New Braille Bible to improve literacy for the visually impaired

The Uganda Bible Society has appealed to government to encourage braille literacy among Ugandans so that many people can acquire knowledge about the language.

The appeal was made during the launch of a braille bible for the visually impaired people over the weekend in Kampala.

Some of visually impaired people welcome the move noting that it will give them a chance to read the bible on their own terms.

The General Secretary of the Uganda Bible Society Simon Peter Mukhama urged government to advocate for the increased Braille literacy.

He described the uniqueness of the bible noting that it has volumes and its very different from the common bible.

He noted that the book is partitioned to make easy to navigate.

"It has volumes, it is not one big bible. It is divided into volumes so it’s very different," he said.

He said that the introduction of braille bible will not only cater for the religious needs of the visually impaired persons but it can also be a braille literacy tool even for those who might not be religious or even Christians.

According to the World Health Organisation, there are 39 million visually impaired people worldwide, 300,000 of which live in Uganda.