{"id":57809,"date":"2023-11-13T15:47:16","date_gmt":"2023-11-13T15:47:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/union-of-the-blind-calls-for-local-production-of-white-canes"},"modified":"2023-11-13T16:09:06","modified_gmt":"2023-11-13T16:09:06","slug":"union-of-the-blind-calls-for-local-production-of-white-canes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/union-of-the-blind-calls-for-local-production-of-white-canes","title":{"rendered":"Union of the blind calls for local production of white canes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>Rwanda Union of the Blind (RUB), an organisation that campaigns for the rights of people with visual impairment, has called for the local production of special assistive tools, which are known as white canes.<\/p>\n

A white cane allows blind or visually impaired people to scan their surroundings for obstacles or orientation marks. It also helps onlookers to easily identify the user as blind or visually impaired and take appropriate care.<\/p>\n

The organisation says local production of white canes can make them more affordable. The call is being made ahead of the national celebration of the white cane, which will be held on November 15.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe production of white canes should be started in our country so that people with visual impairment can get these gains nearby, in the districts where they live or at hospitals where they go for treatment,\u201d said RUB\u2019s president Beth Mukarwego.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe white canes replace the loss of vision, replace the loss of the eye,\u201d Mukarwego said, adding that the sticks enable blind and visually impaired people to lead more independent lives.<\/p>\n

In Rwanda, an estimated 57,000 people have visual impairment, but less than 10 per cent of them use walking sticks.<\/p>\n

Currently, white canes used in Rwanda are imported and visually impaired people can get them at a price of $35 (approx. Rwf42,000).<\/p>\n

The organisation mobilises donations from partners and charities, who provide a limited number of the sticks seen as the key to independent lives for visually impaired people.<\/p>\n

Kenya is one of the countries that produce white canes in the region.<\/p>\n

One company that had begun producing electric white canes in Rwanda stopped before it could start selling them, Mukarwego said. Its initial production was given to visually impaired people as a donation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe still think that other companies should explore the production of the white canes. If we can have these companies, white canes will become more affordable for people with visual impairment,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will buy them if they are produced here in Rwanda and especially if they are affordable because most people with visual impairment do not have money. They depend on other people to support them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The RUB has for years appealed to the government to include the walking sticks among services covered by community-based health insurance. If white canes were covered by health insurance, they could get them at 10 per cent of the current price.<\/p>\n

Mukarwego said the inclusion of white canes in insured special needs devices remains the most viable option for making them available.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s any other alternative. We will continue to knock at the doors, because if you don\u2019t knock then nobody knows your needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Rwanda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. Rwanda Union of the Blind (RUB), an organisation that campaigns for the rights of people with visual impairment, has called for the local production of special assistive tools, which are known as white canes. A white cane allows blind or visually impaired people to scan their surroundings for obstacles or orientation marks. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":57807,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,30],"tags":[760,763,758],"class_list":["post-57809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-rwanda","tag-rwanda"],"yoast_head":"\nUnion of the blind calls for local production of white canes - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Rwanda Union of the Blind (RUB), an organisation that campaigns for the rights of people with visual impairment, has cal ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/union-of-the-blind-calls-for-local-production-of-white-canes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Union of the blind calls for local production of white canes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rwanda Union of the Blind (RUB), an organisation that campaigns for the rights of people with visual impairment, has cal ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/union-of-the-blind-calls-for-local-production-of-white-canes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rwanda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-13T15:47:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-11-13T16:09:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2023\/11\/sm_1699879102.211348.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"577\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/union-of-the-blind-calls-for-local-production-of-white-canes#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/union-of-the-blind-calls-for-local-production-of-white-canes\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Union of the blind calls for local production of white canes\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-13T15:47:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-13T16:09:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/union-of-the-blind-calls-for-local-production-of-white-canes\"},\"wordCount\":467,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/union-of-the-blind-calls-for-local-production-of-white-canes#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2023\/11\/sm_1699879102.211348.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Rwanda\",\"Rwanda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/union-of-the-blind-calls-for-local-production-of-white-canes#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/union-of-the-blind-calls-for-local-production-of-white-canes\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/union-of-the-blind-calls-for-local-production-of-white-canes\",\"name\":\"Union of the blind calls for local production of white canes - 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