The government to work for people with vision disability

THE Government has pledged to provide learning facilities needed by the visually impaired people in the country so as to help them. The Minister for Health and Social Welfare Dr. Husein Mwinyi made the call last week at the climax of the international day celebrations of the Braille writings which was cerebrated at a national level in Dar es Salaam. Braille writings are dotted marks specifically designed on a paper by a machine to help visually impaired people in the world who use them to get their right of reading materials as well as getting various information which are issued in written documentation forms as this is a salvation for their life. These writings have been given the name ‘Braille’ to honour a young French national by the name Louis Braille who discovered the writings almost two centuries ago after having pricked his one eye by a sharpened iron object at his father’s workshop in 1826 at the age of 13 years old. The history tells that, he lived with the help of a single eye for a considerable time of years before it got destroyed at the age of 20, and later on became totally blind before he died at the age of 36 years. Many countries in the world have been celebrating this occasion now for over 190 years and it is a second celebration to have taken place in Tanzania. Before the Minister gave a pledge, he received a statement of complaints from Tanzania National Institute for the Blind (TNIB) in their speech which was read before him during the occasion, and later on made his own pledge on behalf of the government to solve such problems besetting members of the association in the country. He said that, his ministry would work in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training to buy the necessary facilities and equip them in various schools for the blind people in the country. However, he has also asked TINB members to make sure that, are  convincing people with visual impaired to join their schools as one step development to get their social needs. Dr. Mwinyi pledged to help books written inn Braille dot marks which according to te association are few in their schools and these are so expensive as they are printed outside the country. Other challenges the association noted are lack of teachers and working facilities which Dr. Mwinyi has pledged to include in the national budget.  However, he told The Guardian in an exclusive interview after the occasion that, the government has established a council fund which would be contributed by individuals and civil society groups. The money will be used to help cater for the needs of all people with various disabilities in the country. Dr. Mwinyi has congratulated religious institutions such as the Anglican Church for their devotion after having been established schools for the people with visual impaired disabilities in the country. HG has also asked other denominations to follow the suit. He said the government is ready to work in collaboration with various civil societies which have shown interest to work for the people with disability and improve their lives whatsoever. This is in line with the government’s decision to form policies and enact law No. 9 of the year 2010. He said the law would help to make sure that all rights reserved for people with disabilities in the country are well transformed to the respective individuals and that these are protected and guided as required and given the priority it deserved. laws which guides the jurisprudence of the people with disabilities in the country. According to TINB Chairman James Shimwenye since the establishment of their association in 1998, there are a total of 32 schools for the visually impaired people and among them, 10 are secondary schools while 32 are primary schools.  Out of these both primary and secondary schools, 95 percent of them are owned by the government, the rest are owned by religious institutions. There is also one higher learning institution for them.