50 visually-impaired join White Cane Safety Day
Participants enjoy riding a jeepney, mall tour for the first time
MORE than 50 visually-impaired trainees of the Department of Social Welfare and Development 7, through the Area Vocational Rehabilitation Center (AVRC) II in Barangay Labangon, Cebu City joined in the celebration of the White Cane Safety Day held recently.
This annual celebration was meant to promote and protect the physical, moral and social well-being of all persons with disabilities (PWDs), such as the visually-impaired. It also aimed at raising awareness on the plight of PWDs, as well as to uphold the rights of these PWD members in the community.
A lecture on the basic sighted guide techniques and an actual simulation activity on the use of a cane were also undertaken by all AVRC trainees. Sighted individuals served as guides to the visually-impaired clients.
The event culminated with the holding of a mall tour. A total of 21 visually-impaired persons got the opportunity to an exposure tour at the SM City Cebu. Part of this tour was the orientation on how to embark and disembark on jeepneys.
Inside the mall, they were also able to interact with some mall personnel, like the sales ladies and cashiers, and had the chance to explore the whole supermarket, which they have not done before.
All of them also experienced riding an escalator and elevator for the first time.
The use of the white cane dates back in 1921 when a Bristol photographer named James Biggs used it to help him move around after he lost his vision in an accident.
He chose the white cane so that even at night, he would be visible to pedestrians and motorists.
Thus, the white cane has become the symbol of greater mobility for the visually-impaired and of their full participation in the community.
AVRC is DSWD’s non-residential institution that provides rehabilitation programs and services to PWDs through the various courses they are offering ranging from therapeutic massage, motor rewinding, basic electronics, dressmaking, carpentry, commercial cooking and cosmetology.