Braille materials for blind children in Tanzania
Blind and visually impaired children in Tanzania urgently need school materials in a format they can read. Together with the Furaha School for the Visually Impaired, FORCE UK wants to establish a Braille production centre for the production of school books.
Established in 1963 by The Free Pentecostal Church of Tanzania, the Furaha School for the Visually Impaired is the biggest school in Tanzania of its kind and is one of the few schools dedicated to meeting the needs of blind and visually impaired children in the country. There are 86 pupils between the ages of 7 and 18 who come to the school from all over Tanzania. There are 15 full time teachers, 8 of which are blind. As they have currently have no means of producing Braille the teachers have to work with very old, hand-made materials.
Only 2% of children who are disabled in the developing world attend school. With the right resources a significant proportion of visually impaired children can be given the same opportunities and educational experiences as sighted children. For many blind children, who are often treated badly and socially excluded by their families, school is a safe refuge, a place where they can feel safe and loved and learn the skills necessary to be self-sufficient adults.

Digital talking books, Malawi
Although there are some Braille production and rehabilitation services for blind people in Malawi there is no production of talking books. The blind or visually impaired student is therefore doubly disadvantaged in the education system, firstly because of their disability and secondly because the curricular materials that are required for their study are not made available to them; this is illustrated by the fact that there are only six blind learners at University in Malawi.This project involves setting up a recording studio and producing and distributing DAISY talking books. This is a product specially designed for visually impaired people where the printed book is read in a recording studio and digitally recorded onto tape or CD.

The second stage of the project will involve providing all of the schools presently offering specialist education for the blind and visually impaired in Malawi with Daisy players and relevant training to allow more visually impaired learners to benefit fully from this exciting development.

Braille production centre, Parakou School for the Blind,Benin
The Braille production centre will be based at the Parakou Centre for the Blind.The school was established in 1992 by the Association for the Social Integration of the Blind and Visually Impaired in Benin (APISAAB). It provides education and rehabilitation to approximately 70 visually impaired children at primary and secondary level. A further 8 blind students have gone on to study at the two local universities.

La Paz, Bolivia - Braille production centre
FORCE Foundation UK wants to promote the education of blind and partially sighted children in Bolivia by setting up a Braille production centre in the capital city, La Paz. The Braille production centre will be based at the Bolivian Institute for the Blind (IBC) and will be used to produce school books and teaching materials in Braille and large print.Founded in 1957, the Bolivian Institute for the Blind is the main organisation dedicated to meeting the needs of the blind and visually impaired in Bolivia. It is actively involved in the education policies of the blind but due to a lack of equipment is not able to provide them with the materials they urgently require.