As part of our preparations for 2009 we've been assembling some key statistics about how far your gift to the KBT can go. Here are a few to ponder:

* Last year alone over 100 Braille machines were either repaired or placed (economic value over $ 50,000) along with 12 people trained in Braille repair.

* In the U.S.A blind people with Braille skills have an 80 percent higher chance of finding employment.

* Currently over 6 million people are blind in Africa, the majority do not have access to Braille. In East Africa alone there are over 1,000 machines in need of repair and a minimum of 2,000 new machines needed to approach our goal in the region: that every blind child has access to a Braille machine.

* A contribution of $ 5,000 (or more) would allow training of 10 additional repair people, who would have the potential to repair a hundred plus Braille machines over a 6-month period while also creating employment opportunities. The repair program would be part of a bigger effort that is currently being worked out with the Ministry of education in Kenyan and the African Braille Centre in Nairobi focused on covering all main schools in the capital with access to basic braille repair services.

Labels: Statistics