World Braille Day

“Access to communication in the widest sense is access to knowledge, and that is vitally important for us if we are not to go on being despised or patronized by condescending sighted people. We do not need pity, nor do we need to be reminded that we are vulnerable. We must be treated as equals and communication is the way we can bring this about.”- Louis Braille. My secondary education was done at Meadowbrook High School. While at high school we had a number of students who were visually impaired. The students were from the nearby Salvation Army School for the Blind. Interestingly, the students fit in effortlessly with the wider student population. On any given school day you would see them along with their Braille machines busy doing their assignments. It must be said that these visually impaired students all did exceptionally well in their external examinations in the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations. The United Nations (UN) states, that even under normal circumstances, persons with disabilities; one billion people worldwide are less likely to access health care, education, employment and to participate in the community. They are more likely to live in poverty, experience higher rates of violence, neglect and abuse, and are among the most marginalized in any crisis-affected community. Connecting With Blind and Visually Impaired Students For the visually impaired, life under COVID-19 lockdown has posed several issues in terms of independence and isolation, especially for people who rely on the use of touch to communicate their needs and access information. The pandemic has revealed how critically important it is to produce essential information in accessible formats, including in Braille and audible formats. Otherwise, many persons with disabilities could face a higher risk of contamination due to a lack of access of guidelines and precautions to protect and reduce the spreading of a pandemic. COVID-19 has also emphasized the need to intensify all activities related to digital accessibility to ensure digital inclusion of all people. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many good practices have been implemented by parts of the United Nations system to promote a disability-inclusive response to the COVID-19 and disseminate information in Braille. In Malawi, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has produced 4,050 braille materials on awareness and prevention of COVID-19. In Ethiopia, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) disseminated audio information, and education and communication materials, to media professionals, and has developed Braille versions of the educational messages. UNICEF has produced guidance notes that are available in multiple languages and accessible formats (including Braille and ‘easy-to-read’). World Braille Day is observed annually on January 4. World Braille Day, celebrated since 2019, is observed to raise awareness of the importance of Braille as a means of communication in the full realization of the human rights for blind and partially sighted people. What is Braille? Braille is a tactile representation of alphabetic and numerical symbols using six dots to represent each letter and number, and even musical, mathematical and scientific symbols. Braille (named after its inventor in 19th century France, Louis Braille) is used by blind and partially sighted people to read the same books and periodicals as those printed in a visual font. Braille is essential in the context of education, freedom of expression and opinion, as well as social inclusion, as reflected in article 2 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Invention of Braille Louis Braille was a French Educator who invented a tactile system of reading and writing for the blind and visually impaired in 1824. Braille was himself blinded at the age of three in an accident that occurred while he was playing with tools in his father’s harness shop. A tool slipped and plunged into his right eye. Sympathetic ophthalmia and total blindness followed. Nevertheless, he became a notable musician and excelled as an organist. Upon receiving a scholarship, he went in 1819 to Paris to attend the National Institute for Blind Children, and from 1826 he taught there. The system is called braille and it consists of raised dot codes that are used worldwide to read and write until this day. Louis Braille was born on January 4, 1809 in Coupvray, France. Let us thrive for an inclusive society in which those who are blind and visually impaired feel part of. We must also be mindful that the United Nations Development Goal #10 speaks to the reduction of inequalities within and among countries by empowering and promoting the social, economic and political inclusion of all, including persons with disabilities. Governments too have a responsibility to ensure that more resources are invested of Braille technology in order to ensure that all students who require such assistance can be facilitated. Happy World Braille Day. In the words of Louis Braille, Braille is knowledge, and knowledge is power. Wayne Campbell is an educator and social commentator with an interest in development policies as they affect culture and or gender issues. waykam@yahoo.com @WayneCamo I.G. WayneCampbell12 © #WorldBrailleDay #humanrights