09 Apr 2018

The exclusion of the blind and visually impaired children in the game of chess has led Limitless Minds Chess Academy to introduce a ‘Chess for the Visually Impaired’ initiative in partnership with the Botswana Association for the Blind and Partially Sighted.

When giving an update on the programme on Saturday during a chess familiarisation programme for the visually impaired at Mochudi Resource Centre for the Blind, Limitless Minds Chess Academy Founder Keenese Katisenge said the objective was to promote the sport for all principle and social inclusion by taking the game of chess to people living with disability.

She said the beneficiary of this initiative were the visually challenged learners at Mochudi Resource Centre for the Blind in Mochudi.

She further said they introduced the programme because it directly contributed to social inclusion, empowerment, improved academic performance, personality development and other benefits associated with the game of chess.

Katisenge said chess was the only game where a visually challenged person could play at par with his sighted counterpart.

She added that their ability to play had been made possible through the introduction of a special chess braille which enabled them to easily identify chess pieces.

She said the academy was launched in January this year and on February lessons of chess for the visually impaired programme started with 60 visually challenged learners aged 6-18 years.

Katisenge said they received a P50 000 as sponsorship from Mascom and the funds were for a training seminar for the programme, purchase of braille sets and a chess for the visually impaired which will be hosted towards end of the year.

She said she was thankful to coach Oteng Mankge who trained the children on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

The chess academy founder further said they took a deliberate decision to focus on the less privileged so they likewise find a place in sport with the intention to extend the initiative to refugees and boys prison.

She said currently they were in talks with Botswana Association for the Blind and Partially Sighted to introduce the programme at their Francistown centre.

She said they were still faced with challenges of resources and called on all stakeholders to lend a helping hand so that they could reach out to more children in the country.

She said any kind of sponsorship would be welcome so that they could buy more chess sets and carry out tournaments to prepare the children for competitions both at national and international level.

In her welcoming remarks the director of Mochudi Resource Centre for the Blind Ms Tebatso Menyatso said she was happy to see the chess family converging at the centre to accord the children an opportunity to play chess.

She said this was a commendable gesture which would go a long way in identifying talent for children with visual impairment and thanked Limitless Minds academy for coming up with the initiative.

The director further said they would nurture this partnership because they believed it was God- sent while the children enjoyed every moment of playing chess.

She encouraged the children to take the game very serious as they could earn a living from  playing chess.

In his closing remarks, the chairperson of Botswana Association for the Blind and Partially Sighted Kennedy Lekoko said they were happy for this initiative which will go a long way in instilling discipline.

He said chess as a game had the potential to mould an individual and help them focus and achieve great things in all they do hence the children will surely reap great rewards.

Lekoko further said chess gave the children an opportunity to use their intelligence and engage their brains which meant serious training of their thinking capacities. ENDS