Documents. 1  Yokohama Strategy and Plan of Action for a Safer World: guidelines for natural disaster prevention, preparedness and mitigation. 2  Report of the World Conference on Disaster Reduction Kobe, Hyogo, Japan, 18â22 January 2005 in PDF format. 3  Timetable for Kobe conference in PDF format.
Bessie Blount, was a physical therapist who worked with soldiers injured in W.W.II. Her war service inspired her to patent a device, in 1951, that allowed amputees to feed themselves.
Blount was born in Virginia in 1914. She received her early education at Diggs Chapel Elementary School in Chesapeake. While at Diggs, Blount's teacher reprimanded her for writing with her left hand; in response, Blount taught herself to write using both hands, her feet, and by holding a pencil with her teeth.