Technology becoming a friend to show the way to the blind
Blind Rita Gyawali, who came to Pokhara from Gulmi to study, faced many problems while walking with a white stick. He had the bitter experience of being rejected several times when asked to tell the questioners about the place he had reached and ask them to cross the road.
Rita is now free from the problem she has been facing for years. ‘From the beginning, we got used to walking with a white stick. While walking like that, they did not speak when asked to show the way, did not care when asked to ‘cross’ the road, and sometimes even faced ‘harassment’; she said, ‘Technology is also made for us. If we know how to use it, the problem will solve itself. The skills learned in the mobility training with access to Technology have made us comfortable.’
Like Rita, other blind people are confident that they will be able to walk without the help of others in the coming days. With the help of Pokhara Metropolitan City, Kaski Nethreen Sangh has provided mobility training and access to Technology for them.
Blind Rozina Ghimire, who participated in the training, said that the network was introduced out of necessity. ‘Technology has made it easy for disabled people, and for us, it has made the impossible possible. It has helped make the blind people evil,’ she said.
Rozina said that it is easy because after ‘setting’ where you want to reach based on the ‘Google’ map, it will tell you everything, including right, left, crossing the road. He believes that he will not need a helper after being mobile.
Khomraj Sharma, the trainer of the training and the president of the National Handicapped Association, Gandaki, informed that the visually impaired were also taught to use ‘applications’ such as ‘eSewa’, ‘InDrive’, ‘Pathao’, and’ Google Maps’. He said it would help them in their daily lives.
He says that blindness can be taken as an opportunity if Technology is used to the maximum. ‘If we have access to Technology, we don’t have to compromise. The issue that we can’t do will become the past, ‘ coach Sharma said. But the challenge is that neither our government nor the ‘application developers’ is the solution. It is necessary for the local, state, and federal governments to invest in this challenge.’
Pushparaj Rimal, a central member of the National Disabled Federation, said that Technology has enabled them. Shrikant Sapkota, president of Kaski Netrahin Sangh, said that the Sangh is conducting various programs and training for the visually impaired. He informed me that there are around 1,500 blind people in Kaski.
