When Edwin Osundwa was born, out of the ten children born with him on the same day and in any Third World country of your choice, five became blindhim included.

According to World Health Organisation statistics, five out of ten children born in a Third World country become blind. In fact, 90 percent of the people who are blind worldwide live in the Third world. Even sadder, is the fact that most of these children become blind because their parents did not know, could not afford, or could not reach a medical officer with the sight-saving skills and technology needed to prevent the blindness. Had this been possible, their blindness would have been avoided.

Says Edwin, who is now the Head of Rehabilitation at the Kenya Society for the blind, "I am fortunate that as a blind person I was able to still go to school, even get a degree, get married to a wonderful woman, and find a job that pays me enough to provide for my family. For many in a Third World country like Kenya, being blind usually equals being illiterate, unemployed, poor, and unmarried. This is because of the wrong attitude that many have about blind children. Many parents today see taking a blind child to school as a waste of money, time and energy. In fact, many imagine that when one is blind they are also mentally retarded and will not amount to much."

When I visited his office at the Kenya Society for the Blind, Edwin proudly showed me how he can type very fast, send and receive email, and manipulate the computer, telephone, and printer in his office as confidently as a person with sight. In fact, standing behind him, I would not know that Edwin cannot see the screen, or keyboard, or anything else. He is fortunate to afford a talking computer.

"The Government needs to take the needs of the blind more seriously", says Edwin. "We are lagging behind in our access to health, education and social infrastructure", he says emphatically, and adds "when the national budget is being developed and policies developed on the needs of citizens, they should clearly reflect sensitivity to our needs, but this is not the case. The National budget does not consider the cost of living as a blind person."

Indeed, when one compares the First and Third world countries, it is not just the numbers of blind people who exist that differ, it is also the social and physical infrastructure that makes their life more bearable and manageable that is starkly different in the Third World. For

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