Visually impaired people get free braille Bibles

Mr Charles Mabonga, 62, who is visually impaired, could hardly contain his excitement when he was a handed a braille Bible last week.

Mr Mabonga said he had for a long time desired to own a braille Bible but could not because of financial constraints.
“The last time I inquired about the price of a braille Bible in 2014 , it was costing  about Shs1.8 million, which was expensive for me. For us, we cannot read the other Bibles on the market. We thank the Bible Society of Uganda for thinking about the blind people in Luweero that equally need to read and know more about the word of God,” Mr Mabonga, the chairperson of the visually impaired persons in Luweero District, said.

He added that the gift from the Bible Society of Uganda was the best Christmas gift he had every got.

Mr Charles Andama , 38, another beneficiary, said the braille Bible would strengthen his faith in God and guide him in his daily endeavours.

“I always wanted to have the braille Bible and read the many inspiring verses but I failed because I could not raise the money. The braille Bible is one of the most expensive books and many people with the visual impairment cannot afford it,” he said.

While handing over the Bibles and other gifts to the visually impaired in Luweero District last week, a few days to Christmas, Mr Simon Peter Muhama, the executive director of the Bible Society of Uganda, said the visually impaired should be granted access to the good news contained in the Bible that other Christians easily get.

“Our decision to avail some copies to the people with total visual complications is in line with our vision to have the word of God reach out to all the people. As we focus on the construction programme for New Bible House at a cost of Shs31b, we are also working to have the people with visual impairment become part of the Bible Society House with their own shares,” he said

Ms Barbra Atwine Azairwe, the programmes manager at the Bible Society of Uganda, said they have translated the braille Bible into Luganda, Lunyankole and Acholi.

“A complete copy of the braille Bible costs Shs2.3 million. It is expensive, but the word of God has to be preached to all people. The people with the visual impairment too need to access and be able to have the written word of God.

The braille Bible copies donated are accompanied with a Christmas food basket to ensure that the families go through the Christmas Day happily,” she said.

The donated items included cooking oil, rice, sugar, soap, bread, salt, among others.

Statistics
Luweero District Local Government statistics state that there were an estimated 5,700 people with visual impairment in the district in 2015.