Key messages conveyed during the observation of International White Cane Safety Day 2019

As a visually impaired person, I have realized that one of the biggest challenges faced by persons with disabilities in Bhutan today is the lack of accessibility. The public infrastructures such as banks, hospitals, shopping complexes and other public offices are not as accessible and inclusive as they should be. Besides, the public spaces are also not safe enough for us to walk independently. The open drains without covers or fences, high sidewalks without guardrails, steep staircases without handrails and uneven footpaths/stairs are some of the barriers that continue to pose a danger to our safety in the towns. Yet nobody seems to be concerned. On the roads, the situation is worse for us. The motorists hardly care to slow down or stop their cars to let pedestrians with disabilities to walk across. If we don’t try to break these barriers today, the community of persons with disabilities will continue to remain behind the wall, disconnected from the mainstream society. This was the key message I and my visually impaired friends conveyed during the observation of International White Cane Safety Day in Thimphu on 15th October 2019.

Some of the strangest questions sighted people have ever asked personswith visual impairment in Bhutan!

It’s normal for sighted people to wonder how we the visually impaired people interact with the outside world and make sense of things around us. People obviously feel that there is no other more painful situation than having to spend the entire life in the absolute dark. As a result, various questions run through their mind when they see a visually impaired person living a comparatively normal life. With the help of modern technologies and wisdom of our leaders, life has been much better today for persons with disabilities especially the visually impaired people mainly because of the fact that we were the first to receive formal education. Based on our capabilities and knowledge, there are many platforms today where we can exercise our rights to participate in the mainstream society. Due to such great transformations in the lives of visually impaired people who were once deemed useless and burdensome, many people wonder how we manage to laugh and smile everyday despite being robbed of the most important sense organ, the eyesight. A man from my village had even equated me with God when he saw me reading a braille note because what I was reading with my fingers did not make any sense to him. It was a real wonder for him. Likewise, many people seem to wonder a lot about how we make sense of the universe and universal phenomena. Many a time, we have been asked some of the strangest questions by our curious sighted friends and personally, I never mind answering them. Some of the questions are funny but they make some sense especially when we look from their perspectives. Following are some of the questions sighted people have asked us so far:

My independent living skills put to full test

I have been alone in my house for over two weeks now. My wife has left for her village in Sibsoo with kids on 25th January 2015 and they will be back only towards the end of this week. She was hesitant to leave me alone but I advised her to go so that our kids would get the opportunity to have fun with their grandparents and enjoy the rustic life for a while. When my neighbours and friends noticed I was alone after a few days, they all asked me how I have been managing things alone. Everybody wondered how do I even cook and do the dishes. I always told them that I can easily do all those routine household chores. Even when I was not alone, I used to often help my wife with cooking, washing and cleaning. So, it’s nothing strange when I have to do it alone.