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Letter from the President
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
It seems very strange for me to be writing on this page. William Green has filled this slot for many years. William’s commitment and contribution to the world of deafblindness and DbI has been immense. Still I’m delighted to say that William will continue on the Management Committee as immediate Past President.
I am writing this as a very ‘new’ President but not so new to the world of deafblindness or DbI. Hopefully I am known to many of you and very much look forward to meeting more friends. It’s also a great joy to introduce our new and refreshed team. Bernadette Kappen, recognised at the DbI world conference in Sao Paulo for her ‘significant contribution’ is of course our Vice President along with Carolyn Monaco of the Canadian Deafblind Association. Ton Grootzwaaftink from Kentalis was reaffirmed as our treasurer at the September AGM. Stan Munroe of course, remains our information officer and proud editor of this review and we are all organised by Elvira and Bronte and many thanks to Senses for their continued role as our secretariat. So that’s our team along with the DbI Board and of course all of you.
For those of you who attended the XV DbI World conference in Sao Paulo this past September, 2011, you will agree it was indeed a wonderful event. I know there were many who couldn’t attend but over the coming months more information will be published. Of course this edition of the DbI Review will begin to give you some of the flavour of the conference. We must certainly extend a huge thanks to all our Brazilian colleagues (and their volunteers) from ADEFAV, Grupo Brasil and AHIMSA who worked so incredibly hard in such a short period of time; and they should be proud of such a brilliant achievement.
The content of the many presentations, workshops and plenary sessions was really high quality and as usual there were some magical moments. One such moment was the announcement of the new parents and carers world organisation, WCPDB. I was privileged to speak at the pre conference for families and of course met so many wonderful parents. There were also fantastic professionals who always give so much and work way beyond the ‘call of duty’.
Looking to the future we have our strategic plan and I am delighted that Lucy Drescher from Sense is going to assist William Green in supporting our very important Networks. The next meeting of the Management Committee will take place 11-13th February, 2012 in Lille, France, during which time we will also meet with the local planning committee for the 2013 DbI European Conference. The Board of DbI is planning their next meeting in New York on the 4th and 5th of May 2012.
I hope you enjoy this edition of the magazine; as usual Stan has worked hard in pulling so many wonderful stories together into a journal we are exceptionally proud of. Still the magazine is only as good as the content. When I look at the range and depth of our work in deafbliness, I see plenty of potential material for publication. In addition to that, knowing that so many people are committed to this field makes me exceptionally proud of being your new President.
With the best of all wishes
Gill Morbey
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