Photo/ MKU Vice-Chancellor Prof Deogratius Jaganyi (right) addresses
participants at MKU shortly before flagging off a 4km walk to
Thika town and back to celebrate the international White Cane
Day for the visually impaired on Tuesday October 15. .
By James Wakahiu
Mount Kenya University (MKU) main campus in Thika on Tuesday
joined the world in celebrating White Cane Day.
Celebrated on 15 October every year, events on this day raises
awareness about the lives of people who are blind and partially sighted,
as well as to celebrate their independence, abilities and valuable
contributions to society. It symbolizes their right to move freely, safely
and confidently in society.
A white cane refers to a long stick used by visually impaired people to
check their surroundings while on the move. In some countries, it is
mandatory to have the cane painted in white as the colour indicates to
those in the vicinity that they need to take appropriate care around the
visually impaired person.
In honour of this day, the visually impaired students and some non-
impaired students and staff of MKU, together with participants from
Thika School for visually impaired, marched to Thika Town in honour
of White Cane Day, in a powerful demonstration of unity and awareness.
The 4km walk was flagged off by the Vice-Chancellor Prof Deogratius
Jaganyi.
“The march through Thika Town not only celebrated this independence
but also aimed to raise awareness about the challenges and achievements
of the visually impaired community. White Cane Day symbolizes the
white cane’s importance in blind and low vision. This day aims to
educate people across the nation about blindness,” Prof Jaganyi said.
MKU Students with Special Needs (MKUSNA) were joined by
participants from the Kenya Society for the Blind (KSB) and the Kenya
Institute of Special Education (KISE) to mark the day with a 4km walk
from MKU Student Centre to Christina Gardens in Thika town and back.
“Others came from the National Council for Persons with Disabilities
(NCPWD)Thika Technical Training Institute, Salvation Army Thika
School for the blind, MKU community and the general public in Thika
town,” John Mwangi Ndung’u, Coordinator, MKU Students with
Disabilities.
Meanwhile, the National Council for Persons with Disabilities and the
Kenya Society for the Blind (KSB, in collaboration with other partners
celebrated the abilities and successes achieved by visually impaired
people and honouring the many contributions being made by the blind
and visually impaired, in the country and beyond.
In the last five years the Council has provided over 1,000 white canes to
persons with vision impairment. “The Council has always been working
with KSB to improve the living standards of the visually impaired
persons,” NCPD said in a statement.
Photo/MKU Vice-Chancellor Prof Deogratius Jaganyi (centre) with MKU
Students with Disabilities and other participants during the
flagging off of a 4km walk to celebrate the international White
Cane Day on October 15th, 2024 for the visually impaired.
According to World Health Organisation’s World Report on Vision,
about 2.2 billion people have vision impairment or blindness, of whom
at least a billion have a vision impairment that could have been
prevented or has yet to be addressed. In Kenya, according to the
population census statistics of 2019, it is estimated that slightly above
300, 000 people are visually impaired. This is clearly a significance
segment of the Kenya population.
NCWPD has appealed to all stakeholders to increase their support for
inclusion of persons with vision impairment in all sectors. The
stakeholders in the transport sector, built environment and Technology
are asked to work with the Council to review their various policies to
enhance inclusion of persons with vision impairment in this sector
because of the upcoming trends.
“We must also take cognizant of the many challenges that persons with
vision impairment face when accessing services. The challenges range
from lack of the right Software’s, audio traffic signal for the blind, low
level of awareness by motorists on the significance of using the white
cane by the visually impaired when crossing the roads, disregard of
traffic rules by many service providers,” says NCPD.
