The Union of the Blind of Montenegro organized the conference "Unfold the white cane and start the adventure of independent movement" with an emphasis on improving the social position of visually impaired people by including them in all spheres of social life through organizing training for movement with the help of a white cane.
"It is not enough just to gather a certain number of professional workers, which we have successfully achieved, and to gather a certain number of visually impaired people who are ready to decide to move independently with the help of a white cane, but also to let the wider community know how important independent life and how important it is to move independently with the help of a white cane," said the president of the Union, Mr Andrija Samardzic.
Through the implementation of the project, the accreditation of the program for movement with the help of a white cane was created, and training for future instructors was implemented.
"Everything we learned, we learned from the position of a visually impaired person. The plan and program was only the skeleton of our work, fieldwork requires many changes and meeting many challenges," pointed out instructors Mrs Dragana and Ms Albina.
The participants of the training for independent movement with the help of a white cane shared their positive experiences.
"When I heard that this project was being released, I couldn't allow myself the luxury of not participating in it. Before the project, I was partially moving on my own, but it's not the same when you go on an adventure yourself and when someone is an expert with you. I want to tell future users to unfold the cane and go on an adventure and success will be guaranteed. Thanks to this project, today I can perform all daily activities independently," said Mr Adnan Kujović.
Another participant, Ms Bojana Otašević, pointed out that she has been using a white cane for 13 years, but that only with this significant training did she learn to use its full potential.
"As the training started, everything changed, I learned new techniques and how to hold the white cane correctly. The fact is that before the training I moved very little and I depended on the will of my family and friends to help me. There were fears, I underestimated myself, I thought that I would not overcome some routes. My motivation was that one day I would not be dependent on anyone and that I would be able to go to certain places on my own. After the training, I met with a great understanding of the environment and their approach changed, I got a feeling of independence, freedom and independence," said Ms Otasevic.
In the panel discussion "The role and importance of support services for the independent movement of visually impaired people", the importance of services, the absence of pluralism of services, legal regulation, which is not good and is not applied in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, was emphasized.
At the conference, in addition to the participants from Montenegro, guests from the region shared experiences in the field of independent movement, the Union of the Blind from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Republika Srpska, and Serbia.
This productive conference, which raised many questions and called representatives of state and local authorities to action, was closed by the Executive Director of the Union of the Blind of Montenegro, Mr Goran Macanović.
"We will not stop here!. Greater independence in the movement of people with visual impairment is a prerequisite for independent living and independent functioning," underlined Mr Macanovic.