Limpho Sello
THE Lesotho National League of Visually Impaired Persons (LNLVIP) will join the rest of the globe in commemorating International White Cane Day on 15 October.
The Day promotes the white cane as a positive means of independence and mobility for people who are blind or have low vision, while also raising awareness of their access needs.
According to the LNLVIPExecutive Director, Keneuoe Semphi, the organisation would commemorate the Day in Quthing district, through various activities.
Ms Semphi said: “The white cane is the stick that is used by visually impaired persons to find their way, without assistance.The stick makes different sounds on different objects which helps the visually impaired person to know what is in his or her way.
“The Day is commemorated on 15 October every year by visually impaired persons internationally, as a way to showcase their independence and look at the achievements and challenges they come across in their daily lives.”
Ms Semphi also said officials from her organisation would meet with visually impaired people on the Day, and discuss a number of issues, among them how to prevent blindness.
“We are going to call community representatives, schoolchildren and teachers, and the community in general to come to the commemoration so we can educate them on how to look after their eyes for them to stay healthy,” Ms Semphi said.
“We would want to educate communities so as to avoid increasing the number of visually impaired persons in Lesotho because we have seen their number accumulating rapidly in our country.
“As an organisation, we are very worried about this situation because we know the pain of not being able to see, as well as the challenges that come with being visually impaired.
“That is the reason why we called schools and the community to teach them about how to protect their eyesight because we don’t want our number to increase. We are enough as we are.”
Ms Semphi further said another issue the organisation would want to look into ishow to formulate laws concerning people with disabilities.
The Minister of Social Development, ‘Matebatso Doti, is expected to grace the 15 October even in Quthing, Ms Semphi added.
