The Saint Lucia Blind Welfare Association (SLBWA) continues to draw attention to the sector that produces products and services that cater for the needs of blind and visually impaired persons. This as the month of May is being observed as Blindness Awareness Month in Saint Lucia.
It is against this backdrop the association is acknowledging the recent presentation of the Royal Medal to the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Index Braille Bjorn Lofstedt. He was awarded the special medal for Enterprises 2019 by the Royal Patriotic Society in Sweden.The medal is submitted by His Royal Highness Prince Carl Philip on May 15 at the House of Nobility in Stockholm.
Index Braille started as a university project to develop a braille type writer with copy function in 1979. The inspiration to develop braille printers came through Bjorn Lofstedt’s mother who became blind at the age of 32. He was then an eight year old boy who witnessed how tough it was for his mother to integrate into society as someone without sight.
Supported by the Swedish Handicap Organization, the project was successful.
Today Index Braille is high revenue, world leading company. The printers transform text from 150 languages to Braille.
As part of activities commemorating Blindness Awareness Month the SLBW Arecently launched a programme of activities which includes a church service at the St. Benedict Parish, Morne Fortune on Sunday, May 26, 2019. The service begins at 10:00 a.m. Transportation will be provided outside the Castries Constituency Council on Peynier Street from 9:00a.m. and back.