HELPING THE BLIND

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 3, Issue 701, 29 November 1933, Page 2

HELPING THE BLIND

MAGNIFIGENT WORK MR. OLUTHA MACKENZIE PRAISES ORGANISATION OF ST. DUNSTAN'S. LABOURS IN NiEW ZEALAN'D. 'The magnifieent work of St. Dunstans, Loddon,- for British' blinded soldiers was recently commented upon in the press in connection with the puMieation of its 18th annual report — ia report which told how 2000 war blinded men had passed under its care ,to be re-educated and re-estab-lished in useful citizenship. iSpeaking about the work, Mjr. Clutha Mackenzie, St. Dunstan's offieial representative in Now eZaland, paid the organisation a glowing tribute for the manner in whiieh its founder and leader, Sir Arthur Pearson, himself a blind man, had taken eaich blinded soldier in hand imme■diately he came into h'ospital from- the trenches so that from the outset he might never become depresaed and look upon his future hopes and life as blasted and useless. They were shown how methods could be adapted to enable them, to follow their old ccupations or, if that w'as not possdble, they Were trained to new. St. Dunstan's vibrated with the spirit of vigorous accomplishment — (concentrated technieal courses, Braille, typewriting, music, games and active social life ensured no dull or ddle moment. The result is that throughout the Empire there are few more useful citizens as a body than the exsoldiers, sailors and airmen of St. D'unstan's. Mr. Mackenzie spent three years in daily companionship with Sir Arthur who made his war-time home with the blinded officers. A more virile, delightful companion it would have been difiicult to find, and certainly none better able to set the shattered soldier on the path to conquest. Indeed. it seemed providential that Sir Arthur should have lost his sight in 1909 and so have been prepared by experience when the war brought its toll of blinded men, to lead th'em to victory over their handicap. Sir Arthur asked of them, should they wish to repay, to take their turn in 'helping other blind people throughout the wide world wherever they might encounter them, and be missionaries for the more modern outlook, methods' of training and opportunity. Thus it has come about that St. Dunstaners have co-operated with the ■ blind welfare organisations in their home countries and in the British1 ! Dominions to extend the work upon ! ■the existing basis or to pioneer where I it had not yet been founded. Cap- ' tain Sir Beechcroft Towes, V.G., who 1 lost his sight in the South African | War, is now! chairman of the Nation- ! al Instiitute for the Blind, London, ! undoubtedly the greatest and most practical blind welfare organisation in the world. After Sir Arthur's un■timely death in 1921, Captain Ian Fraser, M.P., a young South .African, was appointed to the chairmanship of St. Dunstan's and a worthy successor he has proved. Captain Edwin Baker, M.C., is the founder and able director of the National Institute for the Blind of Canada, where little had been done for the 7000 blind prior to the Great Wlar. In South Africa, where blind welfare work was almost unknown, Mr. R. W. Bowen, member of the Union Parliament, has founded the South African National Couneil for the Blind. Another St. Dunstaner is the director of a large school for the blind in Southern India, and Mr. N. C. Robinson is in eharge of blind welfare work in British Columbda, while in New Zealand Mr. Mackenzie has done what lies in his power to widen opportunities for his fellow blind and is the present director of the New Zealand Institute for the Blind. All these men are totally blind, a state which, far from being a handicap, is a primary qualification for their present tasks, enabling them to understand the blind standpoint of view and both its capabilities and its limitations. Discussing the matter of the Dominion's blinded soldiers, Mr. Mackenzie said that 24 had lost their sight in the war. Of these 23 had been trained at St. Dunstan's, though three of these had later taken courses of training at the New Zealand Institute. The St. Dunstan's report records with regret that the toll of war bliindness is not yet ended and that 27 new men came to St. Dunstan's for training last year. Unfortunately, this has alsto been New Zealand's experi- ' ence. Since the armistice nine New Zealand soldiers have lost their sight as the direct consequenee of war service, three of them in the last two years. The work of training- them to meet their new conditions is willingly carried out by the New Zealand Institute as part of its duty to the blind community as a whole. The institute has at the present time four blinded soldiers an /permanelnt employment or training, while another is a member of the Board of Trustees. Library and vanious other services are extended to all blinded. soldiers in the Dominion and constant touoh maintained with them. Five are masseurs, five are dairy or poultry farming, one is a minister of religdon, and four are employed at the institute. A number, bec'ause of illhealth arising from their wiounds, cannot take up active full-time ocoupation but do their best about their trim homes to be useful., The commercial travellers of New Zealand have made the blinded soldiers their special interest and control a fund which has done yeoman service in ' helping them and their

families in thfeir difiiculties. Since the war nine- have died, mostly from their wouhds, leaving ih several instarices ■vfidbws and children, wh'o merit much sympathy and assistance ' in view of the fact that the war pension praeticaily ceases at the death of the soldier. 1934 Blinded Soldiers Reunion. A eardinal point of St. Dunstan's policy has been the proimotion of regular annual gatherdngs of city, •county and Dodninion groups Of blinded sbldiers. These have proved an incentive in the maiintenance of St. Dunstan's spirit of cheerfulness and action and ias an antidote to an inclination to: sink into a rut and . f all out Of step wdth the busy world. In Britain, i Ganada and Australia, these annual gatherings have grown to be part of a fixed routine, and nothing is more stimulating than the air of vigorous cheerfulness wlhich characterises them — iqnite unibelievable to the layman accustomed to the old-time conception of blindness. Unfortunately, lt nas not been pos • sdble to hold these regular gatherings in New Zealand. It is the ini tention, however, of the trustees of the Blind Institute to organise one at the institute next April, the last having been held there in April, 1923, ten years ago. On that occasion, Lord Jellicoe unve'iled at the institute a tablet the blinded soldiers Had erected to' the memory of their be-•1-oved chief, Sir Arthur Pearson. The tablet records the fact that the blinded soldiers, as a token of their appreciation of what Sir Arthur had done for them, had inspired the raisinig of a sum of over £60,000, whdch they had handed to the institute as an endowment for extended work for the civilian blind. About 20 men are expeeted at the reunion. It will occupy three days and old friendships will be renewed. Most of them have mUrried since their loss of sight — (their wives, indeed, have been by no means the least factor in their suceess iand happiness • — land they too will join in the fun.