Toespraak Twan Driessen

Juni 2022 op het Vision congres in Dublin hebben Twan Driessen en Judith Wijnen voor het congres een vurig pleidooi gehouden om de jongeren met een visuele beperking een krachtiger stem te geven in alle bijeenkomsten die gaan over hun toekomst. Na een luid applaus en veel support heeft dit initiatief een vervolg gekregen in een onderzoek naar hoe jongeren met een visuele beperking hun toekomst zien,  wat ze daar bij nodig hebben, welke obstakels ze denken tegen te komen, en wat hen nog meer bezighoudt. Lees hieronder de toespraak van Twan Driessen.

"Ladies and Gentlemen
 
I would like to start with a little experiment.
Please close your eyes.
               
If I can dream of a better land
Where all my brothers walk hand in hand
Tell me why can't my dream come true
 
If I can dream of a warmer sun
Where hope keeps shining on everyone
Tell me why won't that sun appear
 
But as long as a man
Has the strength to dream
He can redeem his soul and fly
He can fly
 
Out there in the dark, there's a beckoning candle
And while I can think, while I can talk
While I can stand, while I can walk
While I can dream
 
Please let my dream
Come true
Right now
 
You can open your eyes now.
 
This is the difference between most of you and me.
The difference between seeing and being blind.
You can chose to open your eyes or not.
For me, there is no difference.
 
When your eyes were closed,
I just shared some phrases with you of one of my favorite Elvis Presley songs called
If I can dream.
And dreaming is what I do,
even though I have never saw any light.
Sometimes life is challenging
But I learned that much is possible
and I can reach higher than I ever imagined.
 
When I finished high school my teacher said:
you came, you saw and you succeed.
These words I never forgot.
And at this moment I am studying to become a social worker.
 
I learned that dreams are possible.
 
For me it is an honor to stand here
and talk about dreams
on behalf of the visually impaired community.
 
Although I have no sight,
I do have a vision
to make the dreams of this community true.
And this is where we need you.
 
In this building there are so many smart people together
who can help us with our dreams.
 
We have the experience to know what we need
and you have the knowledge to help us succeed in our journey.
 
Our future will be brighter when we work together.
 
It is my ambition to build a bridge between you and us.
Therefore I would like to found an International Youth Platform
that is seriously taken into account in the important work you do.
 
Let us be one big team of scientists, explores and visually impaired people.
 
I hope you believe in this dream as much as I do.
 
Dream with us, let us dream, do and succeed together.
 
Thank you very much."