KAMPALA: The Uganda Aeronautical Information Services Officers Association-UGAISOA and Entebbe residents have so far raised 18 million Shillings out of 150million Shillings needed to support learners with visual impairment.
The money was raised from the 2022 Aviation Run where over 300 participants ran 5 kilometres and 10 kilometres on Sunday May 29th in Entebbe. The run first took place in 2019 as an annual event to help the needy in and around Entebbe municipality.
Moses Obbi, the President of UGAISOA, says that the association needs to mobilize further since they raised only shillings 18 million out of the over Shillings 150million to support and keep 3,000 visually impaired learners in school for a year.Participants registered online on www.aviationrun.org while corporations made and can still make financial donations through the association’s bank account.
The association with 87 members and the management at Uganda Civil Aviation Authority-UCAA will use the proceeds from the run to equip among others Entebbe Children Welfare Primary School which handles learners with special needs.
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Participants of the run paid Shillings 25,000 and Shillings 50,000 to get a vest or branded t-shirt respectively. Corporations donating to the cause are categorized in Platinum (30 million), Gold (UGX 20 Million), Silver (UGX10million) and Bronze (UGX5million).
The top three female and male runners in each race was awarded a medal, with winners getting 300,000 and 500,000 shillings for the 5km and 10 km and a free scenic flight aboard Kajjansi Executive Aviation, courtesy of DHL Uganda.
Obbi says the association was compelled to help because the lockdown online schooling technology was not inclusive enough to accommodate visually impaired learners.
An article by The Independent dated August 21, 2021, noted that several persons with visual impairment missed out during the lockdown because they did not have access to digital tools.These tools include talking book players and computers or laptops, a screen reader that provides both braille and text-to-speech input. The article quoted Charles Byekwaso, the Executive Director of Uganda National Association of the Blind (UNAB), who said that installing the JAW software costs over shillings 3.5 million, which many learners and schools cannot afford.
Obbi says the association hopes to purchase slates with stylus, education sets for the blind, white canes, Braille machines, and balls for sports and kneecaps for athletes.
Fred Bamwesigye, the Director General at Uganda Civil Aviation Authority-UCAA has lauded the association with support from the authority for empowering communities around Entebbe International Airport through such initiatives over the years.
BAmwesigye says such initiatives make UCAA, which is celebrating 30 years of existence this year, to be cognizant of the needs of the neighbouring communities.
Apart from UCAA staff, other participants included staff from National Water and Sewerage Corporation, Uganda Wildlife Authority-UWA, Embassy of Korea, Uganda Wildlife Conservation Education Centre, Kibali Gold, DHL Uganda, Kajjansi Executive Aviation, Uganda Airlines and local leaders namely Jane Baguma Scholastica the chairperson of Entebbe Division B.
Michael Kakembo, the Entebbe Municipality MP, says UCAA should have engaged the local leaders for a bigger turn up of participants. “I received the invitation to the run very late and as local leaders we can get more people to join this run if we are told early enough because this is for a good cause,” he said.
Obbi however says well-wishers can continue sending financial contributions and donations because the association has not yet collected the over shillings 150 million needed for the equipment. “The donation portal will remain open,” he affirmed.
Modesta Tezikyabbiri, the Speaker of Entebbe Municipal Council and the patron of Entebbe Children’s Welfare Primary School is happy about the initiative. She knows over 30 learners with visual impairment in Entebbe and neighboring Katabi Town Council who can benefit from this initiative.
Tezikyabbiri, who is an advocate for Persons with Disabilities says learning materials for the visually impaired are expensive. For instance, a braille machine costs about 3.8 million shillings, a carton of braille papers (1,000 sheets) costs 260,000 shillings, each slate costs 50,000shillings and a stylus costs 10,000 shillings.
