Jipange enhances the capabilities of our participants through the following ways:
- Providing communication skills training in braille and adaptive computer technology
- Creating value added agricultural niche products
- Handicraft production training.
- Daily living skills training focusing on independence
- Specialized orientation and mobility training for different terrains
- Counseling and career guidance
- Self-help groups formation for beneficiaries to provide social support.
- Training in more productive commercial organic farming
The long-term objective of this project is to reach out to other rural areas in Kenya to provide tailor-made solutions to participants respective individual needs.
Jipange, which is the Swahili word for “Prepare Yourself”, is the name of the organization
Being a blind person, it makes a difference whether we are in an urban area or a rural area. While we have landmarks and signals in the city, in rural areas we rely on other senses, on nature like sun and wind in finding our directions. We would like to prepare blind persons, especially those in rural areas to become steppers, jumpers and runners. Steppers to become an entrepreneur, jump into society and run by themselves to achieve their own goals.
We will collaborate with Kenya Agricultural Research Institute to equip beneficiaries with more productive organic farming methods because they rely on agriculture as a source of livelihood. We will encourage them to become environmentalists and become contributors to society since most beneficiaries reside within nature.
After successful completion of this training, beneficiaries will have tailor-made mobility techniques. The communication skills acquired at Jipange will enable those who wish to study further to do so. Scholarships from the government are also available to those who need it. Those people who lost sight at a later stage will have been rehabilitated and are now able to restart their work. The working blind majority will be able to reach their economic development goals since they will now have entrepreneurship skills and will acquire the necessary specialized work equipment from the government. Integration or reintegration of beneficiaries into society will thus be achieved.