Voir Demain

The magazine of the organization of blind Catholics in France

"Voir Ensemble"
n. 465 October-December, 2016.
Section: Blind and low vision people throughout the World.
Equal rights citizenship
Pedro Zurita
Former secretary-General of the World Blind Union

EQUAL RIGHTS CITIZENSHIP

People who cannot see at all or whose sight is extremely poor must combine in differing degrees the objective
inconvenience stemming from this sensory impairment with negative prejudices and overt misconceptions relating
to the real impact this might have on each individual. Luckily, throughout two centuries, we walked a very
significant path in our endeavours to reach full and equal participation.
Within the framework of my international activity concentrating on the struggle to achieve true social
emancipation, I had the opportunity of visiting 99 countries and of shaking hands with blind or low vision people
who had succeeded in becoming equal members in their own communities. We as human beings are equipped
with dynamic potential and our ultimate goal should always be to promote by all possible means a personal selffulfillment in accordance with our own capacity. We must set in motion all available resources to access a good
quality education and to obtain a working position matching our individual assets and talents.
Faced with a person who cannot see at all or whose sight is severely impaired, the attitude adopted by members of
his/her family or of his/her immediate environment needs to be a positive one. Instead of feeling pity towards that
person, one should act dynamically and seriously think how best to help that person. Blindness is by no means an
invincible barrier. A perfect human being only exists as a mental construct, but in real society each one of us is
equipped with strengths and limitations. The fact of being blind or having very poor sight is something we don't
choose of our own free will. This is part of what fate has dealt us in life. It is desirable that each individual human
being aspires to reach the maximum possible standard of physical and social wellbeing. It is therefore quite logical
that we foster blindness and low vision prevention and that we promote the improvement of eye care services.
However, even though we admit the immense value of sight, we must accept without any reservation that the
human being possesses an amalgam of features which form his/her over all personality.
All over the world it has been unequivocally shown that it is indeed possible to become an effective and positive
human being, despite not seeing at all or having very low vision. In my travels throughout the world, including
Africa, Asia and Latin America, I've been happy and privileged to meet both blind people and those with low
vision working in agriculture, or industry, highly skilled as masseurs or physical therapists, practicing music of
different kinds, working as telephonists or teleoperators, as successful computer specialists, working as shorthand
typists, journalists or teachers at different education levels... I had the pleasure to converse with blind members of
parliament and diplomats, and I had the opportunity to meet cabinet ministers of the UK, Sweden, Niger, Zambia,
Lesotho... That means that blindness is definitely not an insuperable barrier and that individual successes depend
on our educational opportunities and having access to an active social life. It is essential that we are able to exploit
our dynamic abilities, to cultivate our most cherished interests and to implement our greatest personal efforts.
Nowadays, we can also benefit from the help of low and high technologies that may contribute to our personal and
professional development.
HUMAN BEINGS ENTIRELY EQUAL.
There is a natural tendency to group people according to the presence of a salient common individual feature but
we must bear in mind that all generalizations must be understood with great caution. When we proclaim them, we
always leave aside important items which mark our individuality. In the case we are dealing with here, it is true
that visual impairment is a non-trivial common feature but each one of us, besides being blind or having severe
low vision, we are endowed with a large range of characteristics that make us unique. Even if people often talk of
the blind as an abstract idea, we must firmly champion our right to be recognized as human beings with our own
unique qualities.
There are many reasons to march together towards the ideal attainment of a world where each will have his/her
unique place.