"I recently came to the material from 1972, which marked the anniversary of the League of Blindness. It is humiliating that blind and amblyopic people in Montenegro are facing today almost 80 percent of the same problems, " said the Alliance's Executive Director Goran Macanovic on the occasion of the International Day of the White Stick, which has been marked on every 15th of October since 1964.
Macanovic himself, as an activist, has been fighting for more than 20 years for a better position of the blind and people with amblyopia. He says that Montenegro today has a number of affirmative legal solutions that in itself can contribute to their better position, but the problem is their application.
"Montenegro has even some solutions, thanks to which it could be an example to other countries. Such is the Consumer Protection Act from 2014, according to which merchants are obliged to produce products on the Braille alphabet , and Montenegro is the only one in Europe that has such a solution. But in practice, the law does not apply because traders do not want it - not because of the costs that would follow such marking of the product, but simply consider it unnecessary."
Dunja Samardzic, a twenty-four-year-old lawyer, is escorted to the street with Uranus, a guide dog. She says that the Podgorica streets are full of surprises and that there are almost daily encountering new obstacles which she needs to overcome.
It is not known how many people in Montenegro have blindness and amblyopia.
Macanovic states that the Alliance and other organizations have for years insisted on establishing the registry, but – without any success.
"According to the census data from 2011, over 14,000 people in Montenegro have vision problems. The alliance has about 1,000 members."
Macanovic estimates that among the 14,000 people in the list there are also those who said they have vision problems, though they may not see well while just reading.
Goran Macanovic PHOTO: Savo Prelević
For a small number of those who have signed up for membership in the Alliance, he says that it is a shame and that there are still families that hide from public the blind and children with damaged sight.
And there are no reasons for this, says the interlocutor.
Goran, Dunja and her older brother Andrija, also visually impaired, has completed faculty and is working. Their education was followed by problems due to the lack of literature - in Montenegro, there are few audio and books on the Braille alphabet. There is not even a textbook, says Macanović, to literate children on the Braille alphabet in the current curriculum.
Those with blindness and amblyopia who decide to go to studies, usually choose Law. The most common reason for this is the availability of literature and the fact that someone like them went through it before them.
Macanovic is pleased that among the young people with visual impairment in recent years there are those who choose other study programs - social work, journalism, etc.
"One girl recently graduated from the Faculty of Economics. You know how troublesome maths are at that faculty - she has taken the exams verbally by doing the tests." Blind and amblyopic, as well as other people with disabilities, are faced with the employment problem. And in that part, on paper, says Macanovic, there are good solutions, but in practice, they are of no use. For years, the state has encouraged employers to employ OSI - to bear the costs of equipping and redeploying their jobs and subsidizing their earnings. Still, most are still deciding to pay contributions - it is a criminal offense for not giving the jobs to OSI.
Dunja Samardžić PHOTO: PR Centar
Macanovic says that the reason for this is the lack of confidence and skepticism of employers, who consider the blind and people with amblyopia, and in general OSI, to be of poor qualifications. "The law is good by itself and the Blind federation allows us to have 19 employees, of which 17 are OSIs."
Since 2008, when the Fund for Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of the OSI was established, up to now, based on the penalties, has collected more than 50 million euros. This money, however, was not used solely to improve the living conditions and the work of the OSI, but the state used it to "patch" holes if necessary. The association of blind people over the past years has given symbolic scholarships to blind and visually impaired students. Macanovic says that money will be routed in the future for recording audio textbooks and forming a professional library.
The blind and people with amblyopia have struggled for years to realize their right to personal disability compensation. The right to such compensation, Macanovic explains, is persons with severe disabilities. The difficulties in realizing the rights come from the fact that in the Ministry of Labor, blind people do not have a difficult disability.
"According to them, Goran who graduated, has a family, works, moves on his own, is capable of having an independent life, and they ignore the definition of the disability of the United Nations Convention on the Disability of People with Disabilities (OSI), whose implementation is coordinated in practice." According to the definition of the Convention, disability is the interaction between physical (physical, sensory, intellectual) and barriers within the environment.
Macanovic explains that for him and others who have 100 percent visual impairment, this disability could only be compensated if the environment in which they live would allow it and therefore his interaction with the environment would be better. The health insurance fund refunds for the aids such as white stick, verbal or Braille watch, computer software and Dejzi Blind player, and Braille notebook.
Not even a thermometer for blinds can be purchased in Montenegro PHOTO: Damira Kalač
Other devices that help them in everyday life, including the thermometer, are purchased on their own. However, a speech thermometer, a blood sugar meter, a pressure gauge... is impossible to buy in Montenegro, and their price, when imported - is extremely expensive.·
A guide dog costs 15,000 euros, and each has come to Montenegro in the past due to the involvement of the civil sector and donations. And for the blind and people with amblyopia, the movement with the help of the guide dogs in comparison to the movement with the stick, makes a major difference. Dunja's brother Andrija and Marijana Mugoša have recently left without their guide dogs, and there is an action to raise funds for the purchase of new ones.
Text by Damira Kalac, on October 15th, 2018, read more at Vijesti
