By Damion Mitchell, Staff ReporterTHE JAMAICA Society for the Blind (JSB) needs $10 million to assist with the rehabilitation of about 20,000 of the estimated 23,000 blind and visually-impaired persons throughout the island, notes Virginia Woods, the organisation's executive director.
"We get a subvention ($1 million annually) from the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, which is very, very small," Ms. Woods told The Gleaner. According to her, despite several representations to the Government for increased financial assistance, there have been no tangible improvements. "We are being told that we are getting a lot, so we should seek assistance from the wider society," she said.
The other major sources of income for the society come through fund-raising and a donation of US$800 ($48,000) from the Caribbean Council for the Blind which is disbursed every three months. But these are still woefully inadequate for the JSB to effectively execute its duties, especially given that the majority of persons it benefits are living on the poverty line, said Ms. Woods.
The JSB on Sunday celebrated its 50th anniversary at a worship service at Bethel Baptist Church, Hope Road, Kingston 10.
An independent voluntary organisation with a nine-member staff, the JSB provides rehabilitation for persons who are blind or visually impaired. It also trains and counsels their families to adjust to these physical conditions.
Wilbert Williams, chairman of the General Council of the JSB, also spoke of the need for more funding for the organisation. "It is a constant struggle, it is difficult, but we are prepared to continue to fight that struggle," he told The Gleaner, adding that with the limited staff, which includes one field officer to serve the entire island, the organisation was unable to attend to all those requiring its services.
He said the JSB has also been unable to improve its library facilities.
STIGMA ON VISUALLY IMPAIRED
But to further compound these shortfalls, Ms. Woods said many persons still had a negative perception about the ability of the blind or the visually impaired to be productive citizens, adding, "Many times when it comes on to getting a job, the blind person is looked at as secondary."
Earlier, Senator Floyd Morris, State Minister of Labour and Social Security, said during the worship service, "We want to see a change in the perception of how we treat disabled people. We tend to think that once you are blind or deaf you should be confined to staying home."
Commenting on the financial challenges affecting the JSB, he said the Government was not in a position to increase its assistance to the organisation.
"If Government increases it contributions it (the JSB) would no longer be a non-governmental organisation," he said, while noting that the Jamaica Council for Persons With Disabilities a government body was being allocated $30 million annually to attend to persons with disability.
