October 16th at Southern Cross station in Melbourne. I
asked Wayne to tell us a little bit about the event.
S7 (20:52):
So try before you ride. It's now in its third
year of returning after the episodes of Covid, and we
have all of the transport operators in Melbourne. So that's
Yarra Trams. Metro trains. V line and also kinetic buses.
We all get together and give people an opportunity to
come and learn about public transport, and also the opportunity
(21:16):
to come and have a look at what features are
on the trains, trams, buses and so on for accessibility,
but also people, if they've not been regular transport users before,
just to understand the layouts of trams and trains and
buses and things. Yeah, really important stuff. We've also got
Travellers Aid who partner with us as well, so they're
there to provide support for people at the event. They're
(21:38):
doing a couple of station tours, but also for people
to get to know a bit more about what Travellers
Aid do.
S2 (21:44):
And how is the format looking in comparison to previous
two iterations? Are there any differences in comparison? If people
have headed along to the last 1 or 2 iterations,
is there anything different in store for people?
S7 (22:00):
So it's almost a rinse and repeat from last year. Okay.
S2 (22:05):
That's good. Familiarity is, you know.
S7 (22:07):
Certainly.
S2 (22:07):
Is always good.
S7 (22:08):
So what we, um, what we've got set up there
is Metro trains are bringing a train to the station
at Southern Cross. And also V line are going to
be bringing one as well. So it's dedicated for that
event for the 3.5 hours that it's there. Yarra trams
we're doing something a little bit different. So we did
this last year and it was a roaring success. And
we actually take people on a guided tram ride. So
(22:32):
that way we'll still talk about the features and show
people the features on a tram and at the tram stop,
but there's nothing like taking a tram ride.
S2 (22:40):
It's very true.
S7 (22:41):
It's the way to do it. And, uh, it's a
short trip, you know, maybe ten, 15 minutes or so,
but it just gives people the chance to experience what
it's like to be on a moving tram, because it's
quite different to a bus. Um, and also, it's a
bit of an exciting break to do something on the
tram in Melbourne.
S2 (22:59):
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And, um, those 3.5 hours. Let's get
those details for people out there in terms of the win.
And also remind people of the where at Southern Cross.
S7 (23:13):
Yes. So it's on Thursday the 16th of October and
the event's going to start at 1030. So that's when
we'll be open for business and we'll finish at 2:00.
So the important thing for people to do is to
register for the event ahead of time. That way we
know that you're coming, and there's a couple of ways
that people can do that. So that can be done.
(23:34):
There's a link on the Vision Australia web page to
take people to do the registrations. But there's also you
can call the Transport Victoria call centre if you need
assistance registering for the event and the phone number for
the Transport Victoria call centre. It's 1800 800 007. Now once you've
(23:55):
registered we know you're coming. And then on the day
turn up and we mark you off as as arriving.
And then the time is pretty much up to up
to the individual. So you can go and do a
train tour with Metro or V line or both. Connecticut
buses are going to be showing their buses there as
well down in the coach area, and there's also a
(24:15):
couple of accessible taxis which will be available for people
to explore as well. People that want to do the
tram ride, they can register with us and we'll have
allocated times for that, and that's all done at the
registration desk. But it's pretty much have a look around,
check things out at your own pace in your own time.
And then we wrap it all up at 2:00. So
it's a it's all finished by two. Yeah. We had
(24:36):
a really good turnout last year. There were I think
well over 100 people registered and turned up. And we're
certainly hoping for the same success this year. And it's
important for people to know that it's even though we
have a start and a finish time for the event.
If you want to go and try out these different
modes of transport, there's no stress or there's there's no
(24:58):
need to be concerned about the train leaving soon or,
you know, the bus leaving soon because it's in service.
These are dedicated for the events to be there so
people can do it in their own pace, in their
own time. We also welcome people to come along with
hidden disabilities. So we'll have Bailey House, who do the
Hidden Disabilities Sunflower program in Australia and New Zealand. They'll
(25:19):
be there as well. So if people want to understand
a bit more about hidden disabilities and also the sunflower, uh,
how that benefits people with hidden disabilities, they'll be there
as well. And all of the transport operators are members
of that program as well, which is a really, really
confident thing for people to know that if you've got
a hidden disability, we understand that there might be some
barriers and things and we can we can help remove
(25:39):
those as we need to.
S2 (25:40):
Oh, wonderful.
S7 (25:41):
Yeah.
S2 (25:42):
Now, Wayne, where can people keep in touch to hear
about the accessibility measures and future events like the Come
and Try day through PTV, Yarra Trams, etc.?
S7 (25:54):
Yep. So we have the website that you do. The
registration through is Eventbrite and if people want to mark,
I think it's a checkbox that they can mark there
to stay in contact with us. That's right. They can
register that and then we'll keep the names there. So
as another event comes up or something similar comes up,
we can notify people through the Eventbrite website. And also
(26:16):
there's a range of ways that Transport Victoria can keep
in contact. So you can subscribe to updates particularly, you know,
if there's disruptions coming up. And also through Metro trains.
They've got some similar registration processes there on our website.
For instance on Yarra Trams we've got service changes. So
if there's any disruptions coming up that are because of
planned works so people can help plan their journeys around
(26:40):
some occupations we call them, there's information there to help
people with that. But I think for the try before
your ride event, definitely through the Eventbrite page, they can
keep updated with anything that's coming up through the Transport
Victoria and also other operators with future try before your
Ride events and so on.
S2 (27:03):
And that's all the time we have for this special
800th episode of Talking Vision. Thanks to all of you
out there tuning in to have a listen today. And
of course, to all the people making the show possible
every week. It's been an absolute pleasure bringing talking vision
(27:24):
to you over the past four and a half years.
Here's to many more. But for this week it's Sam Colley,
as always, saying bye for now.
S1 (27:38):
You can contact Vision Australia by phoning us anytime during
business hours on one 308 4746. That's one 384 74
six or by visiting Vision Australia that's Vision Australia.
From Vision Australia. This is talking vision. And now here's
your host, Sam Colley.
S2 (00:31):
Hello, everyone. It's great to be here with you. And
for the next half hour, we talk matters of blindness
and low vision. Welcome to this special 800th episode of
Talking Vision. This week we hear from four different guests
whose conversations have had a profound impact on not only myself,
but hopefully all the listeners around Australia and the world
(00:56):
who've been able to hear from them. We'll get into
that very shortly, so make sure to stick around. But
then later on in the show to wrap up, I
chat with Wayne Speers from Yarra Trams, who's here to
chat to me about an upcoming Coming event in Melbourne
on October 16th to try before you ride on the
(01:19):
public transport network. I hope you'll enjoy this special 800th
episode of Talking Vision. Our first guest is Arken Yousef,
who I caught up with halfway through 2022. Arken is
a maths teacher from Iraq who moved here in 2006
(01:42):
and has been working in the community in Western Sydney
ever since, and it was this work which had him
nominated for a Blind Australian of the year award in 2021.
So let's hear from Arken now as he describes his
journey from Iraq to Western Sydney.
S3 (02:00):
Firstly, I thank you for recognizing my journey in this
life to become an inspiration to another and I thank
all the people from all the organization for their caring,
supporting help me to arrive to this stage. I give
(02:23):
I get it a lot along, a lot help from them.
Should I give that return back that are helping to them?
I my goal before I start my past. My goal
is just to show to all the people in all
(02:44):
the world. That's a multi people, especially a blind people.
He can do more than they expected. And this is
what all what I am doing is a little thing
as a gift to my beautiful country surrounding my name,
(03:05):
are totally blind, are 63 years born in 1959 and
English language as a third language. I will, uh, after
I will, uh, recognize why I mentioned this English language. Uh,
(03:26):
my journey in Iraq. Uh, I finished the year 12,
1975 and finished bachelor's degree in 1982, a complete master's
degree 1986. All that in Iraq. I started teaching 1982
until 1999, uh, during three uh stage in high school
(03:52):
and the Taif and the unique always my maybe my
personality I want to give because I get a lot,
a lot, a lot I think I give like short
summary about the past in Iraq.
S2 (04:08):
As a result of your dedication to community service are can.
You were recently a finalist for Blind Australian of the year,
as we did mention in the introduction. So how did
it feel to have that recognition.
S3 (04:23):
Since 2011 until 2020? Before corona time, every day I
meet about 4 to 5 people, speak with them about
my journey, speak with them about just the three words
are how to challenge, how to inspire, and how to
be trust in yourself. I have a lot of people
(04:47):
know me. A lot of people mentioned what I am doing.
They nominate me and they write it all. That in
their report to be a finalist in Australian Blind 2022
this year and always, I mentioned all what I am
doing is I give to my beautiful country and it's very,
(05:10):
very little. Look when you won't be in desert and
won't give you a water, how much you will thank him?
I'll be outside of Iraq and Australia accepted me now. Never.
I will forget this or how much I will give
to this country is very, very little.
S2 (05:35):
Our next guest is Tafadzwa Muzorewa, who I caught up
with later on in 2022. He is a Holman Prize winner,
a small business owner, radio host and DJ, and we
started off our conversation by having a chat about his
organisation Shine On Africa.
S4 (05:56):
Okay, so soon I became blind and I was in Zimbabwe.
You know, um, I had a lot of questions for myself,
but I had no answers. So this is what, uh,
gave me the hope of starting on Shining Africa, whereby
I started up to to train blind people in order
to allow them to access technology, because the world has
become a global vision and it are. Everything is found
(06:18):
on the internet. Um, and the world is based now on,
on more technology. So we thought, no, why don't you
train the blind people to be able to, to access technology?
And then we also looked at the issue of, uh,
advocating for, uh, equal opportunities for, for persons disabilities like
their rights. We also looked at the issue of, of
the health, you know, uh, issues like sport issues like
(06:38):
HIV and Aids, you know, that involves, um, but at
the end of the day, disabilities are also they also
affected at the end of the day. So this is
what actually gave me the dream to start, uh, Shannon Africa,
you know, but, um, yeah, to be able to, to
make an impact, you know, in the small little way
that I could.
S2 (06:56):
Yeah, yeah. And, um, you know, it is this impact
and the work that you have done within the disability community,
which has seen you become one of the three winners
of the yearly Holman Prize. So congratulations again. can you
describe what it was like to be one of the
winners when you found out?
S4 (07:15):
Okay. I first just want to thank the prize. Um,
from the lighthouse in San Francisco in America for coming
up with such a competition. It is so empowering. Uh,
it gives someone else who's blind hope and a vision.
I'll tell you this, uh, Sam, I was so over
the moon. I had to dance. I had to jump.
(07:36):
I had to sing. It was just like, wow. Because, um,
so when I. When I actually saw what I read
about the prize, I looked at it, I started what
what executives are looking for. I then compared with what
I had in my mind on the vision that I had,
and I said, okay, I'm going to go for this.
And I, I say to myself, I'm going to win
this competition because I believe that I'm a winner. You know,
(07:59):
when I get into competition, I go with the spirit
of a winner, you know? So yeah, the whole journey
and the process was all exciting, you know, just challenging, exciting.
But you need to keep pushing. You need to keep going.
S2 (08:12):
And I guess to understand the vision and the idea
that you do have and that you, um, now are
able to get that one step closer to fulfilling. I
understand your passion for radio and for being a DJ
goes back quite some way. So could you tell us
about how that all started?
S4 (08:30):
So when I got blind in 2009, I first asked
myself a question that now that I'm blind, what do
I do? What is it that I can do? What
is that I'm passionate about? So I then said, I've
always wanted to do radio. I've always wanted to be
a DJ, and I've been keeping this, uh, this talent
and ability in me for a while. So I just then, um,
moved from one side of the world to the other side,
(08:52):
and that's when I started trying to figure out, okay,
if you're blind, how do you become a DJ? How
do you become a radio presenter? How do you become
a radio host? I went for some auditions, uh, in Zimbabwe.
I was told I never made it. Uh, I had
journalists following me and saying to me. No, you had
a good audition. But what you felt, what you felt.
What happened was just stigma. Discrimination. That was then the auditions.
(09:13):
Until finally I. I went to one radio station in
Zimbabwe and they I said to them, just give me
the opportunity. Let me try it out and let's see
how it goes when they give me the opportunity. Boom,
I just went. So the journey has been exciting, interesting, challenging.
And then you actually figure out that, um, there are
(09:33):
jobs that are being said that are only meant for
for the blind. Like for example, I, I'm going to
be using Zimbabwe as an example. Most people in Zimbabwe
are only expected if you're blind. Either be a teacher
or be as, um, a telephone operator, like you work
at the call center or at the reception. And I said, no, no, no, no.
(09:53):
I think, uh, people with disabilities also have got their
own abilities that they want to do. So I said
the same challenge that I face to get to radio.
I do not want someone else to face the same challenge.
I want them to be want to have an easy
way to mainstream radio doesn't. I had this whole idea
to say, let us have a radio station that will
(10:15):
be broadcasting online, but we'll use the studio to train
the raw talent in able to equip people with disabilities
and give them a platform, a voice, and to also
empower them to be able to work on their own
two feet.
S2 (10:29):
Our next guest is Cameron Albino, who I caught up
with around the time of World Radio Day in 2024.
Cameron is an avid listener to Vision Australia radio in Shepparton.
He's also a community health worker and somebody with lived
experience of blindness. Cameron had a chat to me about
(10:51):
his story and how he ended up in Shepparton.
S5 (10:54):
1995 I came to Shepparton from Melbourne. Before that I
was in Jabiru, Northern Territory, so I moved to Melbourne
and from Melbourne came to Shepparton. I got married with
my beautiful wife Susan and I've got a son, then
his name is. And this is how I end up
in Shepparton. And my wife is third generation Albanian Australian.
S2 (11:19):
And how did you get involved with Goulburn Valley Health
where you're currently involved now?
S5 (11:24):
Yes. Uh, ten years ago I was employed at the
Goulburn Valley as a senior mental health peer support worker,
and after three years I was a manager and due
to some financial circumstances, the funding. Now I'm a team leader,
but I hold the portfolio of social justice and human rights.
(11:44):
So it's very interesting portfolio here.
S2 (11:47):
Oh, it's very interesting and super important work. But there's
also some other important work going on elsewhere in Shepparton
at um Vision Australia Radio. So when did you start
listening to Vision Australia Radio from Shepparton?
S5 (12:02):
Yes, it was a great pleasure and eye opening experience.
I started approximately seven years ago, and I knew a
few people who were presenters on the local radio here
in Shepparton. And there were people with dignity, respect, tolerance,
understanding and very, very inclusive. This is how I started
to listen to the radio.
S2 (12:23):
Cameron, I want to give you the opportunity to, you know,
speak a bit about the importance of, you know, resources
and adequate facilities for community radio stations around the country
to provide such a crucial service to their listeners. So,
you know, how important is that for you? And, you know,
(12:44):
what do you think could be done?
S5 (12:46):
Resources are very important for any business. I'm talking business management.
Regional Australia is not a business. It's people's voice volunteers.
But we need, I think as a listener, I believe
that we need more resources. The federal, state, local government
and of course support to those who can afford to
(13:07):
support whichever means they can to continue with this very
valuable program and by doing so, giving us the world
in our places. At the same time, some people may
not be familiar with the Sustainable Development Goals of United Nations.
Goal 17 is partnerships. Goal three is good health and
(13:31):
well-being and go for quality education and gender equality. Goal
five so I think they are fulfilling the requirements of
the United Nations. It's called United Nations. It's not disunited.
Sometimes there's shortcomings, but we are, after all, as a
human being, this radio allows us and brings in a
(13:55):
light that we as human beings, we share each other's
humanity and human dignity. So I will just mention at
the end that the article three from Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, which was accepted on 10th of December 1948.
It says everyone has a right to life, liberty and
(14:16):
security of the person. So being alive, different people are
motivated in different ways and some people are more physically,
some intellectual. However, you are giving us food to satisfy
our intellectual curiosity and to be part of this community.
We are proud of our Australians, after all, and proud
(14:37):
to be global citizens. And if you don't mind me saying,
I would like to say that Australians are upholding the
Australian values, which are very important. They put in practice
the best of traditional Australian values might achieve fairness, justice
and equality. I think humanity is in pain. Our planet
(14:57):
is in peril. But if we stay strong together, we
can overcome all. What we need is a good will
to understand each other and respect each other.
S2 (15:11):
And last, but by certainly no means least, Anthony Rocco.
Anthony is a musician and DJ who I caught up
with a little while later in 2024, and he tells
me all about how his vision loss impacted his music
and how he overcame these various barriers to achieving everything
(15:34):
he wanted.
S6 (15:35):
Yeah, absolutely. So I was born with a hereditary eye
condition called retinitis pigmentosa, which deteriorates over time. When I
left high school, I did a course in audio engineering.
You know, I felt that was sort of the right
path for me to go. And then I sort of
(15:56):
moved on to I actually started producing music for a
local independent record label. But from then till now, my
eyesight sort of slowly, increasingly deteriorated. So I was recording
people in sort of a freelance audio engineer. And as
(16:18):
my eyesight deteriorated, it became increasingly more difficult to do
what I could do in the same amount of time.
I became slower at doing things. Things that normally would
take a few seconds would start to take, you know,
a minute or two minutes. And as a business, it became, uh,
(16:41):
it didn't it wasn't viable to sort of keep doing
it that way.
S2 (16:46):
Did you come up with any sort of life hacks
or work out some adaptations to get around certain things
over a period of time, which helped you get back
into the music that you're doing now? What sort of
been the most helpful thing for you?
S6 (17:04):
Yeah, so I use a screen magnifier on my computer.
I also use Jaws screen reading technology, which has helped
a lot. I use a lot of shortcuts or hotkeys.
I may know them as just to sort of get
to certain places I need to go faster without using
(17:24):
the mouse. I've also got like hardware controllers where I
can control certain volume knobs and different functions of my
recording software, with a physical hardware mixer and different lighting
puts lighting above my keyboard. And, you know, above things,
I want to be able to see a little bit better.
(17:47):
LED strips around the place so I can see the
outline of the room a little bit better and things
like that. And just all sorts of little bits like that,
that kind of, you know, make a big difference.
S2 (17:59):
And um, we'll go back to a few years ago
when you were experiencing those vision issues, and you moved
away from music for a little while and got into
doing a few other things, pursuing other sort of career
options like working in the community services sector. So tell
(18:20):
us a bit about your time there.
S6 (18:22):
Yeah, so my passion has always been within music, but
I also had a passion for community services. You know,
I love supporting people that need support in the community.
So that was a passion I wanted to pursue. So
in 2021, I started a community Services diploma course and
(18:43):
completed that in 2022. And last year I was on
the hunt for employment and was unlucky and didn't manage
to secure anything at that time. So when it came
to 2024 this year, I decided that I wanted to
do something that I've always wanted to do, but had
(19:04):
never gotten around to it, which was to release my
own music. Totally. Everything done by myself. Which means, you know,
produce the music, write the songs, mix the songs, master
the songs, release the songs. And although I had been
in a few bands previous to that, and we've released
(19:25):
music as a band, but, you know, I've never released
anything solo on my own. So I set a goal
for this year to back myself and really conjure up
all the skills and knowledge that I've gathered over the
years and put it in my own music and get
that journey on the road, I guess.
S2 (19:51):
I'm Sam Culley, and you're listening to this special 800th
episode of Talking Vision on Vision Australia Radio, associated Stations
of Disability Media Australia and the Community Radio Network. I
hope you're enjoying the episode so far. If you missed
any part of this week's episode or you'd love to
(20:14):
hear it again. Talking vision is available on the podcast
app of your choice or through the Vision Australia library.
You can also find the program on the Vision Australia
Radio website at Radio.com. That's VA radio. All one word.
And now to wrap up this week my chat with
(20:36):
Wayne Spears from Yarra Trams, who joined me to talk
about an upcoming Try Before You Ride event taking place
on October 16th at Southern Cross station in Melbourne. I
asked Wayne to tell us a little bit about the event.
S7 (20:52):
So try before you ride. It's now in its third
year of returning after the episodes of Covid, and we
have all of the transport operators in Melbourne. So that's
Yarra Trams. Metro trains. V line and also kinetic buses.
We all get together and give people an opportunity to
come and learn about public transport, and also the opportunity
(21:16):
to come and have a look at what features are
on the trains, trams, buses and so on for accessibility,
but also people, if they've not been regular transport users before,
just to understand the layouts of trams and trains and
buses and things. Yeah, really important stuff. We've also got
Travellers Aid who partner with us as well, so they're
there to provide support for people at the event. They're
(21:38):
doing a couple of station tours, but also for people
to get to know a bit more about what Travellers
Aid do.
S2 (21:44):
And how is the format looking in comparison to previous
two iterations? Are there any differences in comparison? If people
have headed along to the last 1 or 2 iterations,
is there anything different in store for people?
S7 (22:00):
So it's almost a rinse and repeat from last year. Okay.
S2 (22:05):
That's good. Familiarity is, you know.
S7 (22:07):
Certainly.
S2 (22:07):
Is always good.
S7 (22:08):
So what we, um, what we've got set up there
is Metro trains are bringing a train to the station
at Southern Cross. And also V line are going to
be bringing one as well. So it's dedicated for that
event for the 3.5 hours that it's there. Yarra trams
we're doing something a little bit different. So we did
this last year and it was a roaring success. And
we actually take people on a guided tram ride. So
(22:32):
that way we'll still talk about the features and show
people the features on a tram and at the tram stop,
but there's nothing like taking a tram ride.
S2 (22:40):
It's very true.
S7 (22:41):
It's the way to do it. And, uh, it's a
short trip, you know, maybe ten, 15 minutes or so,
but it just gives people the chance to experience what
it's like to be on a moving tram, because it's
quite different to a bus. Um, and also, it's a
bit of an exciting break to do something on the
tram in Melbourne.
S2 (22:59):
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And, um, those 3.5 hours. Let's get
those details for people out there in terms of the win.
And also remind people of the where at Southern Cross.
S7 (23:13):
Yes. So it's on Thursday the 16th of October and
the event's going to start at 1030. So that's when
we'll be open for business and we'll finish at 2:00.
So the important thing for people to do is to
register for the event ahead of time. That way we
know that you're coming, and there's a couple of ways
that people can do that. So that can be done.
(23:34):
There's a link on the Vision Australia web page to
take people to do the registrations. But there's also you
can call the Transport Victoria call centre if you need
assistance registering for the event and the phone number for
the Transport Victoria call centre. It's 1800 800 007. Now once you've
(23:55):
registered we know you're coming. And then on the day
turn up and we mark you off as as arriving.
And then the time is pretty much up to up
to the individual. So you can go and do a
train tour with Metro or V line or both. Connecticut
buses are going to be showing their buses there as
well down in the coach area, and there's also a
(24:15):
couple of accessible taxis which will be available for people
to explore as well. People that want to do the
tram ride, they can register with us and we'll have
allocated times for that, and that's all done at the
registration desk. But it's pretty much have a look around,
check things out at your own pace in your own time.
And then we wrap it all up at 2:00. So
it's a it's all finished by two. Yeah. We had
(24:36):
a really good turnout last year. There were I think
well over 100 people registered and turned up. And we're
certainly hoping for the same success this year. And it's
important for people to know that it's even though we
have a start and a finish time for the event.
If you want to go and try out these different
modes of transport, there's no stress or there's there's no
(24:58):
need to be concerned about the train leaving soon or,
you know, the bus leaving soon because it's in service.
These are dedicated for the events to be there so
people can do it in their own pace, in their
own time. We also welcome people to come along with
hidden disabilities. So we'll have Bailey House, who do the
Hidden Disabilities Sunflower program in Australia and New Zealand. They'll
(25:19):
be there as well. So if people want to understand
a bit more about hidden disabilities and also the sunflower, uh,
how that benefits people with hidden disabilities, they'll be there
as well. And all of the transport operators are members
of that program as well, which is a really, really
confident thing for people to know that if you've got
a hidden disability, we understand that there might be some
barriers and things and we can we can help remove
(25:39):
those as we need to.
S2 (25:40):
Oh, wonderful.
S7 (25:41):
Yeah.
S2 (25:42):
Now, Wayne, where can people keep in touch to hear
about the accessibility measures and future events like the Come
and Try day through PTV, Yarra Trams, etc.?
S7 (25:54):
Yep. So we have the website that you do. The
registration through is Eventbrite and if people want to mark,
I think it's a checkbox that they can mark there
to stay in contact with us. That's right. They can
register that and then we'll keep the names there. So
as another event comes up or something similar comes up,
we can notify people through the Eventbrite website. And also
(26:16):
there's a range of ways that Transport Victoria can keep
in contact. So you can subscribe to updates particularly, you know,
if there's disruptions coming up. And also through Metro trains.
They've got some similar registration processes there on our website.
For instance on Yarra Trams we've got service changes. So
if there's any disruptions coming up that are because of
planned works so people can help plan their journeys around
(26:40):
some occupations we call them, there's information there to help
people with that. But I think for the try before
your ride event, definitely through the Eventbrite page, they can
keep updated with anything that's coming up through the Transport
Victoria and also other operators with future try before your
Ride events and so on.
S2 (27:03):
And that's all the time we have for this special
800th episode of Talking Vision. Thanks to all of you
out there tuning in to have a listen today. And
of course, to all the people making the show possible
every week. It's been an absolute pleasure bringing talking vision
(27:24):
to you over the past four and a half years.
Here's to many more. But for this week it's Sam Colley,
as always, saying bye for now.
S1 (27:38):
You can contact Vision Australia by phoning us anytime during
business hours on one 308 4746. That's one 384 74
six or by visiting Vision Australia that's Vision Australia.
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