The Ministry of Health (MOH), in observance of White Cane Safety Day, on Tuesday handed over 36 white canes to members of the Guyana Society for the Blind, according to a GINA press release.
Receiving their white canes at the handing over ceremony were Anthony Robinson, Ganesh Singh and Cecil Morris, all members of the Guyana Society for the Blind.
Parliamentary Secretary Joseph Hamilton stated that this was part of the first phase of donations for the Guyana Society for the Blind. He related that several months ago, a monthly clinic was established at the Blind Institute.
Hamilton, who shared his personal peeve of witnessing visually impaired persons having to use PVC pipes or umbrella canes to facilitate their mobility to and from their destinations explained that the Guyana Persons with Disabilities Commission, launched earlier this year, is covered by the Disability Act and is responsible for setting the framework to ensure that all persons with disabilities are given access to all necessary facilities, the release said.
Commenting on efforts to assist the blind in Guyana, Director of Rehabilitation Services at the MOH Barbara Lawrence pointed out that MOH, in collaboration with Eye Care Guyana facilitates a programme which provides care for people who are visually impaired. She stated that there are good inter-agency responses to blindness in Guyana which is evident in the various programmes made available by different government ministries and non-governmental organisations.
Singh explained that the society has recently been able to successfully train 12 visually impaired persons as rehabilitation assistants, all of whom will now be able to teach other people how to use the cane, as well as counsel them towards becoming independent, GINA said.
He also highlighted the society’s efforts to garner additional funding so as to facilitate the payment of stipends to assistants, towards the expansion of their duties in their respective administrative regions. The release said that currently the Guyana Society for the Blind has operations in regions 2, 4, 6 and 10.
The release also referred to plans to commence a Ministry of Education-sponsored Caribbean Examinations Council Examination (CXC) programme, aimed at exposing blind and visually impaired persons to CXC. It revealed that individuals would qualify for the programme once they would have satisfied a set of criteria, “and in two years time they will be able to sit the CXC examinations.”
In addition, the release highlighted plans to have the visually impaired and blind in Guyana provided with laptops by the government through the One Lap Top Per Family (OLPF) programme.
Despite their impaired sight, members of the society are avidly involved in playing cricket and the steel pan. Also, in keeping with the Disabilities Act relating to the pursuance of tertiary education, Singh has applied for and received a scholarship from the Ministry of Public Service to attend the University of Guyana.
In 1999 the World Health Organisation (WHO) launched a global initiative called Vision 2020. The initiative seeks to eliminate avoidable blindness by the year 2020. More than just an initiative, the effort is a partnership which provides guidance, technical and resource support to countries that have formally adopted the agenda, the release added.
