Embosser Handing Over Cememony Footage is here!

Sit back, Relax and Enjoy! Oh, and if you see GRENLEC? Thank them for us...AGAIN! It's never too much! :)

Sometimes we like to stare at sweet treats, or rather, just allow ourselves to remember what available out there. It is better to be in the know isn't it?





Sadly, this video below is not narrated :(

Recorders? Check!

You heard us talk alot about the hard-work evolved in fund raising, now hear is another little treat to remember why we do it, why do we try so hard? For moments like these:




Nigus receiving his recorder



Almost all of our recievers






Thank you again to everyone who donated to our Walk With Me Walk Corporate Sponsors, People who dipped into their already low pockets, because of you all, out students are able to have this moment...and even more in the horizon! :D

Our Easter Fun Day<---From A Child's Eyes

Our Easter Fun Day

       On Wednesday the 24th of March 2010, my little brother Joshua, another student Leandra, her sister and I went to an Easter fun day with one of my teachers, Miss Hamlet from The Resource Centre for the Blind.

       We went to St. Paul’s to another teacher’s, Miss Gaalema’s, house. When we got there we all went and picked citrus fruits from a tree and helped to make juice for our Easter event.
After making the juice we took turns playing on the neighbour’s swing set. We saw a lady sweeping her yard and said “Good Morning!” Then it was time to go to the playing field. It was only a few minutes walk. When we got there we saw more teachers and students from The Resource Centre for the Blind.
At break time we had popcorn, banana cake and pen-a-cool. After our refreshments we started to make our kites. I helped to make kites but I did not fly any at all.

       There were many different types of kites. Some were made of paper, some were made of plastic, some were made of flex and some were made of bamboo. There were many colours like yellow, black, blue, red and white. Our kites went up into the sky like big swarming pretty birds flying through the air.
After flying our kites we had lunch. It was delicious chicken roti and tasty juice made from Kool-Aid and citrus fruits.

       After eating we were given Easter eggs with marshmallow chicks and bunnies inside. The teachers then told us of Christ being raised from the dead and why he died for us.
Then we went off to play. I played with Gabriella, Paul, Mekisha and other friends. After playing we packed up our things and walked to the bus stop to go home. I had a great time and I slept well that night.

By: K. Thomas 

11years Old

Closing Remarks by Mrs Morain

Update: the video of Mrs Morain is giving me some trouble, it'll be added later :D Till now? Enjoy a video of us thanking out sponsors1

Thanks to our Sponsors!!!!

Post Walkathon Video

GNCD Message to parents




Song by Mr. Phillip

Walk With Me Walkathon Pictures Post

At Long Last!
I bring you the Walk With Me Walkathon photo review, here is hoping you enjoy it as much as we did :D!

Next on the agenda? Videos!!!

Stay tuned :)

Post Walkathon 2010

It's been quite a while since our last update. We expected things to get hectic but it seems, as usual, we surprised ourselves!

Our 'Walk With Me' Walk was a great success! We advertised on programs like 'GBN Mornings' on the GBN Network and 'Spice Mornings' on the GIS Network, to who we are very very thankful! Did you catch any of our Broadcasts?

On the day of the St. Georges Walkathon, we had the kind cooperation of EACH NEWS CHANNEL ON THE ISLAND! That's correct MTV, GBN and Community Channel News were all there to cover the event as the blind and visually impaired students of Grenada, their teachers and their many supporters walked or cheered them on towards success, better educational equipment and making the public aware.

It was a grand event and everyone present enjoyed it to the fullest extent.

The next week on Wednesday we attempted our Grenville Walkathon but with the start of the Rain Season here in Grenada it was impossible on that day and was thus postponed till Friday.

Friday came, the walk was much shorter than in St Georges as our accompanying police officer was very concerned about traffic but the purpose was still met. We raised awareness and let the people of Grenville know that they are not forgottten by us!

We had our 'Walk With Me' Walkathon both in St. Georges and St. Andrews this year. Both, though hectic, still a great success. We had a chance to see ourselves learn from our mistakes last year, serving to only improve our walk event, making it bigger and better.

We thank everyone who supported us in this venture for the year past and this year. Thank you to all those who walked with us, who donated to our cause, who purcased jerseys in show of support (Still on sale by the way call us at 4350828). Thank you to the news channels for your beautiful, on time coverage, to the business places like Glengelg for there much needed and generious donation of water, to the wonderful policeman who lead us through St. Georges, who was patient and helpful, the the police women Net Ball Team who helped us as if championing their very own cause, to the Jersey and Banner printers for making sure that we looked ever so crisp when the day came and to each and every very last person who dipped into their pockets and gave from their hearts, from one cent to 50 dollars.

WE ARE SO THANKFUL!!!

We know that our students are too, they enjoy these events more than you can imagine. An event for them to shine, when they are not singled out but fit right in. Walking alongside everyone else, fighting for the same cause, the same goal, completely capable.

We cant thank you enough

Pictures soon to come!!! :D

RCB Walkathon Prep

It's so exciting around here right now!

we're doing all this prepping for our awareness and fundraiser walkathon!

Mr. Phillip and Miss Hamlet made their first appearances on national tv show 'GBN Mornings" this morning and highly aclaimed local radio personality Jerico of Wee FM is said to have been heard broadcasting the news of our walk over the public air ways!

And that's not all!

We've consulted too different jersey printers and here are two of our jersey back layout options, consider this a special preview just for you!






Which one did we choose? You'll have to come out and walk with us or perchase a jersey if you want to find that out from me at this time :)

Stay tuned! Many more to come! :D

Technology Savvy RCB!

We now have a twitter account! Follow us at:

https://twitter.com/grenadarcb

as we strive to get the word out on blindness and visual impairments in Grenada and by extention, the world!!!

Did i mention we now have a youtube channel as well?

http://www.youtube.com/user/grenadarcb

That's right! That's were we may be uploading some exclusive videos for you to check out!

Travel Tips for the Blind

Travel Tips For People Who Are
Blind or Visually Impaired

Plan ahead. Read about your destination before your trip so you know what to expect and what sights you'll want to visit. Make reservations whenever possible. Call airports and airlines ahead of time to find out about services, including seating arrangements, special meals and shuttle services.

Carry written directions with you. Have directions written down before leaving. Even if you can't read them you can ask for help by showing them to someone else if you get lost. It's also helpful to have a copy of the exact address of where you are going. A driver may not know where a specific hotel is, especially if there are several with the same name.

Keep necessities with you at all times. Carry your money, keys, tickets and bus pass in a pocket. If you happen to misplace your purse or wallet or someone takes it, you still can reach your destination. Keep some extra money handy for tips.

Know the bus schedule. Inform the bus driver where you want to get off so he knows to call it out. Sit near the front of the bus.

Notify others about your needs. Inform your travel agency or companies such as airlines you are using that you are visually impaired. Tell your companion or those around you about your visual limitations.

Ask questions. If you cannot see a monitor or find a gate at the airport or bus station, ask a customer service representative or another traveler to help you find your way.

Carry your cane. Whether you choose to use it or not for mobility purposes, your cane helps to notify others that you are visually impaired.

Ask about amusement park or other tourist discounts. Some of the amusement parks give discounts either to visually impaired visitors or to their sighted guides.

Preboard and bring carry-on luggage. Avoid the hassle of crowds and obstacles in aisles by preboarding trains and planes. Packing only carry-on luggage saves you time and trouble by eliminating a visit to the baggage claim terminal.

If you do bring a suitcase, remember its type and color. It may be helpful to affix a colorful piece of yarn or sticker to help you or anyone assisting you with easy identification.

Plan for guide-dog restrictions. Some countries and states such as Hawaii either do not allow guide dogs for short visits or have quarantine requirements. Call your local guide-dog school for information on restrictions.

Enhance your sensory experience by going on tours and visiting gift shops. Some tour groups allow travelers who are visually impaired to experience an exhibit by touching object otherwise off-limits. Gift shops often selll small scale replicas of monuments you can touch.

Research accommodations. Foreign destinations are likely to have accommodations or services different from your home city. Prepare yourself by researching your destination before you plan your trip.

Information provided courtesy of:
The Braille Institute Education and Awareness
PO Box 491546
Los Angeles, CA 90049
310-473-0653 888-868-2455


articule from: http://www.access-able.com/tips/braille.htm

Easter Event

Our Easter Event was a huge success, the children enjoyed themselves and saw that they could have as kite flying fun as anybody else, sighted or not.
They were able to feel a great sense of accomplishment and joy as they made their kites and were aided in having them lifted into the air.
Not forgetting the reason behind the season as we put it hear in Grenada.

Lunch was delicious and fun was abundant, what more could one ask for.
Here, take a look:

Special thanks goes out to Anjuli and Justin for being our Easter Egg sponsors from the staff and students of the Resource Centre for the blind :D

The Snellen Chart (Part 3 of 3 )

Snellen, inventor of said chart, defined “standard vision” as the ability to recognize one of his optotypes when it subtended 5 minutes of arc. Thus the optotype can only be recognized if the person viewing it can discriminate a spatial pattern separated by a visual angle of 1 minute of arc.

In the most familiar acuity test, a Snellen chart is placed at a standard distance, twenty feet in countries where that is the customary unit of measure. At this distance, the symbols on the line representing "normal" acuity subtend an angle of five minutes of arc, and the thickness of the lines and of the spaces between the lines subtends one minute of arc. This line, designated 20/20, is the smallest line that a person with normal acuity can read at a distance of twenty feet.
Three lines above, the letters have twice the dimensions of those on the 20/20 line. The chart is at a distance of twenty feet, but a person with normal acuity could be expected to read these letters at a distance of forty feet. This line is designated by the ratio 20/40. If this is the smallest line a person can read, the person's acuity is "20/40," meaning, in a very rough kind of way, that this person needs to approach to a distance of twenty feet to read letters that a person with normal acuity could read at forty feet. In an even rougher way, this person could be said to have "half" the normal acuity.
In countries using the metric system, the standard chart distance is six meters, normal acuity is designated 6/6, and other acuities are expressed as ratios with a numerator of 6.

Acuity charts are used during many kinds of vision examinations, such as "refracting" the eye to determine the best eyeglass prescription. During such examinations, acuity ratios are never mentioned.
The biggest letter on an eye chart often represents an acuity of 20/200, the value that is considered "legally blind." Many people with refractive errors have the misconception that they have "bad vision" because they "can't even read the E at the top of the chart without my glasses." But in most situations where acuity ratios are mentioned, they refer to best corrected acuity. Many people with moderate myopia "cannot read the E" without glasses, but have no problem reading the 20/20 line or 20/15 line with glasses. A legally blind person is one who cannot read the E even with the best possible glasses.

An Easter of Equality

An Easter of Equality

The Resource Centre for the blind is making preparations to carry out this theme as they plan their Kite making and kite fly Easter Event.

Said event is scheduled for the 17th of March 2010 where the blind and visually impaired students of Grenada will assemble together with the necessary material at the Mt. Erie playing field, St. David between the hours of 9am-3pm.

Under the supervision of their teachers they will put together their very own kites

After which students will provided with lunch and a short presentation. Reminding them, of the reason behind Grenada’s Easter celebrations.

To end the day the students as well as their teachers will proceed to the adjoining pasture where teachers and students, blind and sighted will fly their self made kites together displaying by example that disability truly is NOT inability.

The Snellen Chart (Part 2 of 3 )

How to use a Snellen Chart

Visual acuity is typically measured monocularly rather than binocularly with the aid of an optotype chart for distant vision, an optotype chart for near vision, and an occluder to cover the eye not being tested. The examiner may also occlude an eye by sliding a tissue behind the patient's eyeglasses, or instructing the patient to use his or her hand. This latter method is typically avoided in professional settings as it may inadvertently allow the patient to peek through his or her fingers, or press the eye and alter the measurement when that eye is evaluated.

1. Place the chart at 20 feet (or 6 meters) and illuminate to 480 lux at that distance.

2. If the patient uses glasses, then the test is performed using them.

3. Place the occluder in front of the eye that is not being evaluated. The first evaluated eye is the one that is believed to see less or the one the patient says that is seeing less.

4. Start first with the big optotypes and proceed to the smaller ones. The patient has to identify every one on the line being presented and communicate it to the physician.

5. If the measurement is reduced (below 20/20) then the test using a pinhole should be done and register the visual acuity using the pinhole. Both measures should be registered, with and without using pinhole.

6. Change the occluder to the other eye and proceed again from the 4th step.

7. After both eyes have been evaluated in distant visual acuity, proceed to evaluate near visual acuity placing a modified snellen chart for near vision (such as the Rosembaum chart) at 14 inches (or 35 centimeters). Then repeat the test from the 2nd step.
In some cases, binocular visual acuity will be measured, because usually binocular visual acuity is slightly better than monocular visual acuity.


Infant vision
The newborn’s visual acuity is approximately 20/400 and 20/20 by age 2 years. [8]


Terms Associated with the Snellen Chart

O.D Ocular dexter (right eye)
O.S Ocular sinster (left eye)
O.U. Oculi unitas (both eye)
Prism diopter
+ Plus or convex lens
C.F. Count fingers
H.M. Hand movement
L.P. Light perception
N.L.P No light perception

Criticism
Snellen charts have been the target of some criticism. The fact that the number of letters increases while the size decreases introduces two variables, rather than just one. Some people may simply memorize the Snellen chart before being tested by it, to give the impression that their vision is good. Several studies indicate that the crowding together of letters makes them inherently more difficult to read. Another issue is that there are fairly large and uneven jumps in acuity level between the rows. To address these concerns, more modern charts have been designed that have the same number of letters on each row and use a geometric progression to determine the size of each row of letters.

The Snellen Chart part (1 of 3)

One might ask himself, how is it the Resorce Centre for the Blind identifies students who need low vision aid or Braille study?

Every new school year (beginning in September) the Resource Centre for the Blind in collaboration with nurses attached to the Ministry of Health sets out into the primary schools of Grenada Cariacou and Petite Martinique to ‘Vision Screen’ students of the Grade six, the class where students are being prepared to sit the Secondary School ‘Common Entrance’ exams, as well as the first grade students that have just entered the school system as previous studies have shown that eye diseases and concerns tend to develop mainly during this age range (3-4 and 11-12)

This is an observational exam that results only in our recommendation that students see a licensed optermologist who can then give a professional opinion as to the student’s visual state and what their visual acuity really is. After this is done, the Resource Centre for the Blind then provides services such as large print photo copies, Braille lessons and teacher guidance as is required.

The main tool used during our observational study is: The Snellen Chart.


Description
The traditional Snellen chart is printed with eleven lines of block letters. The first line consists of one very large letter, which may be one of several letters, for example E, H, N, or A. Subsequent rows have increasing numbers of letters that decrease in size. A patient taking the test covers one eye, and reads aloud the letters of each row, beginning at the top. The smallest row that can be read accurately indicates the patient's visual acuity in that eye.

The symbols on an acuity chart are formally known as "optotypes." In the case of the traditional Snellen chart, the optotypes have the appearance of block letters, and are intended to be seen and read as letters. They are not, however, letters from any ordinary typographer's font. They have a particular, simple geometry in which:
• the thickness of the lines equals the thickness of the white spaces between lines and the thickness of the gap in the letter "C"
• the height and width of the optotype (letter) is five times the thickness of the line.
Only the nine letters C, D, E, F, L, O, P, T, Z are used in the traditional Snellen chart.

Wall-mounted Snellen charts are inexpensive and are sometimes used for rough assessment of vision, e.g. in a primary-care physician's office. Whenever acuity must be assessed carefully (as in an eye doctor's examination), or where there is a possibility that the examinee might attempt to deceive the examiner (as in a motor vehicle license office), equipment is used that can present the letters in a variety of randomized patterns in other countries.

According to BS 4274:1968 (British Standards Institution) "Specification for test charts for determining distance visual acuity" the minimum illumination for externally illuminated charts should be 480 lx, however this very important parameter is frequently ignored by physicians, making many test results invalid.


Snellen fraction/measurment
Visual acuity = Distance at which test is made / distance at which the smallest optotype identified subtends an angle of 5 arcminutes.
"20/20" (or "6/6") vision

Now, how is it EXACTLY that we go about actually useing this tool? Come back to find out next post :)