Our biggest achievement at SAMBT, hands down, is every time a new blind client learns how to get around with his or her white cane on their own. We know how easy it is to forget what courage it takes for a blind person to start walking around without hanging onto someone’s arm. Our practitioner Read more about “I did not Believe you at First”[…]
Today, I would like you to take 5 minutes to imagine something. I want you to imagine how you would feel if the eyes in your head suddenly stop working? Now close your eyes and walk around the room you’re in. This is what blind people like me experience every day. We are always mindful Read more about Imagine…[…]
As we celebrate White Cane Awareness Day, here is a story of Ntombi who we trained earlier this year. It’s a hot summer day. The washing is hanging on a low fence – sheets, shirts, skirts and trousers. Four small boys are lying on the green grass, in the shade of an old tree where Read more about The Seeing Stick[…]
Walk down any dirt or sandy road and you’ll see tracks. Tracks from cars and bicycles, cows and goats, adults and children. Most of these tracks, whether from a vehicle, animal or person, are so familiar to us we hardly pay them any attention. But when we learn to look carefully, we will see each Read more about The Stories Tracks Tell[…]
Parishna, you joined us on the 10th of March when your induction process started with the board and with Ian Hutton, our outgoing Managing Trustee. On the first of April you took over the reins as the leader of SAMBT. What attracted you to SAMBT? “As a blind person myself, I understand the importance of Read more about Welcome Parishna[…]
James is a pensioner. His home is in rural North West Province. James is blind. Kidibone is teaching him. She is teaching him how to use a white cane. This is how she tells it. “When I landed at James’s place two weeks ago, he already knew about me from my previous clients and he Read more about Dignity Regained[…]
While in lockdown now, our practitioners are calling their previous clients to hear how they are getting along. Are they managing to safely and independently get themselves to the spaza or supermarket to get food? How are they experiencing their new-found independence? Do they know that they should not use the normal sighted guide techniques? Read more about Lockdown[…]
Our practitioners have been in touch with their previous clients during the national lockdown. Unusually, the practitioners have had time on their hands being at home… Normally our practitioners run a new training programme in a new area, every 3 months. This leaves them little time to check up on each and every previous client.The Read more about Training During Lockdown[…]
Read this article in Daily Maverick with a letter from our Managing Trustee Ian Hutton:‘If NGOs were suddenly to disappear, would anyone notice?’https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-04-20-new-threat-to-the-poor-and-vulnerable-as-charities-and-ngos-face-cashflow-crisis/
