The Francina Foundation is on campaign for a more pedestrian friendly city for the benefit of the blind and all citizens, too.
The foundation is on a media tour to promote its campaign that revolves around the idea that it is the environment and the way it is designed and built that determines the existence of a disability. And it raises the white cane as an opportunity for these limitations to be reduced.
The foundation is promoting donations of white canes for those visually impaired. The foundation has already secured funding to distribute 6,000 of these sticks to ensure the mobility of people with visual disabilities.
The objective of this campaign is to promote the importance of the White Safety Cane so that people living with visual impairment can have an autonomous life. However, as important or more important than the cane itself is to create and awareness that the focus should always be on the capabilities of people and not on the limitations.
The access of every blind person to a white cane is a sign of respect for the rights of all, it is a way to open the doors wide so that the integral development of all citizens is possible. These small things change lives.
Foundation creator, engineer Francina Hungría explains that the white safety cane is a first link in the cycle of autonomy for blind people. She says, nevertheless, there are other major challenges such as the adaptation and confidence of families, and dealing with the stereotypes about the skills of people with disabilities.
As part of the campaign, the organization seeks more support for what it calls “sustainable urban mobility.” The foundation seeks to create awareness regarding the physical barriers that limit full access to environments. “Here you have people who, although they are very good cane users, are forced to take a motoconcho on their way to work because the sidewalk is impassable in the middle of a major city thoroughfare,” she explains.
The organization is also campaigning to educate parents to help their offspring become independent.
Hungria says there is a misperception that inclusion or accessibility are issues for people with disabilities. “To talk about accessibility is crucial to generate welfare for the elderly, mothers who take their children to school, employees who are exposed to road risks every day, SMEs that distribute their goods, the list is long,” she explains, highlighting that large segments of the population will benefit from improvements in accessibility.
She says the changes needed have major social and productive relevance, but at present are seen only as issues for a small group of people.
She points out that the main obstacle today for the visually impaired is getting from their homes to school or work. “If getting a white cane can be an effort in certain contexts, knowing how to use it is another challenge. Add poor quality transportation and unsafe roads, and its a sentence without a sentence,” she says.
The Fundación Francina has been active since 2014. A civil engineer, Francina Hungría was blinded when an assailant shot at her when carrying out an assault at a construction where she was working, causing her to almost completely loose her eyesight.
Read more in Spanish:
Fundación Francina
Diario Libre
Francina Hungría y el bastón blanco – Diario Libre
El Caribe
17 October 2022