As part of activities to observe Blind Awareness Month this year, the Dominica Association of Persons with Disabilities (DAPD) earlier last week released a 4-Part Blind Awareness DVD. The main item of this DVD compilation is a 30 minute Documentary entitled “Vision 2020 and Dominica: Lighting the Darkness”.
Vision 2020: The Right to Sight is the global initiative for the elimination of avoidable blindness, and is a joint programme of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) with an international membership of NGOs, professional associations, eye care institutions and corporations.
VISION 2020 seeks to eliminate the main causes of avoidable blindness in order to give all people in the world, particularly the millions of needlessly blind, the right to sight. It is estimated that up to 80 percent of the world’s blindness is avoidable, and that persons in Developing Countries like Dominica are heavily impacted by sight-related diseases conditions.
DAPD saw the need to produce this Documentary because the organization recognizes that not much is known locally about the Vision 2020 initiative, and that many myths and misconceptions prevail in our society about blindness. In addition Dominicans and other persons need to be made aware of how functional and independent blind and visually impaired persons are, or can be.
The objectives of this Documentary are therefore to
• provide information to the general public on the Vision 2020 program
• create a greater awareness of visual impairment and persons living with this disability; and
• highlight the professional and creative abilities of persons living with impaired vision to again emphasize that “disability does not mean inability”.
This fast-paced and informative production features local Ophthalmologist Dr. Hazel Shillingford-Ricketts and Nathalie Murphy, the Executive Director of the DAPD, and includes extensive footage of blind persons involved in varied activities which may surprise some persons.
In addition to this Documentary, the Vision 2020 DVD contains three other interesting and thought provoking features including”At Home With the Murphys”, which provides a fascinating insight into the domestic activities of Blind and Visually Impaired persons; “Blind Cricket in Dominica” which illustrates that sporting activities are enjoyed by blind persons; and “Francis Speaks Frankly”, highlighting the thoughts and capabilities of Francis Charles from Grand Bay.
The “Vision 2020 and Dominica: Lighting the Darkness” Documentary will be shown on Marpin and SAT Television and will also be available for viewing on the Internet at the DAPD Website (http://dapd.weebly.com); the DAPD Channel on LiveDominica TV (ldtv.alturl.com); and the Bouzai Productions Channel on YouTube..
The Documentary was financed by the Australian High Commission and Optical Services Ltd of Dominica, and produced by local Filmmaker Clement Richards of Bouzai Productions.
Hey guys,
You should watch and share this new video raising awareness of the issue of avoidable blindness – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YoSS_9IlSE&feature=relmfu
It was handmade by one extremely talented individual, who spent six months piecing together the clip from more than 1500 photos and a budget of $185 – a mammoth effort!
Check it out – the more people who see this the better!
Congrats DAPD. You will reap results by such good initiatives.