Karonga rolls out braille adult literacy

Malawi Union of the Blind has rolled out a Braille adult literacy project for its members in Karonga to enable them to know how to read and write.

In an interview yesterday, the union’s project officer Violet Baleti said they plan to reach about 200 people in each district in the country.

She said: “Malawi Union of the Blind advocates for the rights of visually impaired people. We saw that these people are finding it difficult to access information in Braille.

“We are targeting all districts with support from the Norwegian Association of the Blind, but we have rolled out the project in Karonga.”

Karonga District Federation of Disability Organisations in Malawi chairperson Noah Simwaka said Braille literacy will help members to easily get information on various issues.

“When you don’t have access to information, you are disconnected from the world,” he said.

A participant, Walinase Mhango from Mwenilondo in Karonga Central, said they depended on others to read things to them.

“At the moment, there is much information flying around about Covid-19, but we fail to get credible information because we cannot read,” he said.

Mhango appealed to authorities to print more copies in Braille for them to access.

As of Tuesday, the country had registered 4 714 Covid-19 cases with 152 deaths while Karonga has recorded 76 cases with four deaths.