Founded in 1951, the Polish Association of the Blind is celebrating its sixty-fifth anniversary. The motto of this great jubilee is “In service for Generations.” Numerous exhibitions, conferences and performances commemorate this unique anniversary and those who, throughout their life, served for the benefit of the visually impaired in Poland. We also published a historic timeline of the Polish Association of the Blind in our magazine “Pochodnia.” In each issue of our periodical, we remind people of those who have worked in the service of the blind.
The most important event took place on October 20th, 2016 at the Presidential Palace. We were honoured to be hosted by the President of Poland, Andrzej Duda and the First Lady, Agata Kornhauser-Duda. The president and the first lady are open to the problems of persons with disabilities. On that day, the Authorities of our organisation together with young people and directors of schools for the blind, our friends and representatives of organisations engaged in the service for the visually impaired met the Polish President who delivered his address to the visually impaired in Poland.
In his speech, President Duda praised the efforts of our organisation that have resulted in a considerable improvement of the situation of the visually impaired and promised his support. Remarkably, he said: “As Polish president, I take my hat off to your work and that you have made our country friendly and accessible for all.” He thus emphasised that removing barriers and creating better opportunities for persons with disabilities serves the benefit of Poland.
To honour all the effort made for the benefit of visually impaired people, President Duda decorated twenty-seven representatives of the Blind, including President Anna Woźniak-Szymańska. He also handed the Award of the Polish Association of the Blind “Person of the Year” to MS Ewa Fraszka-Groszkowska, the fluent Braille reader and great promoter of Braille.
President Woźniak-Szymańska had also an opportunity to deliver her address. She asked the President to create a national programme of rehabilitation for the blind and partially sighted.
In short, we feel privileged to serve for the benefit of the blind and partially sighted and look back at our achievements with pride. The great jubilee itself and the warm presidential welcome have shown that we have made a lot of gains. This will undoubtedly motivate us to attain more in the future.