On Saturday I met an amazing 5- year old girl with an awesome, beautiful voice. She sang the popular gospel dance tune by gospel recording artist Sinach entitled “I know who I am”. She sang it completely unaccompanied. This little singer was amazing and so courageous.
I was blown away. I held my breath. I had goose bumps!
This vivacious, energetic, bold, intelligent little girl is named Maya Hope Romney. Even her name spoke volumes.
Maya Hope.
Maya is blind. According to her mother, Camille Romney she lost her sight as a premie baby after receiving too much oxygen in an incubator.
Maya was a special guest at the Annual Symposium of the St. Kitts Society for the Blind held on Saturday 14th June at the McKnight Community Center under the theme “Empowering our Youth for the future through Education, Training and Employment”. The Symposium consisted of a panel discussion with parents of blind children as well as video clips of blind children in St. Lucia and Jamaica. The panel discussion was moderated by Lloyd Lazar.
Three parents including Maya’s mother spoke about their blind children, their progress at school and the accomplishments they were able to make. By the account of the parents and tutors , their children are exceptionally gifted with so much potential. The panel discussion was followed by questions and lively discussions with the audience gathered for the event. It quickly became apparent to me that where these amazing children lack in sight, they have been over-compensated in so many areas.
Tutors of Cotton Thomas Comprehensive School attended by three of the blind children stated their awe of the children and how much the children have taught them. They all marvelled that to see the children play, kick football, and run behind rolled tires, one would be truly amazed. To see them work their way around the computer or tablet one would wonder, are these children really blind? Their confidence, thirst to knowledge and sense of optimism are palpable and truly refreshing. The children are performing remarkably to Grade level with mainstream schools and are due to start learning Braille soon.
Part of the discussion centred on the need for family and community support for persons who become disabled as a result of sickness, accident or trauma. As confirmed by the panelists, some persons in our small community may be unaware of how their insensitive comments affect persons who are grappling to come to terms with a disability or sometimes multiple disabilities such as loss of mobility and blindness. Without adequate support, these persons do not transition into life with a disability. They often they withdraw from interaction outside their homes.
Following the panel discussion was a video presentation featuring students of the Salvation Army School for the Blind in Jamaica, and the work of the St. Lucia Blind Welfare Association to assist a 6 year old girl with her education and prosthetic eyes. The children shared their dreams and aspirations, and described their education which includes academics, music and sports.
Also in attendance at the Symposium was Mr. Rosbert Humphrey, ECCB Director who shared the mission of the ECCB to collaborate with the Society and other visually-impaired persons to enhance the money bills with marks or impressions to assist them in identifying the $100, $50, $20, $10 and $5 notes. An interesting discussion followed about suitable markers for the bills including strokes and impressed numbers since many of our blind and visually impaired persons are not familiar with Braille. Pastor Analdo Bailey ended the session with a short exhortation.
As I took it all in, I challenged myself on the role I could play to empower these children and other persons with disabilities. It seems to me that it is us, the so-called “able bodied” people and society in general, who need to be enlightened and educated about what special needs persons can accomplish and contribute to national development with empowerment and support through education, training and employment.
We are living in a digital and technological age far more advanced that the world that Helen Keller, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Louis Braille and so many others were born into. Yet their accomplishments exceeded so many sighted persons and continue to inspire us today. So I challenge us all to play our part to support and empower persons with special needs or disabilities among us for them to be a part of the next generation of world-changers. Cutting edge technology, community support and lifelong educational opportunities must be the rule and not the exception for them.
It was an honour for me to have attended the Symposium and I salute the St. Kitts Society for the Blind, its president Mr. Rockliffe Bowen, its sister association, The Association for Persons with Disabilities, and all persons who worked to make the Symposium a reality. The session was a real eye-opener for me. I am truly humbled to have met committed parents like Camille and the other parents who spoke, and little Maya Hope.
I am committed to doing what I can to empower them.
Won’t you join me?
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