There are many reasons why people become hostages to blindness. And, unfortunately, not always medicine is stronger than the forces of nature. However, in order to at least somehow make the life of blind people surrounded by healthy people more familiar and comfortable, a new date appeared on the calendar of world holidays, called the International Day of the White Cane.
Today, not everyone knows about the origin of this holiday and its meaning. Therefore, you can learn more about this in our article.
When and why is the International Day of the White Cane celebrated?
In today's world, full of endless movement and chaos, sometimes it is difficult to discern a man without vision. Therefore, like all people, with any physical deviations and impaired health, the blind have their own special attributes that distinguish them from the crowd. For example, dark sunglasses that the blind are always wearing, regardless of the weather and season, a guide dog with a red cross on his chest, and, of course, a thin cane. The latter is the "eyes" for the disabled vision. With its help, the person is oriented in the locality and, at the same time, shows to others that there is a blind man in front of them, who may need help.
It is with this irreplaceable attribute of the blind, and the history of the holiday of the International Day of the White Cane is connected. To be more precise, its roots go back to 1921. Then in the UK lived a certain James Biggs - a man blinded at a conscious age as a result of an accident. Learning to independently move around the city, Biggs, like everyone else, used an ordinary black cane. However, because of her usual color and unpretentious form, he often got into ridiculous situations. Therefore, in order to somehow attract the attention of pedestrians and drivers on the street, James painted the cane in a more noticeable white color. This decision became very effective, and soon, such a "helper" for the blind became a symbol, indicating their social status and the special position of the pedestrian.
In a couple of decades, in the 1950s-1960s, the US authorities were active in addressing the problems of people's lives with special needs and attracting healthy people to them. As a result, after a couple of years, according to the decision of the American Congress, the International Day of the White Cane was celebrated all over the world. It was not just an attempt to show to healthy people all the complexities of the being of the blind, it was a step to equalizing the rights of the second, to make them feel full members of society.
In America, the first day of the white cane was celebrated on October 15, 1964. Five years later, in 1969, the festival was called the International Day of the White Cane, and a year later it was celebrated all over the world. And only in 1987 this tradition spread to the territory of the countries of the former USSR.
In the post-Soviet countries on October 15, many events take place on the International Day of the White Cane. Among them: various seminars, congresses, trainings, lectures, broadcasting of television and radio programs, publication of articles in newspapers in which healthy people are told about the problems of the vital activity of the blind, the basic help they can provide and the rules of communication. On the territory of America, in honor of the International Day of the White Cane, events such as competitions and blindfold tournaments are held. This is done so that the sighted person can feel himself in the "same plate" as the blind, and thus began to better understand the needs of people who do not see the world as it is.