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| Sunday, 5 October 2003 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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White Cane Day falls on October 15 : From darkness to light by Carol Aloysius Their journey from darkness to light has not been easy. But for the Sri
Lanka Federation of the Visually Handicapped (SLFVH), which Mr. R. A. Sirisena, General Secretary of the SLFVH reiterates this fact when he says, "overcoming the many obstacles that lay in our path only served to bring us closer to our goals. We have become more empowered along the way". A live wire behind many of the projects that have helped the visually handicapped in Sri Lanka to come into their own, Sirisena's face lights up as he recalls important milestones of the 29-year-old Federation. He says that it was his one time colleague the late Mr. Rienzie Alagiyawanna who pioneered the concept of a Federation for the visually handicapped in Sri Lanka in the first place and went on to make it a reality on November 7, 1974. President of the SLFVH E. M. Navaratne Banda was responsible for having initiated dialogue with President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga to erect a new six-storeyed building on the eleven perch block of land she had gifted to the SLFVH adjoining the original premises. He says the Federation is also grateful to Deshamanya Lalith Kothalawela, Chairman of the Ceylinco Group of Companies, for his support in erecting the building up to its present stage. "When completed it will have six-storeys and will function as a separate and completely independent unit. It will house the office, a small conference room, Braille Educational Institute, Braille and Talking Book Libraries and Recording Studio, Prevention of Blind Centre, Sales and Display Unit, Indoor Games Facility, a Music room and Orientation training section for the blind. Lodgings for visually handicapped members employed in and around Colombo will also be provided in this building, he explains. "The estimated cost of the building is about Rs. 25 million. In addition we have to raise funds for electrical and air conditioning equipment, furniture and fittings, installation of a lift, provision of accessibility for persons with disabilities such as tactile flooring, ramps etc. We have reached four floors and need to obtain funding for two more floors", he adds. Although incomplete this writer found that several units are already operating in the new building, on a recent visit, such as, the Youth unit, the Women's unit, the Braille library and Talking books library. Why a Federation for the Visually handicapped, when there already is a Council for the Blind? I could not help asking him. "The chief difference lies in the two different objectives we have", he explains. "Whereas the Council is a combination of both sighted and blind persons working for the blind, the Federation consists only of the blind and working only on behalf of the blind directing our attention to the most needed welfare services that visually handicapped need in Sri Lanka. We give free grants for self employment projects and scholarships to deserving blind students, among other things," he says. Among the most successful projects the SFVH has implemented over the years, he counts the Paper Bags project as one of the most profitable on-going projects. This particular project was started in 1998 with an initial down payment by the American Women's Association in Colombo. The paper for producing these items is obtained from various sources and the raw material issued free of charge to the members. The final products are sold directly by them to various institutions at a reasonable rate. "We have several blind persons who are gainfully self employed because of these projects. But they would welcome more paper because of increasing demand. Old magazines, even discarded telephone directories, off cuts from printing houses would be most welcome", he says. Another project for which the Federation welcomes raw materials from the public, is the Medical Covers and Envelope making project." They make these products at home as a cottage industry. We give them the cut paper for them to paste and sell the end products on their behalf keeping a very nominal amount for our costs. Since the demand for these products is growing at a very fast pace, we are very short of raw material. From 1 kilo of off cut paper we can make 900 medical covers which we supply to pharmacies around the city," Sirisena says. Additionally, the Federation assists blind weavers engaged in the handloom industry to sell their finished products to hotels and business houses who are paid at piece rates, since they are provided with the raw materials and tools. A recently begun project is the Computer Training Program which specially targets young people and is job oriented so that those who complete the course can find jobs in any firm, he says. " We have four computers gifted to us by the Asian Blind Union and the World Blind Union of which we're members. We also obtained Computers with the required voice synthesizers which makes it very easy for a blind person to navigate the computer and surf the internet. All our computers have these voice synthesizers and we use braille computer printing so that we can get out a copy in braille", he says. The Talking Books library which he showed us is another new project. As he explains, the Talking Book is actually a cassette which allows a blind person to 'read' an entire book on a cassette. "We have only just set up this project. Once it gets going we hope to start a lending library where blind persons can borrow these 'books'. So far most of the books we have 'voice' have been university textbooks. We're hoping that more universities will enlist our help to make these cassettes so that it will help our members too to earn some money." Developing a professional blind choir is another achievement by the Federation. The choir now gets regular bookings in hotels and clubs and is a means of livelihood for some of the members. "As you see we have achieved a great deal, but not enough. We still have several obstacles to overcome. Our biggest problem today is transport. Buses that ply on our roads are not geared to meet the needs of blind persons as there are no special ramps or even seating arrangements for us. Priority is given to the blind in most countries including India, especially when travelling and I would like to see that happening in Sri Lanka. We should be given free travel passes and public buildings like post offices and banks should have ramps to give blind persons accessibility to these buildings. Shopping malls should also be geared for handicapped persons, as they are in most countries, he says. Creating awareness through the media, through public speaking and seminars of the needs of the visually handicapped is very important in this respect, he adds. When White Cane Day which is being observed on October 15 a number of programs are on the cards just for this purpose. A White Cane Walk is also scheduled to take place, to make the public realise that the visually handicapped have the same rights as a sighted person. |
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notches up
nearly three decades of existence in November this year, every step of the
way on that long and sometimes heartbreaking journey has taken them a step
closer to their ultimate goal.
