Contact: Maridith Geuder
Andrey Dumchev
Andrey Dumchev of Russia is concluding a three-month visit to Mississippi State. The Vladivostok resident who speaks tentative English never had been to the United States before his September arrival on the university campus.
As an avid sports fan, Dumchev made a quick adjustment to his temporary home, attending every MSU home football game. Sports were not his mission here, however.
He came to the Magnolia State to capture the wealth of Internet information available in the U.S. for persons who, like him, have visual impairments. A visiting fellow at MSU's Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision, the legally blind Dumchev is a librarian for Vladivostok's Public Organization for the Disabled.
Closer to Tokyo (665 miles away) than Moscow (more than 4,000 miles), the Sea of Japan port city is a terminal point for the Trans-Siberian Railway, the main base for Russia's Pacific Fleet and, according to Dumchev, a municipality lacking technological resources for those with visual handicaps.
In 1997, he received a Eurasia Fund grant to develop Internet resources that could bring relevant information directly to those who need it. Using a text-based web browser developed in America, he and a totally blind colleague began teaching blind students how to use the resource.
"But we needed additional technology," he said. "We wanted to move to a Windows-based system that could offer graphic interface."
To increase his knowledge, Dumchev applied for and received a Freedom Support Act Fellowship from the U.S. Information Agency. Through the fellowship program jointly administered by the International Research and Exchange Board (IREX), citizens of the former Soviet Union can conduct research in this country in their area of expertise.
IREX identified Mississippi State as a match for Dumchev's research needs. Established in 1981 with funding from the U.S. Department of Education, the research and training center is the only such campus-based program studying blindness and low vision. RRTC programs focus on the areas of employment and career development.
Internet resources in the United States are "fantastic," Dumchev said. Search engines work very well and Internet access "is much faster than in Russia," he added.
He has researched a number of computer access technologies, including Russian speech software for blind users, software speech synthesizers, Braille displays, and magnifier software, among others. He also has used MSU resources to locate a driver that translates into Russian, which is very important since his homeland offers no speech access program for Windows for blind people.
"I was able to find these resources because of the computer capabilities at the RRTC," Dumchev said, adding that he plans to transfer the knowledge to the non-profit agency for which he works.
Dumchev said his Mississippi experience has been invaluable in helping create new opportunities for other visually impaired Russians. Though he's leaving the South, he has established a long-distance link with the region.
"Everyday lives in Mississippi are very similar to those in Vladivostok," he observed. "I'd have much more trouble understanding someone from Moscow than someone from Mississippi."