Among all the holidays that exist today, the International Day of the Blind is very special and significant. He is usually dedicated to those who find themselves in a difficult life situation, who have lost their eyesight for some reason, or were born with such an ailment.
History of occurrence
World Blind Day was timed to coincide with the creation of the first school for children with disabilities who have lost sight. And more precisely, on November 13 a man was born who organized such an institution on his own savings. His name was Valentin Gayui. It was he who first drew attention to children who, for some reason, are deprived of the gift to see the world through their eyes. The school was organized solely at the expense of Valentin Gayui, without any support from the French government. It was back in 1784.
When did they start celebrating
November 13 Blind Day was declared a worldwide holiday. But this did not happen immediately after the opening of that very first school. Relatively recently, the International Day of the Blind appeared in 1984. The World Health Organization recognized this holiday as truly significant and important, making it an annual event. All civilized countries gladly made this decision, having begun to develop various scenarios for events for blind and visually impaired children and adults.
Holiday purpose
The main goal is to draw public attention to the problems that people who are deprived of sight face daily. And this concerns not only, for example, movement around the city, but also the lack of sufficient funding for special educational institutions for the blind and visually impaired. It is on the International Day of the Blind that various charity events and events are held, the purpose of which is to raise funds to help children and adults who are blind.
In addition, the public on this holiday really turns its attention to what it tries not to notice on any other days. It is noteworthy that the most difficult thing is to employ the blind and visually impaired to work, as a rare employer is ready to take on such responsibility. World Blind Day allows people with such disabilities to show what they are capable of, despite the lack of vision.
How to spend in Russia
In Russia, November 13th is celebrated in many large and not so big cities. The All-Russian organization of the blind is carefully preparing for it, involving not only volunteers, but also government agencies, private entrepreneurs and all who are interested in organizing events. International Day of the Blind, the scenario of which is different in every city, is not a holiday when mass festivities are held. No, it is rather a cultural, familiarization and somewhat “high” event. So, in 2014, the first sports hall in the city for blind and visually impaired people was opened in Astrakhan. Only trained specialists work in it, ready at any time to come to the aid of the disabled.
Pilot project in Moscow
In 2014, an innovative project for Russia was developed in the capital of the country, aimed at making life easier for the visually impaired and blind: the organization of special signs in restaurants. It is noteworthy that a one-day briefing was held in all public catering facilities of Moscow before the holiday specifically in order to convey to employees exactly how to deal with visual impairments. For example, how to properly guide a guest with disabilities to the table, how to give him change. Now it is planned to equip restaurants with a special menu with Braille or voice control in order to maximize the comfort of visiting catering.
What's in europe
The opening of a movie theater in Berlin is an important event for the Day of the Blind. What movie theater? One where the disabled will be really comfortable and pleasant. A distinctive feature of such a cinema was the equipment with special headphones, according to which speakers describe what is happening on the screen. That is, a person can not only hear the dialogues from the film, but also understand what exactly they are showing at this moment, which particular scene is being scrolled at this moment. Of course, this is far from the only achievement of Europeans to make life easier for people with disabilities. However, the opening of such a cinema was planned precisely on the International Day of the Blind. The script then did not include anything special. It’s just that organizations dealing with the problems of people with disabilities who are blind, spread the news among those interested, invited volunteers and held a grand opening.
Literacy and statistics
In 2013, in the Oryol region, a contest was organized for the best reader among the visually impaired and blind. Naturally, the participants read on the Braille system (a special technique for reading with fingers). However, it was then that it was noted that the level of literacy was significantly reduced among people with disabilities. And this is due to the fact that in private educational institutions there is a rather high price list for training, and in state schools there are often not enough funds and resources for organizing the educational process. On the International Day of the Blind, everyone and everyone is told about the first school for blind children, how this industry has gradually developed in the world, and how important it is to help such people.