Frandido Fairweather and Jody-Ann Leavy, students of the Salvation Army School for the Blind, type notes on Braille machines in the school library. - Photo by Amitabh Sharma

Diana Ferguson slips a school handout beneath a computer screen and flicks a button. The text appears on the screen, magnified to enable her to read her notes.

For Ferguson, who is partly blind, this machine is her lifeline for reading. A student of the Salvation Army School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (SASB) in St Andrew, she would have, until two months ago, to rely on the sole machine in the school.

"We had just one magnifier for the 130 students here," said Iyeke Erharuyi, principal of SASB.

It was an act of God, Erharuyi said, that Rupert Simms, a Jamaican-born United States-based businessman, offered assistance.

"Last year, Rupert Simms visited the school. When we were taking him around the school premises, he saw the need for magnifiers and immediately took the responsibility to supply those to us," the SASB principal said.

Erharuyi is grateful to Simms for his assistance. In four months, the Atlanta entrepreneur, whose company sells and services low-vision Telesensory products like the magnifier for the visually impaired, has also assumed responsibility to repair and refurbish Braille machines.

Committed to the task

"It is my passion to help others," Simms told The Gleaner, "and I have committed myself to this task, which I will do to the best of my abilities."

Erharuyi wishes that more such souls would come forward to assist the school in its endeavours.

The school, which is spread over eight acres, offers instruction to blind and visually impaired children. Erharuyi said that a boost in resources would enhance the school's capacity.

"We wish we could have more resources to get books in Braille," he said. "The children here also need to know what is happening and reading is a way to hone their knowledge and the overall growth."

The SASB principal said they were looking for people who could assist in upgrading the computer laboratory.

"We need the technology to work for us, we just have two or three computers that have voice-enabled software, the children are losing out here also."

The school, Erharuyi said, has an integration programme which is geared towards facilitating the SASB students to study in high schools across the city. "The challenge here, again, is resources," he said. "We lack transportation to get material from here to the schools and back."

Captain Edward Lyons, administrator of the school, said security was a major problem.

"Last week alone, we had three break-ins," Lyons said. "The robbers broke into the kitchen and stole utensils and plates, now we do not have any plates to serve food to the children."

The school has 92 students on campus. It charges $5,000 for the first term of the school year and $4,500 for the remaining two terms.

"In most cases, this is not paid as families cannot afford the fee," Lyons said.

The lack of funds, principal Erharuyi said, forced them to discontinue the outreach programme. "We hope and wish that we can start the programme again."

amitabh.sharma@gleanerjm.com