Jinja visually impaired learners seek modern braille machines
The learners, through the administrator of Balitwegomba Complex Home for the Blind, located within Spire Road Primary School, Edward Senyende Bakwera, said the old machines are costly to maintain and are no longer adequate for the growing number of learners requiring braille equipment.
Isaac Mukasa, head of Agency Banking, shakes hands with the headteacher of Spira Road Primary School at Balitwegomba Complex after launching the solar lighting project donated by Stanbic Bank. (Credit: Doreen Musingo)
________________ One of the old Braille machines at the school. (Credit: Doreen Musingo)
JINJA — Visually impaired learners in Jinja City have appealed to the Government and well-wishers to provide them with modern Braille machines to replace the 25 outdated units that have been in use for the past 30 years.
The learners, through the administrator of Balitwegomba Complex Home for the Blind, located within Spire Road Primary School, Edward Senyende Bakwera, said the old machines are costly to maintain and are no longer adequate for the growing number of learners requiring braille equipment.
Bakwera said the school currently needs close to 40 modern braille machines since it has 37 learners who depend on the equipment for their studies.
“We have machines, which have been here for more than 30 years. They need to be written off, but we are still maintaining them,” he said.
According to Bakwera, replacing the machines is beyond the school’s financial capacity since modern braille equipment is expensive.
He voiced the learners' appeal on September 25 during the handover of an off-grid solar lighting system and braille papers donated to the institution by the Agency Banking sector of Stanbic Bank in partnership with the Rotary Club of Jinja.
The solar system is expected to provide lighting across the institution, power sockets and a water pump, while improving security and mobility of visually impaired learners at night.
Bakwera said the institution had introduced some sighted children to help guide visually impaired learners following a fire incident at another institution in Mukono where blind children reportedly struggled to evacuate because they lacked people to guide them. He added that the lights would also help guards detect intruders because the institution lacks a perimeter wall and proper fencing.
“The sighted children will be the eyes of the blind. If the sighted learner is walking in darkness, they will all be blind. So, this light is very important for our children. Additionally, we have many intruders, who can enter from anywhere. But our night watchman can now easily identify who is entering from a distance,” said Bakwera.
During the function, the institution also received five boxes of braille papers, which Bakwera said would help ease the shortage of learning materials since they use 15 boxes of braille paper per term.
Betty Asaba, the headteacher of Spire Road Primary School, said the solar lighting would also enable sighted pupils who assist blind learners to move safely around the compound, particularly at night.
She further appealed for support to install a perimeter fence, acquire fire extinguishers and Closed Circuit Television cameras, as well as improve the water system.
Isaac Mukasa, the head of Agency Banking at Stanbic Bank, said the solar project was donated after the Rotary Club of Jinja identified lack of adequate lighting as one of the institution’s major needs.
He said the intervention was part of the bank’s corporate social responsibility initiatives aimed at supporting communities and education. He added that the system was designed to operate completely off-grid, reducing the institution’s dependence on electricity from the national grid.
Jean Kyobuhire, the manager of Stanbic Bank Jinja Main Branch, said the project was intended to address some of the practical challenges affecting visually impaired learners.
Kyobuhire urged the school administration and learners to take care of the equipment so that it benefits both current and future generations.
Drake Magara, a Rotarian from the Rotary Club of Jinja, said the club had supported the institution through payment of school fees, provision of firewood, environmental cleaning, construction works and payment of utility bills.
He commended Stanbic Bank for partnering with the club to address some of the school’s pressing needs.