17 Oct 2018

It is critical that governments allocate budgets and national action plans to include the provision of white canes as well as the provision of mobility training for blind and partially sighted persons, a retired civil servant and Serowe village elder Ms Edna Monyena says.

Speaking at the commemoration of White Cane Day in Serowe on October 16, Ms Monyena added that governments should also provide adequate resources to facilitate the provision of the white canes to the blind at the national level free of charge in the spirit of ‘leave no one blind behind in order to promote inclusive development.’

These appeals, she said, were reminders from World Blind Union to United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CPRD) member states and the commitments enshrined in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Ms Monyena found out that despite all the efforts such as the marriage between Botswana Association of the Blind and Partially Sighted (BABPS) and Motor Vehicle Accident (MVA) Fund and also through their patrons, the blind and visually impaired persons still faced daunting challenges, especially in their mobility.

She argued that even with white canes the blind and partially sighted persons faced challenges such as lack of safe and accessible urban spaces that are user-friendly as well as tactile markers that facilitate the use of white canes.

“A more inclusive, accessible and equal society will lead to better living conditions for our community, a world in which blind or partially sighted people can participate fully in any aspect of life they choose,” opined the octogenarian Ms Monyena. 

In emphasising the importance of the white cane she gave it a sobriquet ‘Sedi lame mponesetsa tsela’ (My guiding Light) at an event themed: Accessibilities and Mobility for our Community.

At the same event, marked by joy and free spirit, Mr Tshepo Raditladi pledged white canes and revealed that the blind and partially sighted persons were in short supply of their mobility enablers, which they nicknamed Monkaedi (my guide).

He argued that the white cane was expensive to be afforded by the people of their condition, hence appealed to the government to supply, free of charge, the canes to the blind and partially sighted. A single cane reportedly costs P500. 

Despite MVA reportedly donating 135 white canes and Tootsie Sigwele’s 50 more canes, a huge population of about 28 000 is still in dire need of the canes. 

Mr Raditladi warned that blindness, with all its causes, could affect anyone at any stage of life.

In his pledge for white canes, Mr Raditladi remarked that the blind and partially sighted persons did not want human guides as they too deserved privacy and to work on their own.

Narrating her white cane experience in Serowe, Ms Bathusi Tlhalerwa recounted her tale of sudden blindness that took her unexpectedly while tending to her grandchild. 

At first the 52-year-old could not come to terms with the news that she was diagnosed with glaucoma and that it was the end of her sight.

To that she considered a few factors, one of which was suicide, owing to the denial that ruled her head briefly. 

However, Ms Tlhalerwa, upon admission at the psychiatric ward, Sekgoma Memorial Hospital, regained her senses and accepted her condition as permanent. It was then that she sought to live happily with her condition. 

Ever since the self-taught white cane user, Ms Tlhalerwa claimed that she could do virtually everything she sought to. 

She appealed to caregivers of the blind and partially sighted persons to support their needs and seek help for them. 

To this, she narrated a story where she nearly lost her white cane, which was stolen by a fellow passenger in a taxi, who by the look of things wanted to assist a relative. 

White Cane Day commemoration was first held in Botswana last year at Gaborone Bus Rank. 

The event tipped a success would then be held in Serowe this year. Organisers of the event have resorted to holding the event alternating between north and south of the country. 

However, the event will be held at villages where there was a dire need for the services and sensitisation. 

The event sensitised motorists and the general public about the blind as other road users. Also, success stories and abilities of the blind and partially sighted are celebrated. ENDS