“The conductor said there´s no seat, and I´d have to stand and it would be difficult,” said Sah. [break]
However, there were enough seats in both the buses to accommodate him and the boy.
Sah lost his sight at the age of four due to glaucoma. A migrant from Sarlahi, he was abandoned by his family when he reached his teens. To eke out a living, he loitered here and there for work. Uneducated and with no one to guide him through, Sah faced many hardships until he landed in the capital 25 years ago.
In the past years he has learnt a lot in life, such as how to recognize places, navigate his way to his destinations, and take care of daily household chores.
“I don´t regret living a blind´s life because that´s what I was destined to be,” he says.
More than blindness itself, it is the treatment of the non-blind that is impeding the empowerment of blind people.
The last time a reliable survey was conducted in Nepal was in 1980 when the World Health Organization (WHO) put the number of people suffering from blindness at 0.84 percent of the total population.
“To a larger extent, blindness exists in poverty,” Kumar Thapa, secretary general of Nepal Association for the Welfare of the Blind (NAWB), said. “Poor people cannot afford treatment, and in case of eye injury it should be treated within 24 hours; it is a far cry.”
The last time a reliable blindness survey was conducted in Nepal was in 1980 when the World Health Organization (WHO) put the number of people suffering from blindness at 0.84 percent of the total population. “However, it was a sampling survey,” Thapa said.
“But blindness has significantly increased because of the armed conflict. During the armed conflict, there were lots of casualties on the army and Maoist sides and many lost eyesight,” Thapa added.
He further said the social status of the visually impaired is troubling because society believes that blind people cannot do anything.
“Society starts from family, and since the family is not aware that even blind people are capable, they are viewed as a burden. The belief that their child is blind because of a past life´s sins is another factor that´s affecting blind empowerment,” said Thapa.
Since its establishment in 1985, NAWB has been working for the blind by providing them with educational materials, vocational trainings and life skills. It publishes Braille textbooks for the blind and has recently launched the country´s only Braille library.
NAWB data show that currently there are 263 visually impaired and partially-sighted people employed as school teachers, five as college teachers, 11 as musicians, nine as receptionists, 20 as factory workers and 24 others who work as proof readers, support staff, project staff, book binders and program leaders.
With the increasing number of awareness campaigns by private and public sectors, Thapa points out that there has been significant changes in the attitude of society towards the blind over the past years.
“Society has become more open in accepting the blind, especially in city areas,” Nar Bahadur Limbu, president of the association, says.
Because Sah´s parents were uneducated, education was denied to him. However, not all have to suffer the same plight.
Last year´s government data show that across the country, 5,000 visually impaired children are going to school with the the help of various non-governmental organizations, international NGOs, and government.
“Of course, we can´t provide all blind people with scholarships, but we certainly have quotas in schools,” Thapa says.
But to ensure that those with blindness are treated as equals and not denied access to day-to-day utilities like transportation, those with vision need education more than those who are blind.
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