Poems from Uganda

These poems from the students at St Francis Secondary School for the Blind in Madera, Uganda tell about the value of braillers in the lives of these young people. These students typically only have access to a slate and stylus, not to a brailler. They wrote these in response to the Kilimanjaro Blind Trust brailler repair initiative in Uganda which has made many, many more braillers available to children. (1,945 braillers repaired or had basic maintenance since 2007 in Uganda). 

Note that the original spelling has been retained.

Written by Azukuru Vani  S4

The Braille Machine,
Oh the Braille Machine!
How you have saved me,
From the tall, roothless and unkind
Hands of poverty
That would have stopped me,
From studying and made me live a miserable live.

The Braille machine.
You came just in time,
Many other disadvantages Ugandan children,
What a privillage you have given to
Me to acquire my education by simplifying my work of writing.

The Braille Machine
How your calm windows have blown a lot
Of fortune on me like a peaceful sea.
Now I can stand with my head up,
With flashing smiles of joy,
Like the early morning sun thanks.

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Written by Wani Ternzio – S3

Braille, Braille, Braille
The only tool that helps us.
Braille, Braille, Braille
Without it we cannot do anything,
Braille, Braille, Braille,
The only key to success for the blind.

Braille, Braille, Braille,
Without it we look like we are
Neglected, writing we can’t do
Without braillers, hand frames,
This makes us.

Braille, Braille, Braille,
The only thing that helps the
Blind look like any other person,
In writing, reading and tiveing
Speech in the public,
In this way I appreciate the initiative of the founders and modeised braille.

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The Perkins brailler.

Written by Vicky – S6

Oh Perkins how you have helped me!
To achieve in my education,
Without you I can’t write
Except the noise you make
But you are the same good to me.

Lord! Lord!
What a wonderful talent
You have give to your People!
Who make for us good braillers!
Who knew that it could write
It’s hard to believe.

I can’t mention the good things the brailler has done for me but to mention a few, I am able to read and write.

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How useful is a Perkins Brailler.

Written by Abur Elizabeth – S3

Perkins Brailler, Perkins Brailler
Ooh, Perkins Brailler,
Made in six smart dots, a good shape and a very smart coat fit for you.
Perkins Brailler, you have eased writing words for the visually impaired persons because you can produce a letter at a go,
Compared to a hand-frame slate.
You are portable and easy to handle,
Because of you we are able to take our notes together in a class with the sighted students in the same speed with or even more than their speed.
Because of you we are able to take minutes in the different meetings very easily.
Ooh, Perkins Brailler, because of you most people of the world fear and are really impressed
On our terrible speed of writing when    
We the blind ones are together with the sighted people.

Perkins Brailler you really saved us from
The burden of pricking the hand-frame slate which used to make us very tired and borring.
My brothers and sisters who are helping
To manufacture the Perkins Braillers,
We pray that God should give you more
Wisdom to continue manufacturing this
Braillers so as to help generations and generations of the world.

Problems associated with it:
Although the Perkins Braillers are good, but we the users sometimes get problems to it. i.e. the Braillers sometimes make noise that may not be convenient to the able people whom we may be sharing the room.  In case of mistakes, we are to use our fingers or the whole six dots which make the paper appear untidy. The Braillers can break down at any time due to any type of paper that we use because each machine does not indicate the type of paper to be used in not.
However, therefore, dear brothers and sisters making the Brailling machines could you please produce a slient Brailler with their rubbers on them fix. Thank you.

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How useful is a Perkins brailler?

Written by Opolot Denis – S3

Brailler, Brailler, Brailler
How useful are you?
I just live in a civilized world,
But you have made me to be somewhere else.
Every day, I feel like having my own
Future using a braille machine.

Brailler, Brailler, Brailler,
I never knew what kind of a pen you are to me.
You have helped me to learn a lot
In writing and reading by use of fingers.
As the journey continues to move
All over the world, disabled cry, cry, cry
May the able manufacturers of this braille company get the solution
To help such kind of people or students
In our nation today.

Brailler, Brailler, Brailler,
Oh, Oh, you are good to me.
Every minute comes and passes by its
Oclock but I remember my
Dear Brailler uses continue having the
Same spirit in learning –
Now the government of today
Has woken up to help students
With disabilities like the blinds and the
Lames so I encourage all the disabled
In our country Uganda to do the best they can.

Brailler, Brailler, Brailler,
Being happy doesn’t mean making
A journey to get the future
But only the best award is working hard
For the right goal
If you look at the nation today,
People are not mining the use of these Perkins Braillers
So the manufacturers of those machines
I am appreciating your work done
To make us blind students getting
Employment in many jobs as many as possible.

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A poem
Written by Ayoli Moses – S4

Braille, Braille, Braille.
What a privillage to the blind people.
In the ancient days
The blind were not given access to any learning aid,
Kept in the bush whenever a visitor came,
And bitten whenever they needed some thing.

Today with braille,
They can write, read and ready for
Any job because of braille.

Braille, Braille, Braille
What a tremendous ceremony you perform
To shape the blind people into respectable ones
With braille there is no doubt,
Paper shortage, few teachers, few schools
And few machines try to scare.

I therefore take the privillage
To thank the introducers of braille,
The manufacturers of braille,
And the teachers of braille.
For braille remains the dearly learning aid
For blind people forever.

Braille, Braille, Braille,
May God bless you.