MANILA, Philippines — Professions in the field of fine arts like architecture, interior design, industrial design, and advertising require a lot of visual perspective, from conceptualizing to actual drawing and planning.

This is why it is almost impossible for visually-impaired individuals to engage in these professions.

But once in a while, there is always someone who stands out to be an exception to the rule.

Love for architecture

Jaime Silva is an architect. He is also blind who may not be designing houses or buildings right now, but still largely contributes to the profession he is most passionate about.

A member of the United Architects of the Philippines (UAP), Silva, chairman of the organization’s Accessibility Committee was recently awarded Outstanding Professional of 2011 by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC).

Silva was recognized for his efforts in advocating for the Accessibility Law.

Silva and his twin brother Tomas was born with congenital glaucoma, a condition that damages the optic nerves and often leads to blindness. His glaucoma was worse than his brother’s and over the years, Silva's sight deteriorated.

But even though his eyesight was slowly fading away, Silva was not discouraged to take up Architecture in college. His love for this fine art blossomed when, as a young boy, he would watch the construction of houses in their community with much fascination. He knew from then on that architecture was his dream profession.

“I’m lucky that my parents allowed me to take up Architecture despite my poor eyesight. They knew that I really liked it. If you don’t go for your passion and your dreams, you’ll regret it that’s why I pursued it,” the 61-year-old architect shares.

In college at the Mapua Institute of Technology, Silva’s eyesight continued to worsen. He would wear extraordinarily thick eyeglasses to help him through the course. He was also often bothered by constant headaches, a common symptom of glaucoma.

Nevertheless, Silva graduated and eventually passed the board exams for architecture. He designed his first project, a small resort in Batangas, afterwhich he was hired by a big architecture firm to be part of many projects such as building residential houses in exclusive subdivisions, hotels, and other structures. He also started building his own family at this point.

The dark side

With the whole world opening up to him, Silva put up his own architecture firm. But during this time, at 28 years old, Silva’s took a turn for the worse. And his worst fear happened — he went blind.

He stopped working and had to go abroad for several treatments and surgeries. There was one surgery where an outlet was put in his eyes so that the fluid that was damaging his optic nerves would seep out. He also had two corneal surgery but his eyes rejected them.

“I had a series of surgeries, but every time, my eyes would reject. I also had several corneal transplants in both eyes because I have both eyes complications, glaucoma and corneal problems. Professionaly, I had to close shop,” Silva looks back. He had a total of 18 surgeries in a span of eight years.

His last surgery in 1989 also led to the saddest decision he ever had to make in his life — that architecture was not for him anymore. He and his wife decided to close down his architecture firm.

“It’s hard. It was the most difficult time in my life. I had to give up something I love,” Silva laments. “It’s the acceptance. I couldn’t accept that I was already blind, using the white cane was very upsetting.”

A new life

But there was a ray of hope that Silva was determined to catch. He just could not stay away from architecture. At a school for the blind in Pasay City, Silva enrolled in computer courses to equip him with skills and knowledge that would help him go back to the profession he loves.

He went back to the construction industry and helped his brother-in-law build a house. Later on, he started managing small projects and eventually was involved in the building of the Directories Philippines Corporation (DPC) building. He was then hired by the owners to be its property manager, prompting him to take up a property management course at the Ateneo de Manila University.

“I eventually ended up in property management, managing facilities and building. This s my career now,” says Silva who is now the administrative and leasing manager of Cyan Services Corp.

He also studied Braille and now uses assistive technology in his daily life. He says that technology has immensely helped him cope with life.

“I have a phone that speaks to me, I can text. My computer also has a special audio software that when you give me a document, it reads it also. I can also just scan a document, even a newspaper and the computer would read it to me,” he shares.

Accessibility advocate

Silva was asked to join the National Council for the Welfare of Disabled Persons (now the National Council for Disability Affairs) in 1995 and worked with the monitoring committee on accessibility.

The Accessibility Law (Batas Pambansa Bilang 344) is an act to enhance the mobility of disabled persons by requiring certain buildings, institutions, establishments and public utilities to install facilities and other devices.

At present, Silva works with architects and engineers, checking and assessing buildings throughout the metro if they are complying with the Accessibility Law. Since the Accessibility Law was passed in 1984, it has improved dramatically. More buildings and establishments now adhere to the law. He goes around the country and hold talks and seminars on the Accessibility Law. He talks to architects, municipal engineers, building managers, etc. to spread awareness on the law.

“It’s difficult for PWDs if they don’t have access. The society gives stairs to you but they don’t give a ramp to us. The society gives you a newspaper to read but we can’t use it. It’s really informing these individuals that PWDs should have access to facilities like any normal person,” he shares.

Silva is now working on a non-handicapping environment, bringing accessibility not just in urban but in rural areas as well.

“I’ll always miss designing. But I’ve moved on to another phase in my life. When I was young, I always wanted a career where I would have a big office, doing big projects. But after I went blind, I just want to be able to do something. It’s not to become rich or famous anymore, but to be of value to others, to be able to do things that help other people,” Silva says.