Cuban province to host joint project with Spain for blind people

CIENFUEGOS, Cuba, Jun 11 (ACN) A joint project between the Spanish National Organization of the Blind (ONCE by its Spanish acronym) and its counterpart in Cuba will begin shortly, in the Cuban central province of Cienfuegos, as a trial experience in training for employment, which will then be extended to the whole island.

Jorge Luis Cala Ledesma, president of the National Association of the Blind in Cuba, explained to the press that the objective is to train each person with a disability on the job, in order to achieve a competent preparation for the labor market.

Some 30,800 Cubans live with visual impairment, he said, and have been affected -like all the people- by the economic and financial blockade imposed by the U.S. government on the Caribbean nation.

The executive indicated that for visually impaired people it is essential to have good skills to achieve independence and assume a job that supports it, in addition to allowing their personal fulfillment, hence it is essential access to information and communication technologies, mobile telephony and computing.

He explained that even developing skills in this type of communication is vital for employment, for study and for the quality of life itself, however there is a group of applications that cannot be downloaded from Cuba, including those associated with artificial intelligence.

The blockade also affects the acquisition of Braille paper, Braille machines and other technologies, as a means of support from canes, talking watches, optical aids, hearing aids for people with deafblindness, all a great support, but they are not marketed, nor produced in the country and its main source is the U.S. market, he added.

The courses offered by the ONCE Foundation will help to alleviate the difficulties of these people, at least for them to receive the preparation and enable them to take on a new job.