New curriculum leaves visually impaired behind

SINCE 2017, when the Ministry of Education introduced a new curriculum, there haven’t been any braille books to cater for visually impaired people in schools and other institutions.

The Dorothy Duncan Braille Library, which is a non-profit-making organisation for the visually impaired in Harare, used to produce school books, including university, in braille.

Braille is a universal tactile code read by visually impaired people. The centre is now unable to continually offer these printing facilities for various reasons.

The centre, instituted in 1994 by Sister Catherine Jackson, produces braille material, offers rehabilitation and library services to the blind and the visually impaired.

The founder, who partially lost her sight in 1986, is well-known for her role in revitalising literature in the truest sense of a literary revolution for the blind and visually impaired. She became determined to do something for blind people so much that she equipped lifts in public buildings with braille writing so that blind people could use them and labelled trees and flowers so that the visually impaired could also enjoy the facilities.

Previously braille books were not available in Zimbabwe and used to be imported and the reason why the institution was established was so that these special books could be available locally. Today, 28 years after its inception, the library still has its archives and equipment intact, the assistive devices and high power consuming machinery used for producing braille at a large scale are still usable, but outdated and rather expensive to use and maintain in a world that has switched to advanced technology which has paved way for smaller multi-functional devices.

Speaking to IndependentXtra, braille transcriptionist Anderson Robertson at the library said there was need to phase out the equipment and acquire new ones which can perform the same functions, but at a lower cost.

“We acquired the Version 5 models of the Index machines which are smaller and easy to use when producing braille, though they make a lot of noise these machines produce braille that is easily read by people with VI and also do not consume much power,” Robertson said.

“As an institution we are trying to find partners and donors that can actually fund for the project so that we can be able to assist the government, schools and other institutions like Jairos Jiri and in the process bridge the gap between the sighted and those that are visually impaired,” he added.

However, braille paper is a special type of paper that aids in inkless printing and is sourced out of the country.

Anderson said converting an ordinary book to braille is costly and, previously, the organisation used to print for free, but are now forced to charge a token so as to maintain the machinery and keep the centre afloat.

The library has a variety of books in braille but has none in vernacular; its shelves are packed with novels of various categories, academic text books for schools and colleges as well as books for leisure reading in audio format and large print for those with low vision. It also has a transcription department which is responsible for the production of braille books as well as a rehabilitation department for those who have lost sight at a later stage of their lives.

The rehabilitation department is where those with visual impairment can stay for a certain period learning how to become independent and use computers and do courses for people who turn blind in adulthood so that they can acquire life skills and hopefully return to their former workplaces.

It has specialist teachers who guide the students through the tasks of daily living and mobility. However, the department has accommodation challenges, hence limiting access for those who want to enrol for rehabilitation trainings.

Chemist Mafuva, author and one of the about eight adult students at the centre, took time to reflect on the myriad of obstacles that hinder full social inclusion and community participation for the visually challenged.

“The first thing you experience is loneliness, the inability to associate with friends, social life becomes highly restrictive because some friends start migrating away from you,” Mafuva said