Blind Rocks
Founded by Sristi KC, Blind Rocks is a worldwide organization that strives to empower people who are blind through art such as dance, theatre, fashion, beauty, and personal development.
Workshops offered by the organisation focus on body language, gestures and movement to allow people (especially those who are born blind) to learn something they have been denied to learn because they cannot see and no-one thinks to educate them. Sristi says “that by learning social gestures people can become part of the conversation taking around them”. The same is true through dance so people don’t have to “sit in the corner” ,as one participant said.
Sristi is a blind dancer from Nepal. At age sixteen she lost her eye sight. Initially she struggled to cope with her new situation. She was able to overcome many challenges to lead a life filled with happiness and dignity.
You can learn more about Blind Rocks here.The Right to Read
The Australian Unity website has featured an article on Maryanne Diamond who drove the push for the Marrekesh Treaty.
The article says that while Maryanne was a key voice in a battle to enable the 285 million people worldwide who are blind or have low vision to access books in formats such as braille and audio, it ironic that she doesn’t actually like to read herself.
In fact Maryanne says she went on to study mathematics so she wouldn’t have to “read stacks of unwieldy braille books.”
The establishment of the Marrakesh Treaty, as it became known, was long and difficult.
The bureaucratic process began in 2009 and for seven years Maryanne had to summon every atom of tenacity, intellect and patience to convince 186 countries to modify iron-clad copyright laws and allow blind people the same right as sighted people – the right to read. Correspondingly, to get an education, perhaps even a job.
You can read the entire article on the Australian Unity website here.
The new 10 pound note
On the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen’s death, Governor Mark Carney unveiled the design of the new £10 note featuring the world-renowned author. The note is printed on polymer and is the first Bank of England banknote with a tactile feature to help blind and partially sighted users.