Blindness is traditionally believed to be a curse. If a child is born blind, or loses sight, back in our history, the elders did not have any other explanation, apart from believing that this was a curse from the ancestors. They were angry and in their anger, they were giving a blind child to the family concerned to communicate their anger. The response of the community was to take the blind child and kill it to cast away the curse and appease the spirits in any way prescribed spiritually.
This view gradually got imprinted into African beliefs and inevitably formed our attitudes and thinking patterns towards the phenomenon of blindness. Generally, blindness and sight loss are not acceptable at first value, as being a result of anything that can be explained medically, yet like any other such conditions, blindness has comprehensive medical explanation, which, will be a topic of discussion in a later publication. For now, let’s focus on what then are the effects of the attitude discussed above, on blind women and girls.
Firstly, the family in which there happen to be a blind woman or girl, has mixed feelings and views, on how they can best help the individual who is visually impaired. To begin with, shock is the first reaction. In such emotions, reason and logic are suspended and so, they will just respond to any advice given from any and every angle. Such pieces of advice may vary from, seeking, spiritual help, to herbal remedies. Usually, the medical route is taken seriously, after what I have referred to as the shock stage. The length of the shock period may be determined, by how much the family can be open to outside help. Some families which are more reserved can even go for a year or even beyond, lingering in their shock of what would have befallen one of their members. In so doing, the woman or girl is being disadvantaged in that she is losing out on appropriate help and support.
 
This will then impact negatively on the visually impaired woman or girl in that, if they are old enough, it also communicates a negative message to them, on their loss of sight. it then means that, their condition is not acceptable and there has to be a reversal of it, or else, they are doomed. The visually impaired woman or girl begins then to view herself as less equal to her sighted counterparts. on the other hand, the rest of the community may even have an attitude of misplaced sympathy, feeling sorry for the family in which there is the blind individual. The family itself is also not equipped enough to assist the woman or girl. in most of the circumstances, the visually impaired woman or girl receives overprotection from her family, to an extent that all her potential gets buried in this overprotection.
A girl who is born blind, or who loses her sight in her early years, virtually loses out on early childhood development and socialization. For instance, the girl may not get the usual training for personal hygiene or even for ordinary house chores. She may, in most cases, delay in going to school. This, again, will be discussed at length in another edition of this publication. So, as she matures into adulthood, she cannot compete with her sighted counterparts in this regard. This is a disadvantage to her. Please bear in mind that this is not because of her condition, but rather, socially constructed. The bricks for this nasty construction are the attitudes and reactions that came from her family and community. suppose, the family and community had not responded in that manner, suppose they would have quickly accepted the condition, and sought for appropriate advice, and rendered relevant support to the girl, would her story still read as above?
My message is, if a visually impaired woman of girl, gets all the support necessary, she can be equipped ‘to see a future’ filled with hope. The visually impaired woman or girl doubtlessly has potential, unique to her, which she should be assisted to release, for her benefit, and for the benefit of the family and the society as a whole. Believe me, there is too much that the society is losing out on, as long as the blind woman and girl has not been given her space.