SENTUMBWE RESOURCE ACCESS

Welcome to Resource Access, providers of quality empowerment services
for people with disabilities. We specialise in service delivery to people with
visual impairments.

INVITATION
We are open to all kinds of inquiries and welcome assignments related to our work fields. We also welcome suggestions and discussion on matters to do with disability empowerment and related issues.
Read more

The Sexual and Marital Patterns of People With Visual Impairments

According to the available data material, there is a discrepancy in the marital opportunities of males and females with visual impairments. Indications are that the latter tend to marry or co-habit with the former. In contrast, men with visual impairments are not so prone to what, for want of a better term, can be referred to as "in-marriage". Read More

2 million Ugandans
risk river blindness
By Simon Kakama & Felix Basiime

Jan 17, 2004 MBARARA - More than 2 million people in 21 districts of Uganda are at the risk of contracting river blindness, a Health ministry official has said.

Dr Richard Ndyomugyenyi made the comments on January 15, at a seminar held in Westland hotel here. The official said the affected districts are Kisoro, Kabale, Rukungiri, Bushenyi and Kasese. Others are Kabarole, Kyenjonjo, Kamwenge, Kibaale, Hoima, Masindi, Kanungu, Nebbi, Arua and Yumbe. Also at risk are the residents of Moyo, Adjumani, Gulu, Apac, Mbale and Sironko districts.

River blindness originates from fast flowing rivers and streams, especially those that snake through forests. It is transmitted by a black fly called simulium, which lays eggs in the water. Symptoms of the disease include itching, leopard spots on the skin, and in advanced stages, blindness.
Ndyomugyenyi said the ministry is currently treating 1.8 million people affected by the disease.

Understanding Disability Perception; A Factor for Empowerment Initiatives

In both the so-called developed and developing countries of the world, people's opinions of disability greatly influence the social and economic aspirations of people with disabilities. Understanding the nature, form and cause of held opinions on disability should, therefore, be a crucial prerequisite if initiatives that aim at empowering people with visual impairments are to be of used to the intended beneficiaries. Read More

Confinement, Rebirth and Liberation;

The Effects of Education and Rehabilitation on The Life Situation of Blind People in Uganda

By Nayinda Sentumbwe

Thesis submitted for the cand. polit. Degree Dept. of Social Anthropology University of Oslo, October 1990.

Education is for most people, a means to an end; namely, the acquisition of knowledge and skills that will guarantee a good secure job with prospects for upward occupational and social mobility. In 1987, a Social anthropology student focused on six life histories to explore the kind of life opportunities visually impaired people in Uganda experience as a result of participating in educational and/or rehabilitation programmes.

Read thesis.doc

The Uganda mobility and rehabilitation program

Goalball is a popular activity

Athletics - easy way of activating the blind

Final report on the sporting with visual impairment project

Sporting Event in Uganda

Between 1995 and 2000, The Mobility and Rehabilitation programme for People With Visual Impairments was carried out in Uganda. The goal of the programme was to improve the lives of people with visual impairments through provision of competence for participation in relevant economic, social and cultural activities in the local community. As part of the programme, the International Blind Sports Federation and the Norwegian University of Sport and Physical Education carried out the Sporting with Visual Impairment pilot project in the country between 1998 and November 1999. During this period, 15 blind sport instructors were trained, the activities introduced to 11 schools, 266 children and adults participated in three national events and not least, blind sport interest bodies including the Uganda Blind Sport Association (UBSA) established. Both during the conceptualisation and implementation processes of the project, the relevance of sport as a tool for the development and empowerment of People with visual impairments was clearly emphasized by all stakeholders of the MBR Programme.

Public Awareness

Read the report ( word-doc)

CCTV makes the partially-sighted more functional:

Using our network, Resource Access recently managed to provide a CCTV to Joseph, a partially-sighted employee of the African Union of the blind. Like thousands of others in his situation, Joseph had throughout his school career been obliged to learn and to use Braille. Even when he learnt to read and use print, the strain on him was great. Now that he uses the CCTV, life at the office is much less complicated for Joseph.

Joseph Walugembe, African Union of the Blind, Nairobi:

The CCTV has not only improved my working styles but it is also reinvigorating personal interests and in a way relieving other staff of some workload. I am now able to read printed documents without having to wait for assistance from the overwhelmed secretary who is the only sighted assistant at the office.
I am able to read newspaper articles in detail unlike previously when I could only read headlines.

Just before this mail was brought to me, I was reviewing some PDF files; apparently JAWS could not read them and all I did was to print the files and get along by reading them using the CCTV and it worked well.

Then there are simple things like reading a number on a business card, sorting printed papers on the desk and reviewing old reports, which you might not find on the hard drive. All these things increase speed, proficiency and satisfaction with oneself.
The CCTV is also user friendly because of its simple operational system.

This new “toy” is wonderful.