content

New technology!

Lawrence Momanyji at Kilimani School in Nairobi, a user of the Sightsavers Dolphin Pen © Sightsavers 

It was at this year's Africa Forum (held annually to share learnings about the quality of services available for blind people in Africa) in May, that Sightsavers officially launched an exciting product featuring cutting edge assistive technology. The Sightsavers Dolphin Pen is a lightweight pen drive with a screen magnifier and screen reader which will enable visually impaired people in Africa the same access to computers, and therefore the opportunity to develop their skills and employment prospects as sighted people. 

An exciting partnership

The pen is the result of a unique collaboration between Sightsavers, and Dolphin Computer Access Ltd, the British accessibility software developer. This is an exciting venture because it is the first time a world class assistive technology manufacturer has collaborated with an NGO to bring out a low cost, high quality product such as this. This partnership ensures the Sightsavers Dolphin Pen is available at cost price to our partners and overseas projects, to benefit those living in some of the world's poorest communities.

Pilot launch

An IMFUNDO (a sub-department of the Department for International Development) grant funded 240 pens which were strategically placed in schools across Kenya, prior to the official launch.

One user is Roger Bonner, who works for the Kenya Ministry of Education, and is himself visually impaired: "Using the Sightsavers Dolphin Pen has given me so much more mobility and freedom - only somebody who has been totally reliant on other people can fully appreciate my new status. I sincerely believe that this simple to use package will open up opportunities for many more people with similar problems to myself."

Robin Spinks, Assistive Technology and Disability Adviser for Sightsavers, said: "The Sightsavers Dolphin Pen offers a new level of independence to blind and visually impaired computer users throughout the developing world.  For the very first time, blind and low vision computer users can carry their assistive software on a pen drive and use it on any

The Sightsavers Dolphin Pen
The Sightsavers Dolphin Pen © Sightsavers 

PC. This represents a huge step forward for visually impaired computer users in developing counties."

Education

As a member of the Global Campaign for Education (a pledge form world leaders to get all children into primary education by the year 2015) we will make the Pen available in schools and universities wherever possible, ensuring as many children as possible are able to use PCs.


Rehabilitation

Teaching basic daily living skills is one of the key ways of enabling people who are irreversibly blind to live with some kind of independence.  

Our low vision work

Many people with low vision are often treated as blind, due to lack of proper diagnosis. However, with assistance, they would be able to carry out many visual tasks. 

 

Statistics

Last year, we helped to:

  • Train 508 teachers to work with visually impaired children
  • Provide rehabilitation training to over 9,514 people
  • Train over 2,304 rehabilitation workers

Related Information

  • It costs just £160 to train a rehabilitation worker to teach blind people orientation and mobility skills