Kilimanjaro Blind Trust - Our Efforts

Message from the Director

2010-02-07T15:03:00.001-05:00

Dear Donors and Friends,

After a busy year, we would like to update you on what your gift to the Kilimanjaro Blind Trust accomplished in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.

Kim and I, along with the President of Perkins, Steven Rothstein, and Laura Matz also from Perkins, visited Nairobi to meet with the organizations whose work we support. We met many of the people who are repairing Braille writing machines, we met students who are using the Braille machines, we met visually impaired and blind university students who are the future advocates and we met the people running the programs.

The highlight was opening the Spare Parts depot in Nairobi that the Trust has funded, one of three depots supplying spare parts in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Difficulty in obtaining spare parts was a major obstacle in repairing broken machines. These facilities, as well as increased training of repair people, will help speed up Braille machine repair. More than 1000 machines have been repaired so far. We have also distributed dozens of new machines in the three countries as well. We invite you to visit www.perkins.org/kilipics to see a few photos from our visit to Kenya.

Despite this progress, there is still much to be done. For example, amongst the blind Kenyatta University students we met who are just about to finish their studies, not a single one had their own machine. What will they do after they graduate? Another example is that in two schools for the blind in Uganda, 62 students share only 15 Braillers. That means that any one student will have significant periods of time when he or she cannot take notes, nor do homework. Homework must always be done at school because no one has their own machine at home.

A recent estimate of need in the region suggested that a minimum of 2000-3000 Braillers are required to at least provide access to a Brailler to all students who are blind attending school, without even mentioning the students having their own machines for the rest of their lives, nor many children who are blind who do not attend school.

Plans for next year include providing more Braille machines, continuing to provide more spare parts, continuing to provide skilled repair people, continuing to develop a tracking system for the existing machines in the three countries, training students how to care for the machines, providing paper for the cumbersome and expensive braille books, and possibly printing presses to decrease the heavy load on the African Braille Centre that must print all the Braille text books for the entire country.

Thank you again for your commitment to the mission of the Kilimanjaro Blind Trust which is proud to support the passionate people we met. We would like to thank the dedicated people at Perkins and our partners in Africa who are helping us to fulfil our mission.

We wish you a very successful and enriching year, and thank you again from the depths of our hearts.

Paul Polman
Director, Kilimanjaro Blind Trust
CEO, Unilever

Free Climbing School

2009-10-07T10:07:00.002-04:00

Here's a short video about the efforts of Koichiro Kobayashi, member of the KBT Advisory Group, who runs a climbing school for the visually impaired in Japan. His fantastic program builds confidence and drive in the blind climbers it touches. See for yourself...

Kilimanjaro Blind Trust - four year anniversary

2009-09-30T14:29:00.000-04:00

Today marks the Kilimanjaro Blind Trust's fourth anniversary, formed when a group of blind climbers summited Mt Kilimanjaro in a team led by Erik Weihenmayer. Read all about the team's assent here.

Some thought provoking facts:

2009-09-27T21:44:00.000-04:00

- 80-87 percent of individuals who are blind are in developing countries.
- 80-85 percent of blindness is preventable, though the number of blind caused by infections diseases is decreasing. In the developing world, cataracts are the largest cause amongst adults and hygiene of pregnant mother is the largest cause amongst new-born
- 90-95 percent do not attend school and never become educated
- There are 1 million children and youth worldwide who are deafblind.
- There are 6 million children worldwide who are blind or visually impaired.

These statistics are from a variety of sources, including the WHO, and were collected by Kim Polman during her August 2008 trip to Kenya.

Integrated Approach to Braille Literacy, An Update

2009-09-15T14:34:00.001-04:00

The Kilimanjaro Blind Trust, with its partners, has been setting up an integrated approach of providing new Braille machines to institutions where there are not enough for each blind student to have his or her own machine. The Trust has also run training programs to prepare more repair people so that a machine can be repaired closer to home and more quickly. In each of our three target countries we have set up a Spare Parts Depot, a central place where repair people can get spare parts that will always be in stock

KBT founders Paul and Kim Polman visited Nairobi in August 2009 to meet one of KBT's partners, the African Braille Center, and to reunite with Douglas S (who was blinded in the Nairobi American Embassy bombing) and his trusty helper, Joash Aswani, who together climbed Kilimanjaro in 2005 and completed the entire Tour d’Afrique on a tandem bicycle in 2008. Paul and Kim met them to help officially open the Spare Parts Depot for Kenya, where machines can also be repaired. For the occasion, the African Braille Center gathered together advocates for the visually impaired - students whose schools will benefit, blind athletes from Nairobi, blind students from Kenyatta University who are mentoring younger blind children and who are becoming advocates for the visually impaired, Braille repair people, and journalists from various media.

Kim notes that "it was satisfying for us to meet the people in our partner organizations working to support the blind and visually impaired who also came to the festivities, and who are gradually developing to lead full, independent, satisfying and meaningful lives, thus fulfilling the goals of the Kilimanjaro Blind Trust. We have complete confidence that the African Braille Center can carry out the work effectively and efficiently."

KBT funds staff training at the African Braille Center

2009-02-23T23:52:00.006-05:00

Thanks to funding from the Kilimanjaro Blind Trust, the African Braille Centre has been able to train staff at area schools to undertake minor Brailler maintenance and repairs.

“Children in school will not have to go for days without accessing their Brailler due to minor defects. The blind children will be able to learn side by side with their sighted peers and using a ‘pen’ that is equally reliable,” said ABC Production/ Development Manager Kiprotich Juma.

Kiprotich explained that when children who are blind take examinations, it is impossible to share Braillers. He further reckons that, what blind children need is to be given equal opportunity so they may perform well in class and during examination.

Kiprotich explained that when children who are blind take examinations, it is impossible to share Braillers and this can make it harder for teachers to keep up with curriculum goals.

“Education is the key to a better future life and this will not be possible without braille literacy for a blind person,” Kiprotich said.

Braille literacy, Kiprotich said, permits greater independence for children who are blind when they go on to college and careers. For instance by knowing braille, individuals who are blind can give presentations or speeches without memorizing the content, and they can take notes for future reference.

By supporting braille instruction programs and providing Perkins Braillers® to those in need, Perkins, the Kiliminjaro Blind Trust, and the African Braille Centre are creating new possibilities for children who are blind in East Africa.

Where in the World is Perkins?

2009-01-29T23:32:00.001-05:00

The latest issue of Perkins' Newsletter "Perkins Insight" highlighted some of their international work, including efforts by the KBT. Here's what it said:

The Kilimanjaro Blind Trust began with an incredible mission when 27
climbers -- eight of them blind -- set out to reach the
summit of Mt. Kiliminjaro.

Before and after the 7-day expedition, climbers visited schools in the
region and became inspired to develop a trust that would improve the
lives and opportunities of children who are blind in East Africa.

The Kiliminjaro Blind Trust supports programs operated by Perkins that
teach braille literacy, distribute and repair Perkins Braillers®, and
train teachers to work with students who are blind in Tanzania,
Uganda, and Kenya.

To date, nearly 600 Perkins Braillers® have been repaired, allowing
more children to learn to read and write independently.

Learn more on our website.
http://support.perkins.org/site/R?i=_ZYeHyHicfXnn5Kuujt9mw..

Key Statistics on KBT's Efforts

2009-01-19T23:14:00.007-05:00

As part of our preparations for 2009 we've been assembling some key statistics about how far your gift to the KBT can go. Here are a few to ponder:

* Last year alone over 100 Braille machines were either repaired or placed (economic value over $ 50,000) along with 12 people trained in Braille repair.

* In the U.S.A blind people with Braille skills have an 80 percent higher chance of finding employment.

* Currently over 6 million people are blind in Africa, the majority do not have access to Braille. In East Africa alone there are over 1,000 machines in need of repair and a minimum of 2,000 new machines needed to approach our goal in the region: that every blind child has access to a Braille machine.

* A contribution of $ 5,000 (or more) would allow training of 10 additional repair people, who would have the potential to repair a hundred plus Braille machines over a 6-month period while also creating employment opportunities. The repair program would be part of a bigger effort that is currently being worked out with the Ministry of education in Kenyan and the African Braille Centre in Nairobi focused on covering all main schools in the capital with access to basic braille repair services.

KBT's 2009 Project Plan

2009-01-19T21:32:00.006-05:00

Based on what we have learned from our previous activities and discussions with several of our partners on the ground, KBT is proud to announce our proposed activities for 2009. In this year, we will address the following needs:

Developing a spare parts depot for each country
Providing funding to cover the salary for a full- or part-time repair position in each country
Funding for transportation, which would cover either the costs of sending Braillers in need of repair to a central location or sending a repair technician to various sites for repair, or a combination of both
Distribution of several new Perkins Braillers in each country
A repair training session for Uganda, which is the country most in need of strengthening their repair skills

KBT and the new Perkins Brailler

2009-01-14T20:06:00.001-05:00

Perkins recently released an updated version of the new Perkins Brailler. KBT has already provided funding to help distribute the new Braillers all over Africa...

Celebrating 200 Years of Louis Braille

2009-01-02T09:46:00.001-05:00

Here's a little historical note to celebrate Louis Braille's 200th birthday:

In 1809 Louis Braille was born in Coupvray near Paris. His father made harnesses. At the age of 3, Louis, while playing in the workshop, hurt his eye with one of the tools, and after infection set in, he became blind. As he was very smart, he went to school and just listened. He progressed very well and became a class leader. He became an accomplished musician as well as a school teacher.

Meanwhile a French army captain experimented with raised dots so his soldiers could communicate in the dark. He developed it further and introduced the system to the blind school where Louis studied. Louis experimented further with it, finally refining it at the age of 15 to a 6 dot system that is still used today in any language all over the world.

To write braille, Louis used a stylus and slate. Each dot is punched individually and actually has to be written backwards. Many children in developing countries, they still learn with the stylus and slate, but studies have proven that literacy develops more slowly.

A major breakthrough occurred when Perkins School for the Blind developed in 1951 a mechanical braillewriter which is considered by many to be the premiere braillewriter in the world. It is tough, reliable and indispensable. The new Next Generation Perkins Brailler which will be in production in 2010 is even better – “less force, less weight, less noise.”

Braille machines work in all countries in all languages with only six raised dots. Braille alphabets have been created in more than 140 languages. Braille can also be used for music and mathematic, all with only the six dots.

(For more information see the Perkins School for the Blind website.)