I love having random important days to celebrate in the middle of my usual boring Uni filled week… this past week we had two of those days actually, which I am very proud to say I could celebrate.

Allow me to put these into a timeline and context. On Thursday 13 October was the first celebration. Every year on the second Thursday of October, world sight day is commemorated. This day is celebrated on a global scale to bring awareness to all people with vision impairments.  It has been stated by the WHO that around one billion people on this earth suffer from close or far vision impairments due to late diagnoses. It is especially for people like these, that we have a day to celebrate the power visually impaired people have learned to muster within themselves, to gain control of getting a better life for themselves.  People with different levels of blindness have daily struggles because of their vision loss. From day-to-day things such as driving or even international travel to job opportunities, are all affected by their impairment one way or another. Therefore, having this health holiday, awareness for blindness is increased all around the world, passively giving the blind community an even bigger voice.

This day was first ever celebrated on October 8 1984. The Lions Club, was the establishing party of this day, backed up by the WHO a few years later. When it became an official designated World Health Day.   It was to take place on every second Thursday of October each year. This holiday receives a theme each year, this year being ‘love your eyes.”  This holiday allows organizations to collaborate in helping people with visual impairments access to equipment or preventions to their visual impairments.

Placing the second designated World Health Day on the timeline would have to be last Saturday the 15th of October which was White  Cane day. This holiday is celebrated every year on the 15^th of October. It is to celebrate the independence blind people have along with the help of the cane. It is not only the cane that gives blind people independence, don’t get me wrong but that is one of the top reasons that is celebrated as it gives blind people mobility which is a very important tool in general life.

There are organizations that teach mobility to people with visual impairments. Teaching blind people to use landmarks, for example, to help navigate where they need to go. Not being able to see the landmarks makes this part of the training difficult for abled bodied people to comprehend but it is definitely possible. As I explained in a video I just recently released on my socials, there are different meanings of colors on the cane. Plane black and white canes show that the user is completely blind whereas, having red incorporated into the cane means the user has some form of vision.

I respect the person who both invented and use the cane. From my experience it isn’t the easiest to use without ending in hitting a few people unintentionally. The few people that have been with me when I have used my cane would definitely know this…sorry guys…but hey, at least I have an innocent excuse to ‘accidently’ wack someone who annoys me.

P.S.  Since we’re on the subject my biggest condolences to my Uncle’s ankles especially on the day of Museums…😊