Oysters & Pearls-Uganda continues to offer computer training to the blind and visually impaired community members across Uganda.
JAWS is a computer screen reader program that speaks aloud the screen for those who are blind or visually impaired. O&P-UG has a Country License agreement which enables us to negotiate an affordable price for education.
In Uganda, an estimated 30,000 people lose their sight annually, yet the Uganda National population and Housing Census 2014 shows that already, more than 2.1 million people are living with visual impairment and 250,000 are totally blind.
Printed textbooks are not widely available and Braille textbooks are non-existent so students in Primary and Secondary rely on class notes that are dictated by their sighted classmates. This severely dampens their chances to master academic material. For those who lose their sight after school, the prospects reduce even more because employers have no knowledge or resources or legal requirement to made their jobs “accessible” to those with visual impairment.
Rose Nakiwunga is a visually impaired graduate of Kyambogo University. Although she completed her undergraduate course in Guidance and Counseling two years ago, she has not been able to get a job because of her limited computer skills.
“I have missed many job opportunities because I couldn’t use a computer. I couldn’t even do well in a data entry job my friend helped me get,” said Rose, of how basic computer trainings are missing in some institutions in Uganda.
Rose’s attempt to enroll for another computer training didn’t yield much, as she was only partially trained in one computer package, MS Word.
“It wasn’t even the entire package, because when I enrolled for this training, I realized I was a beginner in MS Word,” she said.
At Oysters & Pearls-Uganda, we have trained 21 blind and visually impaired community members with computer and braille knowledge since 2014. The training is offered by JAWS-Certified O&P-UG instructors at no charge in hopes that the learner will be able to leverage their skills to find employment or improve their education to qualify for professional employment.
The modules cover basic computer operating system, keyboarding, internet browsing and email as well several MS Office packages such as Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Access.
It has been three weeks since this recent intake started, but Rose says, “The course outline alone means that I will get more knowledge than what I paid for in the past.”
This is the second year we have registered trainees from outside of Gulu. This year’s class has students from as far as Wakiso and Kayunga in central Uganda, Koboko and Arua in West Nile region (bordering South Sudan), and Abim district, (one of the districts in Karamoja sub-region) to the North-East of Uganda.
The increasing geographic diversity in enrollment definitely shows the great challenge the blind and visually impaired in Uganda face in their attempts to get computer knowledge. Our attendance at regional and country-wide events such as National White Cane Day and Day of Diversity has helped us to reach these populations. We also partner with the Commission of Special Needs, Uganda National Association of the Blind and Uganda Communications Commission to advocate for more resources for schools and the community.
