What color of world do we have? It’s so colorful with many things around. What about the people suffering from color blindness? Is it filled with black and white? Then what color of world do physically blind or impaired people see? It’s hard to live in pitch black for our lifetime. They may even experience many worse things. They may once lose their will to live too. But many people even though physically blind, even though they suffered so much in this world, they resisted and faced it. They are standing at the top of the success and are striving or working hard to get success. Maybe they created an image of victory or success in their pitch black world. As we all know they use “Braille” to communicate. The world celebrates “World Braille Day” on January 4th every year to provide awareness about Braille among people.
How will you feel if you are suddenly to live in pitch black for your lifetime? The one who invented the Braille system, “Louis Braille”, having lost his sight at the age of five lived his life in pitch black. Louis Braille was born on January 4th 1809, so his birthday was celebrated as world Braille day to commemorate him. This system was further implemented by the France Royal Institute for the blind youth two years after his death. The US government also launched this system in schools and other institutions which helped many blind people spread around the world now.
The global organization which represents the blind or partially blind people across the world is the World Blind Union (WBU). The members of the organization are serving the blind in over 190 countries across the world and working in the field of vision impairment. This international organization is promoting Braille literacy by providing scholarships to the Braille people. They are searching for ways to ensure that Braille is closely connected or considered alongside new technology. This union or global organization is also trying to implement the Marrakesh Treaty and make it officially valid in all countries. The Marrakesh Treaty validates the distribution of accessible reading things for the Braille without any threat of copyright infringements.
The month of January is called “Braille Awareness Month”. Since it is the start of the new year we can take up some new challenges and things to learn. And Braille can be one of them too. This entire month was committed to increasing the awareness of the importance of Braille. Children who are physically blind should learn Braille from the start and try to become independent. The Braille activities for the children should be introduced to them to improve the awareness of Braille. Some of the Braille activities are introducing tactual toys and Braille toys, playing with cells, making cells similar to Braille cells and introducing the two-cell contractions etc. Braille games such as Braille bingo, Mancala and Twister hopscotch can also be played.
The technology has been improving day by day. The Braille can be typed in various ways and can be written by using a slate and styles. These styles are considered as Braille handwriting and can also be printed with the help of a Braille typewriter. The improving technology also proves that they are considering the Braille people too in making the inventions. For example, many toys are available now in Braille that include a Rubik’s Cube, the LEGO’s and the card games such as UNO etc. It’s a fact that the Braille typewriter has six keys which correlate to each of the six dots in the Braille cell. It’s interesting to know that the Braille typewriter also has a space key, an enter key and a backspace key too.
We are in a serious situation around the world because of this COVID – 19. It is utterly challenging for the physically impaired people in this situation because of lack of mobility and communication. The people who are physically impaired are facing so much more than the normal people. It is quite evident that the world itself is in chaos because of this deadly virus. Many precautions are being taken by the respective governments of the countries. According to the doctors, it is said that the Braille is likely to have more impact on awareness. The information regarding the COVID – 19 was made available in more accessible formats including in Braille and on audio formats too. The international organizations like the UN and the respective governments are also taking necessary precautions for physically impaired people like Braille.
Quotation:- “ Being blind is not the end of the world and you can still achieve your dreams and ambitions.”
“ Happy Braille Day”
By Harshitha Yetukuri, Andhra Pradesh
