White Cane Festival Begins
2nd White Cane and Accessibility Festival organized to increase awareness as to visually challenged people will be held on November 11-14.
White cane serving as guide to visually handicapped people is celebrated all across the world as White Cane Safety Day on October 15. The festival planned to be held on these dates was cancelled due to Ankara bombing.
The festival organized by Unimpeded Access Association and Boğaziçi University Visually Handicapped Technology and Education Laboratory (GETEM) will be held on November 11 at Tünel, Taksim and November 12-13 at Boğaziçi University campus.
Many awareness and accessibility stands, concerts, and movie screening will take place again this year.
It is the first time a white cane forum will be held. Everyone will share for five minutes each of their stories about independence and how they met with cane.
In the chatting with Audio Description Association, reflection of audio description in movie and theaters on visually handicapped people will be talked about. There will be the competition of who overcomes obstacles by stumbling less.
In the accessibility stands archeological remnants may be touched, and people may ride bicycle.
Until making whole life unimpeded...
It is being called to the festival with the following words:
"We say:
One day!
Simultaneously with everyone.
In an accessible way.
We will continue to struggle until,
We watch every movie,
Read every book,
Enter education institutions without unimpeded,
Participate in production equally,
Vote by ourselves,
Enjoy every software, hardware and website to the fullest,
Wander around every street and place freely,
Make whole life equal, accessible, and unimpeded. (NV/TK)
| Blind people have used canes as mobility tools for centuries, but it was not until after World War I that the white cane was introduced.
In 1921 James Biggs, a photographer from Bristol who became blind after an accident and was uncomfortable with the amount of traffic around his home, painted his walking stick white to be more easily visible.[citation needed] In 1931 in France, Guilly d'Herbemont launched a national white stick movement for blind people. On February 7, 1931, Guilly d'Herbemont symbolically gave the first two white canes to blind people, in the presence of several French ministers. 5,000 more white canes were later sent to blind French veterans from World War I and blind civilians. In the United States, the introduction of the white cane is attributed to George A. Bonham of the Lions Clubs International. In 1930, a Lions Club member watched as a man who was blind attempted to cross the street with a black cane that was barely visible to motorists against the dark pavement. The Lions decided to paint the cane white to make it more visible. In 1931, Lions Clubs International began a program promoting the use of white canes for people who are blind. On October 6, 1964, a joint resolution of the Congress, HR 753, was signed into law authorizing the President of the United States to proclaim October 15 of each year as "White Cane Safety Day". President Lyndon Johnson was the first to make this proclamation. Source: Wikipedia |
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