In order to improve the welfare of the visually impaired, the Lagos Knights of the Blind Cyber Lions Club held its fundraising luncheon/investiture ceremony for the fight against blindness recently. The club said it is keen on the welfare of the visually-impaired community and have mapped out a five-year plan to reduce the number of persons burdened with the challenge.
The president of the club, Olajide Jolaosho, gave a brief insight into why Lions embarked on restoring sight and fighting blindness by telling the story of Helen Keller, born in Tuscumbia, Alabama, USA, in 1880. She develop a fever at 18 months of age that left her blind and deaf.
According to Jolaosho, with the help of an exceptional teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan, of the Perkins School for the Blind, Helen Keller learned sign language and Braille.
He said: “A few years later, she learned to speak. As an adult, she became a tireless advocate for people with disabilities and, in 1925, she attended the Lions Clubs international convention where she challenged Lions to become ‘knights of the blind’ in the crusade against blindness. The Lions accepted her challenge and the club’s work ever since has included sight programmes aimed at preventable blindness and has played a major role in helping to restore, improve and preserve the vision of millions around the world.
“Although founded in 1917, ever since Helen Keller’s challenge in 1925, the Lions Club International became known for fighting blindness while it also volunteers for many other kinds of community projects, including caring for the environment, feeding the hungry, and aiding the elderly and persons with disabilities.
“Most importantly, Lions give sight by conducting vision screenings, equipping hospitals and clinics, distributing medicine and raising awareness of eye disease with a mission of providing vision for all.”
The president outlined a calendar of projects related to vision and others in the general causes which include hunger, environment, cancer and diabetes.
“We intend to donate 1000 white canes as safety equipment to the virtual impaired, vision screening for 2000 people to aid the treatment of preventable blindness, 20 cataract surgeries year round, eye glasses recycling and donations,” he said.
Guess speaker at the event, Abiodun Sotunde, charged Lions Club to focus on capacity building and educating vision impaired people as the cost of educating them would be more beneficial and impactful on society. He stressed the need to also train parents, teachers and social workers on the skills required to support and bring out the best in people with disabilities.
“Every child with special needs has a strength that can be annexed for maximal performance. Lions need to help in the best possible way. They can design an individualized education plan for the people concerned.”
He called on Lions Club to focus more on areas of skill development that can foster independence, self-care, psycho-social, cognitive, communication and vocational skills. “The earlier persons with a disability learn to do these, the less the intrusion of their privacy, especially once puberty sets in. They should be given the opportunity to practise till perfection, with a lot of room for errors, spiced with ample encouragement. In essence, persons with disabilities should be allowed to learn to live independently in ways that suit their needs.”
Chairman at the event, Oba Adetola Emmanuel King, who was represented by Jesuyemisi Odeyemi, expressed joy over the focal point of the Lions Club, especially with the welfare of the virtual impaired community.
Odeyemi expressed their willingness to partner with them for the projects, especially when it involves the needs of the vision impaired, which areas of care and need has taken another turn.
He said: “It is a lack we are faced with in the society. Missing out or not completing education affects the quality of life for individuals and their families, and has negative economic impact for the society.We only have few of virtual impaired kids in school. The president of the virtual impaired community in Lagos already explained the challenge and their needs. Even in countries where education is valued, many children with disabilities do not go to school. In addition, they have more difficulty due to unsuitable buildings, inaccessible transport, inadequate special teacher support and lack of access to assistive devices. Inclusive education for this vulnerable group would reduces cost of education and improve integration. We are ready to support on capacity building and skills development for this vulnerable persons, whatever would aid them to live a bit comfortable and less dependent.”
The event also witnessed the installation of the 2022/2023 board of directors.
