Letters from the readers

The society is blind for the white stick
 

Taking into consideration the fact that blindness is one of the heaviest forms of handicap and that people without sight need a greater level of care and attention, in the beginning of the last century in Paris, a conference took part where municipality council, social care, police and blinds’ council representatives took part. They were trying to agree on a remarkable sign for the blind people in the streets. There were many suggestions: the blind could wear a big badge on their showing a face of a man with dark glasses, or they could wear a yellow stripe on their right arm. In the end they reached an agreement: the blind would wear a white stick to signal the drivers that they want to cross the street.

The French government issued a decree which states that all drivers have to stay alert to the blind people on the streets. Those who violate the decree will be fined severely.

Do our drivers stay alert to the blind citizens on the streets that move along assisted by the black stick? No, because the white stick cannot be found in the books that potential drivers use when they want to pass their driving test.

It has been said many times that the blind citizens have living conditions which are difficult to come to terms with, having in mind the physical and the social barriers that make their complete integration and participation in the society impossible. In fact, they live on the margins of the society.

The government all other relevant factors in the country have to look for solutions for their significant questions. It is the government’s responsibility to take appropriate measures in removing these obstacles. The government should have the leading role in awakening the citizens’ consciousness regarding the involvement of the blind citizens in every aspect of the social, political and economic life, so that they could have a standard of living equal to those of their co-citizens, that is, to provide a level of satisfying social, economic and other need equal to that in the developed countries and make the blind happy, content and secure about their future.

There are many unsolved problems, unrealized rights and privileges. However, since our establishment there has been a tendency in the Republic of Macedonia of decreasing the already existing rights and privileges, the social protection and the social security of the handicapped, which violates the constitution of a social state and the international responsibilities of the country. The handicapped, among them, the citizens with the worst king of handicap – the blind and their families, have been seriously endangered in almost all aspects of social living, such as:
·        High unemployment and great discrimination in the labor process;
·        Insufficient health protection and unacceptable practice for participation in medical aids provision;
·        Threatened educational development, insufficient and inadequate conditions for regular education and expert training;
·        Insufficient legal security and involvement in the institutions of the system;
·        Extreme cultural marginalization.
 

All these issues need to be discussed, especially:
·        Adoption of well-developed program for social protection and security of the handicapped, among which the blind and their families;
·        Creating a well-developed concept of social legislation that will promote the principle of social country and will implement the international responsibilities of the country, thus providing legal security and promoting the status of this people;
·        Continuous practical fight of the authorities in the country against the blind people discrimination in all aspects of living.
·        For that reason, 15 October, the Blind Stick Day, is not a day to be celebrated, it is not a day for pathetic words, but it is a day when the symbol, the white stick, is just a signal that the fight goes on.

 
Republic of Macedonia Blinds’ Association
President Miroslav Dobrevski