“Be appreciative of your sight and go for regular eye check-ups. If you lose your sight, your life will change completely.”
This was the message from Desiree Brockbank, chairperson of the Northern Cape Society for the Blind (NCSB). She was speaking at an event on Friday, 1 November, at the Sol Plaatje Municipality in Kimberley.
The aim of the event, held in cooperation with the South African Library for the Blind (SALB) and the South African National Council for the Blind (SANCB), was to raise awareness amongst those with sight on what the blind and visually impaired experience every day.
Mmabatho Nyamane of the SALB gave an overview of its library services, and Mariana Jackson, an ophthalmic assistant, talked about glaucoma.
“To see should not be taken for granted,” she says, emphasising the importance of regular eye check-ups.
Joyce Tshabile, an orientation and mobility practitioner at the SANCB, demonstrated how to use a white cane. Then, officials received goggles that gave similar vision to that of six eye conditions, including blindness.
Executive mayor Kagisho Sonyoni and the officials then had to navigate their way through the parking lot and on a pavement.
After the “blind walk”, Sonyoni emphasises the importance of building partnerships with all societies, including the blind. He says the municipality must make an enabling contribution by filling potentially dangerous holes.
