Kilimanjaro Blind Trust - Our Efforts

Best friends summit Kilimanjaro for the KBT

2010-11-01T21:57:00.002-04:00

Their story begins in late 2001 on a muddy rugby pitch under the canopy of the Swiss Alps where they played in opposing high school teams. Fast forward to the first day of freshman year at the University of Richmond. To their utter surprise, there they were - both moving boxes into the exact same dorm room. Within an instance they went from former rugby nemesis to roommates. From there, their friendship flourished as they enrolled in the same major, pursued similar interests, and pushed one another to do more and excell.

Since then, they've parted ways to pursue careers in different parts of the globe, but their mutual interests and desire to push each other to the limits has persisted, and now they've decided to team up and climb Mt Kilimanjaro to raise funds for the Kilimanjaro Blind Trust.

As stated on their fundraising page: "In the USA, 70% of blind who cannot read Braile are unemployed while 80% who are Braille literate are employed. Of the 6 million children who are blind, almost 87% live in developing countries where resources to help them and their families cope are scarce, if existent at all. To date, the Kilimanjaro Blind Trust has opened 3 spare parts depots to facilitate the reparation of Braille machines, has funded intensive programs to train more than two dozen people to repair braille machines, has distributed dozens of new machines to classrooms throughout the country and has helped repair over 2,000 machines. Braille literacy is key to jobs and to independence.

"We are asking for your help in supporting the Kilimanjaro Blind Trust. We have a goal of raising $8,000 to benefit the organization and further the work that they are doing in East Africa. Your donation of $20, $50, $100 or more would be greatly appreciated and a huge encouragement to us."

To learn more about their climb and help them meet their goal, please visit their fundraising page today!

And they've even received press coverage of their climb. Read their latest press here!

Running the NYC Marathon for Braillers

2010-10-30T10:02:00.003-04:00

Dear Friends,

On November 7th I will be running the New York Marathon to raise funds for the Kilimanjaro Blind Trust, in partnership with Perkins International. Our goal is to raise, as a minimum, $150,000. Your generous individual support will ensure that even more Perkins Braillers ® can be distributed to students throughout East Africa and that we can continue to increase Braille literacy. Remember, all funds go directly to Brailler machines, repair and training; there are no administration costs! Your contribution does make a difference to the education of blind or visually impaired children in East Africa.

The Kilimanjaro Blind Trust is starting to make a significant impact in East Africa. Since its establishment in 2005, it has created momentum to attack Braille literacy. USAids is now helping fund other aspects of visually impaired work making our work even more effective. The governments of Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania are very supportive. The Brailler replacement and repair training courses are becoming a model for other countries. The spare parts depot and trained repair staff we put in place over the past two years have facilitated the repair of more than 2000 Braillers in this region. Regional co-ordination is also becoming a model in other geographic areas of the world. Teachers are noticing that performance amongst visually impaired students is improving as they have more access to machines.

Braille is the key to literacy for people who are blind, the gateway to employment and independence. Yet still today most blind students in East Africa will not learn Braille because their schools do not have the necessary tools.

Please go to http://support.perkins.org/goto/paulpolman to make a credit card donation on behalf of my Marathon run. To donate by wire transfer, cash or check, please click here. Your gift truly has a direct impact on hundreds of blind and visually impaired children in East Africa.

The Kilimanjaro Blind Trust, with Perkins International, advances Braille literacy among students throughout East Africa. Kilimanjaro Blind Trust was launched by a group of friends who climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. Led by Erik Weihenmayer, the acclaimed mountain climber who is blind, five blind climbers summitted Mt. Kilimanjaro and set a new record. The Kilimanjaro Blind Trust focuses on improving the lives of blind children in East Africa and reaches thousands of children by distributing new Perkins Braillers ® to schools and agencies for the blind.

Your support for the Kilimanjaro Blind Trust can make that long awaited day a memorable one for villages across East Africa. A day when students begin learning to read and write. Learn more about the Kilimanjaro Blind Trust.

Here is a link to a recent CBS news report in the United States on the importance of Braille literacy. http://www.perkins.org/news-events/news/cbs-braille-literacy.html

Thanks for your support. It does make a difference.

Paul Polman
Chairman, Perkins International and Founder of the Kilimanjaro Blind Trust

The Benefits of Braille

2010-10-29T14:03:00.002-04:00

Here's an interesting article about the Benefits of Braille by Bruce Atchison, a legally-blind freelance writer as well as the author of Deliverance from Jericho and When a Man Loves a Rabbit.

You can read his post here:
Bruce Atchison -- author: THE BENEFITS OF BRAILLE

An update from the Director of KBT

2010-10-18T11:26:00.000-04:00

Dear Donors and Friends,

Another year has quickly passed so we would like to update you on what the
Kilimanjaro Blind Trust accomplished in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda and what we
plan to continue working on.

Momentum is increasing and we are excited to report that after a productive year,
the projects that the Kilimanjaro Blind-Trust is funding are beginning to become a
model, expandable to other regions. Our further goal is to continue to develop this
model and to make it sustainable.

The Braille machine repair network established in 2009, including training repair
technicians, establishing spare parts depots, funding transportation costs to deliver
machines, etc. has functioned well in 2010 so that over 2000 machines have
been repaired. Repair training programs continue to go on at both a beginner and
advanced level. We have provided more new Braille machines as well. As a result,
to our great excitement, better access to machines in the schools has started to
have an impact on visually impaired students. As the leader of the training sessions
stated, "Participants (of the training) professed that since the inception of the repair
project, there has been serious improvement of the performance of the blind children
in schools."

The Trust's Perkins School for the Blind contact who manages our programs in East
Africa, Laura Matz, recently visited the region where she met with representatives
from the three countries. She came back with positive news about the impact that
the Trust is starting to make and is now very excited about how it is becoming a
model for other regions in the world. This regional coordination makes a larger
impact and alerts governments and other aid agencies to the importance of Braille
literacy, who then start to become involved, thus creating even more momentum.
This is just starting to happen. USAids, for example, has recently joined us in
funding part of the repair training workshops. The Uganda government is providing
the salary of a repair technician for the first time.

But there is still much that needs to be done.

Repair training will continue to be done, and we hope now to establish a standard
of proficiency for the technicians with recognition through certification in the regions.
This will make it a profession in itself to be aspired to, and hopefully, over the
long-term, to have a stable group of technicians who have gained considerable
experience and can perform even the most difficult repairs.

Ongoing we are still working on establishing a databank of all the machines in

the countries to be able to track the machines and their repair schedule, to detect
repeated problems, to better train students how to use the machines and care for
them.

Despite our assistance in making existing machines available for use again and
despite our donations of new machines, on average only 1 in 4 visually impaired
student (in Uganda for example) has access to a machine. Not only does this limit
their progress, but apparently, it also increases the risk of damaging a machine.
The students need their own machines throughout the day, every day. Without
it, they cannot take notes, or do homework, or take exams. Therefore, we must
continue to repair machines, but also distribute 1000's of new ones.

Access to high grade Braille paper is also an important need. This paper needs to
be imported and is very expensive. When schools run out, they use other paper
which is often another cause of broken machines. Therefore, the Trust will assist in
improving access to Braille paper.

Still to be developed is better and consistent teacher training so teachers can
properly teach Braille.

Therefore your support is still needed, small and large.

Thank you again for your commitment to the Kilimanjaro Blind Trust which is proud
to support the dedicated people in Africa and at Perkins who are carrying out our
mission.

We wish you a very successful and enriching year, and thank you again from the
depths of our hearts.

Paul Polman
Director, Kilimanjaro Blind Trust
CEO, Unilever

KBT Sponsors Brailler Repair Training

2010-05-01T13:57:00.006-04:00

Mr. Jude Afema assisting trainees on how to remove a mainspring

This is a report for the training of Perkins Brailler repair technicians. This training was sponsored by the Perkins school for the blind, Kilimanjaro blind trust and USAID and was implemented by Uganda National Association of the Blind. Twelve participants were drawn from twelve different schools and districts of Uganda. The selection was conducted by the UNAB staff, board, head teachers and head of units. During the training, participants were trained on how to handle general maintenance and minor repairs. According to our assessment participants can now handle all the minor repairs and general maintenance. Participants were all given a full tool kit each to use in the field and will be followed up to select best seven who will be invited for the advanced training.

OBJECTIVES OF THE TRAINING;
1. To equip participants with the basic skills on how to handle minor repairs and general maintenance.
2. Increase the number of technicians in the field who can handle minor repairs.

In Uganda, we have over 5000 blind children in schools and 1000 Perkins Braillers. Like any other equipments, Perkins Braillers too face mechanical problems and need regular servicing. In order to achieve this in time, we need technicians who can at least handle minor repairs and refer major ones to UNAB. There is a very big gap between the number of Braillers and the users. This means more than four blind children share a Perkins Brailler and therefore over worked, leading to continuous and regular breakages. We acknowledge the fact that there are other more advanced innovations that can read and write Braille but can not be applied in sub sahara Africa in the near future because;

Joseph supervising trainees as they try to fix the keys back

a) Most of the new innovations need electricity yet in most sub sahara Africa, there is no hope for electricity in the near future,
b) Others need to be connected to gadgets like computers which make the processes of writing to be more expensive yet this is a third world country (a case for Uganda),
c) A perkins Brailler remains cheaper and can stand the most hard condition,
d) The durability of a perkins Brailler compared to other innovations if high,
However, despite all the above most of the parents of the blind children are poor and therefore can not afford to buy a Brailler for their children. The government of Uganda is positive doesn’t have much to contribute towards this cause.

In order to redress this challenges, we need continuous supply of Perkins Braillers in the country, technicians who can work on them in case of mechanical problems and supply of spare parts.

EXPECTATIONS;
- Acquire knowledge,
- Secure tools and spare parts,
- Get certificates,
- Transport refund,
- Out of pocket,
- Get manuals and hand outs,
- Good feeding and accommodation,

Participants helping each other to reassemble a Perkins Brailler

- Make new friends,
- First aid.

OBSERVATIONS/RESULTS
- Members successful mastered the training. They qualify for the advanced training.
- Participants professed that since the inception of the repair project, there has been serious improvement of the performance of the blind children in schools.
- The more we entered further into the training, the trainees seemed to find it harder and it took us more time on some topics than we had anticipated.
- Schools may be supportive but luck some of the resources.
- During the training, eight Perkins Braillers were repaired by the trainees.

CHALLENGES.
• Most of the technicians we have trained don’t use internet, this may delay communication and reports from the field.

Group photo during program closure

• Schools/units of the blind are spread apart and this may affect the assistance expected from technicians to the nearby schools.
• Majority of the technicians trained are teachers who are connected to some units, but may not be able to get time to assist other schools where they are not stationed.
• Some of the trained technicians have fewer Braillers to practice on. They may not have a lot of chance to explore and or build their carrier.
• Transfers and promotions may affect some of the technicians’ performance.
• Lack of recommended Braille paper on the market and money to secure it outside Uganda.

Message from the Director

2010-02-07T15:03:00.001-05:00

Dear Donors and Friends,

After a busy year, we would like to update you on what your gift to the Kilimanjaro Blind Trust accomplished in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.

Kim and I, along with the President of Perkins, Steven Rothstein, and Laura Matz also from Perkins, visited Nairobi to meet with the organizations whose work we support. We met many of the people who are repairing Braille writing machines, we met students who are using the Braille machines, we met visually impaired and blind university students who are the future advocates and we met the people running the programs.

The highlight was opening the Spare Parts depot in Nairobi that the Trust has funded, one of three depots supplying spare parts in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Difficulty in obtaining spare parts was a major obstacle in repairing broken machines. These facilities, as well as increased training of repair people, will help speed up Braille machine repair. More than 1000 machines have been repaired so far. We have also distributed dozens of new machines in the three countries as well. We invite you to visit www.perkins.org/kilipics to see a few photos from our visit to Kenya.

Despite this progress, there is still much to be done. For example, amongst the blind Kenyatta University students we met who are just about to finish their studies, not a single one had their own machine. What will they do after they graduate? Another example is that in two schools for the blind in Uganda, 62 students share only 15 Braillers. That means that any one student will have significant periods of time when he or she cannot take notes, nor do homework. Homework must always be done at school because no one has their own machine at home.

A recent estimate of need in the region suggested that a minimum of 2000-3000 Braillers are required to at least provide access to a Brailler to all students who are blind attending school, without even mentioning the students having their own machines for the rest of their lives, nor many children who are blind who do not attend school.

Plans for next year include providing more Braille machines, continuing to provide more spare parts, continuing to provide skilled repair people, continuing to develop a tracking system for the existing machines in the three countries, training students how to care for the machines, providing paper for the cumbersome and expensive braille books, and possibly printing presses to decrease the heavy load on the African Braille Centre that must print all the Braille text books for the entire country.

Thank you again for your commitment to the mission of the Kilimanjaro Blind Trust which is proud to support the passionate people we met. We would like to thank the dedicated people at Perkins and our partners in Africa who are helping us to fulfil our mission.

We wish you a very successful and enriching year, and thank you again from the depths of our hearts.

Paul Polman
Director, Kilimanjaro Blind Trust
CEO, Unilever

Free Climbing School

2009-10-07T10:07:00.002-04:00

Here's a short video about the efforts of Koichiro Kobayashi, member of the KBT Advisory Group, who runs a climbing school for the visually impaired in Japan. His fantastic program builds confidence and drive in the blind climbers it touches. See for yourself...

Kilimanjaro Blind Trust - four year anniversary

2009-09-30T14:29:00.000-04:00

Today marks the Kilimanjaro Blind Trust's fourth anniversary, formed when a group of blind climbers summited Mt Kilimanjaro in a team led by Erik Weihenmayer. Read all about the team's assent here.

Some thought provoking facts:

2009-09-27T21:44:00.000-04:00

- 80-87 percent of individuals who are blind are in developing countries.
- 80-85 percent of blindness is preventable, though the number of blind caused by infections diseases is decreasing. In the developing world, cataracts are the largest cause amongst adults and hygiene of pregnant mother is the largest cause amongst new-born
- 90-95 percent do not attend school and never become educated
- There are 1 million children and youth worldwide who are deafblind.
- There are 6 million children worldwide who are blind or visually impaired.

These statistics are from a variety of sources, including the WHO, and were collected by Kim Polman during her August 2008 trip to Kenya.

Integrated Approach to Braille Literacy, An Update

2009-09-15T14:34:00.001-04:00

The Kilimanjaro Blind Trust, with its partners, has been setting up an integrated approach of providing new Braille machines to institutions where there are not enough for each blind student to have his or her own machine. The Trust has also run training programs to prepare more repair people so that a machine can be repaired closer to home and more quickly. In each of our three target countries we have set up a Spare Parts Depot, a central place where repair people can get spare parts that will always be in stock

KBT founders Paul and Kim Polman visited Nairobi in August 2009 to meet one of KBT's partners, the African Braille Center, and to reunite with Douglas S (who was blinded in the Nairobi American Embassy bombing) and his trusty helper, Joash Aswani, who together climbed Kilimanjaro in 2005 and completed the entire Tour d’Afrique on a tandem bicycle in 2008. Paul and Kim met them to help officially open the Spare Parts Depot for Kenya, where machines can also be repaired. For the occasion, the African Braille Center gathered together advocates for the visually impaired - students whose schools will benefit, blind athletes from Nairobi, blind students from Kenyatta University who are mentoring younger blind children and who are becoming advocates for the visually impaired, Braille repair people, and journalists from various media.

Kim notes that "it was satisfying for us to meet the people in our partner organizations working to support the blind and visually impaired who also came to the festivities, and who are gradually developing to lead full, independent, satisfying and meaningful lives, thus fulfilling the goals of the Kilimanjaro Blind Trust. We have complete confidence that the African Braille Center can carry out the work effectively and efficiently."

KBT funds staff training at the African Braille Center

2009-02-23T23:52:00.006-05:00

Thanks to funding from the Kilimanjaro Blind Trust, the African Braille Centre has been able to train staff at area schools to undertake minor Brailler maintenance and repairs.

“Children in school will not have to go for days without accessing their Brailler due to minor defects. The blind children will be able to learn side by side with their sighted peers and using a ‘pen’ that is equally reliable,” said ABC Production/ Development Manager Kiprotich Juma.

Kiprotich explained that when children who are blind take examinations, it is impossible to share Braillers. He further reckons that, what blind children need is to be given equal opportunity so they may perform well in class and during examination.

Kiprotich explained that when children who are blind take examinations, it is impossible to share Braillers and this can make it harder for teachers to keep up with curriculum goals.

“Education is the key to a better future life and this will not be possible without braille literacy for a blind person,” Kiprotich said.

Braille literacy, Kiprotich said, permits greater independence for children who are blind when they go on to college and careers. For instance by knowing braille, individuals who are blind can give presentations or speeches without memorizing the content, and they can take notes for future reference.

By supporting braille instruction programs and providing Perkins Braillers® to those in need, Perkins, the Kiliminjaro Blind Trust, and the African Braille Centre are creating new possibilities for children who are blind in East Africa.

Where in the World is Perkins?

2009-01-29T23:32:00.001-05:00

The latest issue of Perkins' Newsletter "Perkins Insight" highlighted some of their international work, including efforts by the KBT. Here's what it said:

The Kilimanjaro Blind Trust began with an incredible mission when 27
climbers -- eight of them blind -- set out to reach the
summit of Mt. Kiliminjaro.

Before and after the 7-day expedition, climbers visited schools in the
region and became inspired to develop a trust that would improve the
lives and opportunities of children who are blind in East Africa.

The Kiliminjaro Blind Trust supports programs operated by Perkins that
teach braille literacy, distribute and repair Perkins Braillers®, and
train teachers to work with students who are blind in Tanzania,
Uganda, and Kenya.

To date, nearly 600 Perkins Braillers® have been repaired, allowing
more children to learn to read and write independently.

Learn more on our website.
http://support.perkins.org/site/R?i=_ZYeHyHicfXnn5Kuujt9mw..

Key Statistics on KBT's Efforts

2009-01-19T23:14:00.007-05:00

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.

KBT's 2009 Project Plan

2009-01-19T21:32:00.006-05:00

Based on what we have learned from our previous activities and discussions with several of our partners on the ground, KBT is proud to announce our proposed activities for 2009. In this year, we will address the following needs:

Developing a spare parts depot for each country
Providing funding to cover the salary for a full- or part-time repair position in each country
Funding for transportation, which would cover either the costs of sending Braillers in need of repair to a central location or sending a repair technician to various sites for repair, or a combination of both
Distribution of several new Perkins Braillers in each country
A repair training session for Uganda, which is the country most in need of strengthening their repair skills

KBT and the new Perkins Brailler

2009-01-14T20:06:00.001-05:00

Perkins recently released an updated version of the new Perkins Brailler. KBT has already provided funding to help distribute the new Braillers all over Africa...

Celebrating 200 Years of Louis Braille

2009-01-02T09:46:00.001-05:00

Here's a little historical note to celebrate Louis Braille's 200th birthday:

In 1809 Louis Braille was born in Coupvray near Paris. His father made harnesses. At the age of 3, Louis, while playing in the workshop, hurt his eye with one of the tools, and after infection set in, he became blind. As he was very smart, he went to school and just listened. He progressed very well and became a class leader. He became an accomplished musician as well as a school teacher.

Meanwhile a French army captain experimented with raised dots so his soldiers could communicate in the dark. He developed it further and introduced the system to the blind school where Louis studied. Louis experimented further with it, finally refining it at the age of 15 to a 6 dot system that is still used today in any language all over the world.

To write braille, Louis used a stylus and slate. Each dot is punched individually and actually has to be written backwards. Many children in developing countries, they still learn with the stylus and slate, but studies have proven that literacy develops more slowly.

A major breakthrough occurred when Perkins School for the Blind developed in 1951 a mechanical braillewriter which is considered by many to be the premiere braillewriter in the world. It is tough, reliable and indispensable. The new Next Generation Perkins Brailler which will be in production in 2010 is even better – “less force, less weight, less noise.”

Braille machines work in all countries in all languages with only six raised dots. Braille alphabets have been created in more than 140 languages. Braille can also be used for music and mathematic, all with only the six dots.

(For more information see the Perkins School for the Blind website.)