General

Chandrasekhar Sankurathri aims to erase blindness in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh

Chandrasekhar Sankurathri is working to erase blindness among the poor and rural communities of Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh. "Many are unnecessarily blind,” he said.

A biologist turned philanthropist, Sankurathri, 61, strongly believes that most cases of blindness can be cured with proper treatment. He relocated from Ottawa in Canada to Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh in 1989, after he lost his wife, daughter and son in the Air India bomb attack 20 years ago. Since then, he has dedicated his life to social activism through his community outreach programmes.

President Kalam calls for, “vision for all”

Blind leaders contest for governorship

Kristen Cox and David Paterson, both legally blind, are running for the post of lieutenant governor in Maryland and New York this year. Paterson, a minority leader in the New York Senate, is the choice of Democrats and Cox has the support of the Republicans.

Cox said she knows her blindness will be an issue in the minds of voters. “They are curious about it. They have questions about it, and that's fair,” she said. “I hope ultimately in the election that blindness becomes a non-issue.”

Braille books and magazines displayed at the 31st Kolkata Book Fair

A stall put up by the social welfare organisation, ‘Voice of World’, at the 31st Kolkata book fair, gave the visitors a chance to view the world of visually impaired people. Books and magazines on Braille were also on display.

Sukumar Chakraborty, former student and presently, the principal of Voice of World, said “Here we have our special collections on Braille such as the Sharadiya collection, Thakumar Jhuli, Romeo Juliet and Hashikhushi.”

Blind C.E.O. proves vision has nothing to do with sight

With more than 29 years of combined experience and education in the high tech sector, Sharlyn Ayotte’s drive to make accessible materials available to the blind community resulted in the launch of her company.

Sharlyn’s Ottawa (Canada) based T-Base Communications provides companies and organisations with alternate format communication services for their blind and partially sighted customers. The company specialises in producing accessible communication materials in Braille, large print, e-Text and audio formats.

Easy passage for blind people

Under the ‘White Cane Path Project’ visually impaired people can look forward to a safer trip to the shopping mall, restaurants etc., in Penang, Malaysia.

The Rotary Club is funding a 1.5 kilometre pathway connecting ‘Saint Nicholas Home’ to One-Stop Midlands Park. The home is a centre for the care and rehabilitation of children and adults with visual or multiple sensory disabilities.

UK’s National Library for the Blind to raise funds from Marathon

Authors and publishers urged to make their work accessible

"Reading means the world to me and I can’t imagine what it would be like, to be denied this pleasure,” said children’s laureate Jacqueline Wilson. She is urging fellow writers to make their work more accessible to visually impaired persons.

Touchable' Mexican sculpture exhibition in U.S.A.

El Alma en Las Manos or ‘The Soul in the Hands’, a tactile exhibition by contemporary Mexican sculptors opened on March 9, 2006 at Zerum museum at San Francisco, U.S.A.

The exhibition seek to bring blind children closer to the world of visual art had 22 pieces of tactile sculpture from Mexico.

The exhibition was organised in collaboration with Consulate General of Mexico, the Mexican National Council for Culture and Arts, ‘Zerum’- a multimedia arts and technology museum, and non-profit organisation ‘LightHouse for the blind and visually impaired people’, U.S.A.

Those magical fingers

Penny Hall's sensitive fingers are her eyes. As a massage therapist, she uses those fingers to good advantage. "I thoroughly enjoy my work," says Hall, 63, who has been in the field since 1998.

Hall is blind but that’s no disability for her. In fact, some of her clients are thankful that she's blind because they are self-conscious about their bodies, she said. But regardless of the shape of the person on the massage table, Hall's first concern is comfort.