Kilimanjaro Blind Trust
Grant
The Kilimanjaro Blind Trust aims to improve the lives of blind and visually impaired children in Africa. 80% of blind children lack access to quality education. We are changing this.
The Kilimanjaro Blind Trust aims to improve the lives of blind and visually impaired children in Africa through projects aimed entirely at improving their literacy and therefore their level of education. By improving literacy, our hope is that more blind and visually impaired children will eventually achieve higher job placement rates and improve their ability to integrate and increase their independence.
Summary
In September 2005, 27 climbers set out on a mission to reach the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Eight of them were blind. Before and after the seven-day expedition, several visits were made to schools and facilities serving the blind children in the Arusha region. It was immediately apparent that the need was enormous; students had no or little access to Braillers - critical tools for their literacy and education - nor did they have basic tools like guide canes to navigate the school yard. The experiences provided first-hand insight into the pressing need for better educational resources for blind and visually impaired children in East Africa, and from that moment the group decided they’d do something to help, and the Kilimanjaro Bind Trust was established to provide better support for the education of blind and visually impaired children in East Africa, with literacy at its core.
Today, the Kilimanjaro Blind Trust has grown to support projects across seven countries in East Africa. We’ve learned that by improving literacy, more blind and visually impaired children will eventually achieve higher job placement rates, and higher literacy will improve their ability to integrate and increase their independence. We do this by ensuring that thousands of Braillers across East Africa, are maintained and in working condition. We also provide new Braillers where needed, and help support the teaching process by providing Braille paper and other critical supplies. And now we're funding new technology and initiatives that will lower the costs of our services and increase our reach even further.
Our primary goals are as follows:
- Ensure that every child in East Africa has access to a braille machine and quality teaching materials
- Build and run the infrastructure required to track and maintain all braille machines in East Africa
- Increase access to affordable quality Braille paper, Brailler spare parts, and other necessary supplies
- Advocate on behalf of blind and visually impaired students from primary through university
An enormous thanks in advance for your support in helping us bring literacy to Africa’s forgotten blind children. Any donation will have a huge impact, but here are some guidelines for how your gift will be used today:
- A gift of £50 buys a year’s supply of Braille paper for 8 children.
- A gift of £200 covers spare parts to repair 10 Braille machines.
- A gift of £500 can unlock a lifetime of access to a Braille machine for a blind child. In the US, blind people with Braille literacy have an 80% better chance of finding employment. Our goal is to have one Braille machine for every blind child.
- A gift of £3,500 would deliver training for 10 additional repair people. When we train technicians, we create the potential to repair 200+ Braille machines per year
Learn more
We’re more than happy to answer any of your questions. To contact us or to learn more about what we do, please visit www.kilimanjaro-blindtrust.org
