WHERE DARKNESS BEGINS

We are living on one planet, in one country and in one world. But for some unclear reason, sighted people have created a completely different world for the visually handicapped - a world with conditions and rules where the blind have no chance of a normal life, education, travel or work. Prioritizing their own problems, those who can see do not understand that the visually impaired and the blind find it much more difficult to overcome their difficulties. There is nowhere to expect help from: they live in darkness and solve their problems in darkness - both in the direct and figurative sense. Society itself is also in the dark due to its lack of understanding of the difficulties of life for various handicapped people. Fine words butter no parsnips as it were, - by putting the problems of handicapped people and the creation of a state strategy to solve those problems on the back burner, we are moving farther and farther from a solution to the problem itself - which would not be a problem if we adopted the right priorities. The visually impaired and the blind, as well as other categories of disabled people, are just like us. They have the same rights and freedoms and have every right to live in a society that has room for all. Healthy people are under an obligation to create the conditions necessary for handicapped people to ease their lives.

On the path of hope

The blind can be useful in almost every speciality. The main thing is to teach them these specialities and then recruit them without excuses about their disability. Scientific-technical achi-evements and the information and telecommunication technology available allow handicapped people to fully integrate into society. However, we must admit that the use of digital programmes meant to ease the lives of the visually impaired and the blind comes up against the lack of funding. Education is a start in life for the blind, although it is impossible to access without the relevant computer programmes.

For example, for many of the world's visually impaired and blind people, and in some CIS countries, the JAWS (Job Access With Speech) programme for reading from a screen has long been a reality. It was developed by a group of blind and visually impaired people at Freedom Scientific in the US state of Florida. The essence of the programme is that a user can read information reflected on the screen by sounding the text on the screen (text-to-screen) and with the help of the Braille script, which makes it possible to use the keyboard without restrictions. The programme was developed in order to make computers based on the Microsoft Windows operating system available to blind and visually impaired users. In Azerbaijan, this programme is available only in Turkish. "In order to create an Azerbaijani version of this programme, from 60,000 to 100,000 dollars are needed. The American group Elite has offered to develop an Azerbaijani version, but we do not have such money, and the state cannot give us so much" Reyhan Cafarova, project coordinator of the Azerbaijani Society of the Blind, told R+.

According to Cafarova, the use of the Turkish version of JAWS creates certain difficulties for the blind and the visually impaired, because it does not have some Azerbaijani letters. In any case, Azerbaijani is not Turkish, although it is also a language of Turkic origin. "It is very important for us to develop an Azerbaijani version of JAWS. It will allow the blind to benefit from distance learning and inclusive education. The aim of our organization is to integrate physically handicapped people into society so that blind and visually impaired children can go to ordinary schools and study in the same grades as other children. Only in this way can we eliminate discrimination against physically handicapped people and only in this way can they feel like full members of society," Cafarova stressed.

The Society of the Blind has been operating since 1931. Currently, it has more than 12,000 members. According to official statistics, there are more than 28,000 blind and visually impaired people in Azerbaijan, while unofficially there are more than 40,000. The organization has been operating a canteen, a hostel and a special boarding school since Soviet times. There were also numerous production enterprises and plants for the disabled. However, much changed after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The products made by the enterprises became "non-commercial". Now visually impaired people have no source of income other than state pensions and allowances, from 100 to 150 manats. It is clear that 150 manats cannot cover all the expenses of able-bodied people, let alone those of physically handicapped people.

"It has been proven that the involvement of blind people in production does not justify itself because the end product does not generate sufficient revenues - it is not competitive. Similar foreign-made products can be bought everywhere within the country. For this reason, the leadership of the society today is working to develop the intellectual capabilities of visually impaired people. They will learn new professions with the development of information technology. After they learn the basics of information technology, they will be able to work as typesetters in newspapers, computer operators and radio disc jockeys," Cafarova stressed.

The British organization Oxfam is rendering a great deal of assistance to the society in this area. It has already financed a number of projects to create a special massage school, a talking library and a school of telecommunications workers. "During the three years of the implementation of the project in the massage school set up at our society, 55 masseurs - blind and visually impaired - were trained, and 45 of them are already working in various health centres - clinics, hospitals, sports complexes and beauty salons. The most important thing for these people is that they master a profession, work and get paid and do not depend totally on their pension. They are integrated into society," the specialist said. The lessons for the blind and visually impaired students were led by teachers from the medical college. After the project was completed, the Society of the Blind asked the Ministry of Education to include the profession of masseur into the curriculum of the Azerbaijani medical college. "This will probably happen in September this year, after the Ministry of Education issues the relevant resolution. After that, our massage school will be operating within the framework of the medical college, and the blind and the visually impaired will have the opportunity to pass a test in order to enter a faculty to master the masseur's profession." However, this does not mean that the massage school of the Society of the Blind is not holding courses at the moment. There are currently 10 students there.

Another major project, which has been implemented since May 2008, is the establishment of a professional-rehabilitation centre for communication workers in the society. "The British helped us to equip the classrooms and buy equipment and hardware. Currently, there are 18 blind and visually impaired students at the school. The Ministry of Com-munications and Information Technology has assisted us greatly with this - the lessons are conducted by teachers of the Azerbaijani College of Communications and Transport, while students undergo practical training at the AzTelekom production association and at the 107 and 109 directory-inquiry services. The teachers tell us that our students are much more diligent and take a great interest in the lessons. The only problem is that the lessons are taught using the JAWS programme in Turkish," said Cafarova.

It is very important for the visually handicapped to have access to various sources of information and to be able to read books. Within the framework of projects financed by the British organization, a "talking library" was set up at the society with a studio recording books on discs. "Incidentally, we can now hand over these discs to all libraries which have the appropriate studios. However, as far as I know, the country's public libraries do not have such studios, while 'talking libraries' are meant to help the blind and the visually impaired to remain full members of society, expand their world outlook and familiarize themselves with new books. We can send the discs to the second boarding school for the visually impaired, the central library for the blind and the Kocarli republican children's library, where a "talking library" was set up in 2002. Apart from that, these books can be distributed through retail sale. Currently, the studio's audio library holds hundreds of audio books, with world literary masterpieces and works by Azerbaijani and Western authors. The sound recording of the books is accompanied by various sound effects and music. The audio fund is constantly updated. Every member of the society can subscribe to the audio library, choose an interesting recording and take it and a player with him for several days," the project coordinator explained.

"The society needs printers which would also print texts for the blind in the Braille script and in large print for the visually impaired. We have difficulties in this area as well. The Braille centre operating at our society needs more printers so that we can print books for boarding schools for the blind and other specialized organizations," Cafarova told us.

A strategy is needed

The employment department of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security is also helping the society. "The Ministry of Labour sponsors computer courses for the blind and the visually impaired and courses for bookbinders. Then the Ministry of Labour and our society help those who graduate from these courses to find a job. A great number of blind and visually impaired people need jobs today. And we are constantly working in this direction," she says.

It is very difficult for visually handicapped people to develop their professional skills, access education and work. It is also difficult to get medical help. The society cooperates closely with many international organizations but, according to Cafarova, the visually handicapped need a state strategy to develop their life, because many of them do not even have a roof over their heads. For this reason, the society is not only an organisation dealing with the problems of disabled people, it is also a world where they exist, because some of them live in a hostel, while others are in separate flats in a building located nearby.

The visually handicapped have many social problems. The Society of the Blind often submits its projects for the integration and rehabilitation of the blind to government agencies. "Members of our society can achieve great success in the arts and humanities. There are projects to teach medicine on the basis of a broader programme - electrical treatment and the treatment of dislocations. But to this end, we need assistance from the Ministry of Education and Health. A project for airtime on Public TV has been drawn up, and it envisages the transmission of TV programmes prepared by the Society of the Blind twice a month," Cafarova went on to say.

Another major project is the establishment at the Ministry of Labour and Social Security of an institute for scientific research, which will study the various problems that face all categories of disabled people. This will allow government agencies to take the conclusions of this institute as a basis for developing programmes directed at the rehabilitation of the disabled. The society has repeatedly appealed to government agencies to ensure traffic safety for the blind and the visually impaired. "We thank the state traffic police for installing sonic traffic lights in 16 places in the city, mainly near the Narimanov metro station where our society is located. They should be installed across the city, not to mention throughout the regions. The blind cannot use the metro at all because our underground is absolutely unsuitable for physically handicapped people. There are no ramps and the edges of the platform are not equipped with relief or concave lines so that the blind can touch them with their feet. The turnstiles should be equipped with special sonic hardware which would inform them of the fare. Routes and bus stops are not announced on buses. Buses do not stop at specific places, and the blind find it very difficult to get their bearings and move about freely. We recently addressed the Baku metro and the Ministry of Transport. They told us that our requests would be taken into account. But when? Cafarova asked.

The society asked the Ministry of Health to reconsider the parameters for granting disability status to the visually handicapped. "While granting disability status, they register the blind as unemployable. This is wrong. It is no surprise that not a single organization wants to employ them, even if they have some professional skills. Their status should be recognized as employable, considering their physical abilities" she said.

The blind and the visually impaired need help. They want to live and work with those who, by to their standards, are regarded as successful because they can see…