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OUR INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS 
For more information on International Membership, Contact President or Secretary General |
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| Join ICEVI by becoming an Individual Quadrennial member
Click Here (  .doc file )
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Join ICEVI by becoming an Organisational member Click Here ( .doc file ) |
The Africa Region of the International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI) includes the following countries: |
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Regional Chairperson
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Regional Commitee |
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A woman with a vision for Africa's blind | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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I am excited and anxious as I wait to meet Dr Elly Macha. Many questions race through my mind as I have never met such a high-flying visually impaired woman before. Minutes later, her secretary ushers me into her office and I am met by a charming woman, at ease with herself. I am disarmed by her welcoming smile.  Dr Elly Macha, General Secretary of the African Union of the Blind "My childhood mirrors the life of a typical blind child in Africa, growing up in a harsh and insensitive environment," she told the Sunday Magazine. Like Macha, most adults and children in Africa are blinded by preventable diseases. Poverty and ignorance make it harder for many to access the much needed eye care to treat or prevent eye ailments. Some people also believe only cursed or illegitimate children go blind, and keep such children under lock and key, away from prying eyes and pointed fingers. Many are not even taken to school as this is considered a waste of time, money and energy. Fortunately, in the 1960s when Macha was of school-going age, a number of international mission organisations started schools for the blind all over Africa. Macha was naturally playful and difficult to ignore, and it was not long before a neighbour paid a visit and suggested to her grandmother that she could be sent to a school for the blind. The school, in Lushoto District in Tanga Region, Tanzania, was run by Christoffel BlindenMission. Her grandmother agreed to the idea even though she poorly hid her cynicism and would ask many times how blind children could learn anything in school. But, having the little girl off her hands 24 hours a day made it easier for her to focus on other household chores, so she agreed Macha liked her school from the start. "I was so excited that I could go to school, and especially to meet other blind children like myself. I made friends easily and was top of my class from the start." In Standard Four, Macha joined a mainstream school as the school for the blind only went up to Standard Three. "It is here that I learnt that a blind student has to be social whether he or she wants to or not. I relied on friends to read my books to me and take me from place to place. I had homework and textbooks were not in Braille, so I had to make sure I was friendly enough for someone to want to help me." | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coping mechanism | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Dr Macha with colleagues at an international conference in 1998. [PHOTO: courtesy]  Her computer 'talks back' using speech software. Photo: Mbugua Kibera And that is how Macha began her crusade for the rights of blind child to education, love and support. It is when she proceeded to the UK for post-graduate education that she came to appreciate what freedoms come with technological advancement. "I read a book alone for the first time in my life! I devoured novels, magazines, comics, and textbooks voraciously. For once, I could read at my pace, time and space, without a reader because everything could be found in Braille or audio format." The difference between the two worlds was stark. The visually impaired are well catered for in the West as compared to here, she says. "Awareness of the needs of the visually impaired is high and facilities are provided. Lifts, doors and even supermarket shelves have Braille markings. I came to relish a level of independence I had never known. I accessed the newspapers daily on the Internet and surfed when I wanted like any sighted person because the computers had speech software. It was amazing!" In addition, traffic lights tell you to 'walk' or 'do not walk', trains warn you to 'mind the gap' when doors open and shut, lifts announce which floor you have reached, and computers, phones and calculators talk back using speech software with this experience, Macha has plenty of ideas for policymakers. "If the World Health Organisation estimates that 10 per cent of any population is disabled, then every national Budget should set aside 10 per cent of the total budget just to cater for special programmes for the disabled. They need to see our needs as crosscutting; for example, does the Ministry of Health consider producing information such as fliers, bulletins and other publications on Aids in Braille? Blind people are also sexual and social beings, so we also need to keep in touch with developments on Aids. The policymakers need to see our special needs as rights not a favour." "Life is so tough for all of us, whether we are sighted or not. The key is to aim higher, to strive towards your dream until you get it, to always have a vision, even if you don't have sight." empiris101@gmail.com www.eastandard.net Gallery
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