Visual disability training to benefit 500 persons to live independently

The Orientation and Mobility programme launched by Guyana’s First Lady, Her Arya Ali on
Tuesday, will see 500 blind and visually impaired persons receiving training to acquire skills and
live independently.
In a recent interview conducted with some of them, they expressed the view that the initiative
will be of tremendous benefit to them.  Ms. Schemona Sugrim will be employed with the
programme to train others in various skills and use of assistive technologies to gain employment.
“It’s a great initiative because persons like myself will be benefitting tremendously from it.  I can
say that in times past, I didn’t really have the opportunity that other persons will have, so I feel
really good about it,” Sugrim said
Ms. Lata Devie Jagmohan is another person to benefit from the programme.“I think it’s very
innovative for all the people who put this together and thinking about persons with disabilities,
and I think it’s a benefit for a lot of people, especially those who are visually impaired and blind,
to develop independent living skills…,” Jagmohan explained.
Disability Rights advocate, Mr.  Leroy Phillips admitted that he is happy that young persons
living with visual disabilities can have a better future as they can now acquire mobility and
orientation skills to make them independent. “I feel particularly excited, elated, happy, optimistic
about the future of those young persons who are blind and visually impaired across the length
and breadth of Guyana. For too many years, for too long we’ve heard stories and had to deal with
blind and visually impaired persons staying at home, kept at home with no other option but to
remain at home because they did not get the chance, the opportunity to acquire mobility and
orientation skills,” Phillips said.

Meanwhile, Mr. Ganesh Singh who is the Programme Coordinator of the Guyana Council of
Organisation for Persons with Disabilities (GCOPD), noted the programme will train persons
from seven regions across the country. “We will do this in an informal way using volunteers,
mostly persons who are blind and visually impaired…through this programme we aim in the next
year to train and provide orientation and mobility services to approximately 500 persons who are
blind and visually impaired, across Regions Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven and Ten,” Singh
explained.
He said that 10 persons will gain direct employment through the programme. He added that the
persons will be certified as Orientation and Mobility officers by the Board of Industrial Training
(BIT) and will use the certificate and skills gained for future employment.