“Blind rights day”

The 21st of March is a day which commemorates Human rights day, which is used to pay respect to all those who lost their lives in the fight for democracy. On this day in 1960 the Sharpeville Massacre happened. Police attacked a group of peaceful protesters in a town outside Johannesburg known as the Vaal area in Sharpeville.

The protesters were protesting against the oppression by the white government which made laws that kept black South Africans bound. Laws like the carrying of the dompas which was an identity document that was very heavy but black people had to carry it around as it determined where they were allowed to go and where they were allowed to live so failure to provide a dompas meant an immediate arrest. At the Sharpeville Massacre, 69 protesters were killed and around 180 were injured. After the Sharpeville Massacre in 1966 the UN declared 21 March International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

As we celebrate 52 years since the elimination of racial discrimination, we shed light to people who are blind in South Africa’s communities with the aim of creating blind awareness on our very own TUT Soshanguve campus. Most cases of people who are suffering from this terrible condition are often ignored, are not properly taken care of and are not given equal opportunities like every other human being.

Families who are from disadvantaged communities and are living with a person who is blind, don’t always see ways in which they can give their friend, brother, sister or cousin a better life and a better future. This is due to the lack of knowledge of opportunities which are aimed at empowering people who cannot not see. Blind SA, institute for the blind South Africa and the South African national council for the blind aims to Promote and facilitate the dignity and independence of blind and visually impaired South Africans.

As it is still the month of human rights let’s not exclude blind people from the rights which every South African has. They two have the right to education, health and freedom to express themselves or their views.

Not having a relative or friend that is visually impaired doesn’t mean we should ignore the people around us who are living with this disability. In this campus as well as our communities, we have and know a few people who are blind yet they are living a normal life like everyone else. It is because they are normal people like us and deserve as much respect. We can offer to help whenever we can but let’s make sure to remember that there is a difference between being generous and being offensively impolite.

We can help them by offering a helping hand when they are carrying something heavy, by offering a guiding arm, helping the person sit down if needed, help the person when they are taking the stairs and other ways we can think of to make their lives a little easier.

On Friday students took part in an initiative regarding blind awareness in our campuses at Soshanguve North campus, they experienced what a blind person goes through on a daily bases and realized the burden that a blind person has on their shoulders. After this they saw the need to not ignore a blind person but to help them instead. Let us learn to educate ourselves by empowering those that are suffering with a disability.