As a child, from the moment I started to learn to read and write at school, a seed was sown, a seed that would grow and develop into a love of books. Little did I think that this love of books would be my safety valve in the future. Over the years my preferences with regards to book genres changed, but my all time favorite genre remains the historical novels. I especially enjoyed reading a good book written by Maltese authors, something I cannot do today.
At the age of 17, after many years of battling with a virus that attacked my eyes, I eventually developed glaucoma and lost my sight. At this point I thought my world was falling apart because I could not read books anymore.
In November 1985, a family friend who was a teacher for the blind and knew I had lost my sight, came home one evening and introduced me to Braille. Braille is a system of tactile reading consisting of six raised dots replacing the letters of the alphabet, and it takes the name of its inventor Louis Braille, who lost his sight at the age of five after an accident with one of his father’s tools. Later, Louis Braille became a teacher at the institute for the blind in Paris that he attended as a student. He also became a qualified organist. The Braille system he created was recognised after his death and is now used by millions of blind and visually impaired people all over the world.
When I lost my sight, I realized that books in Maltese Braille were non-existent. The only book we have, so far, is the Holy Bible thanks to the Malta Bible Society who made this possible. The only books in Maltese available for blind and visually impaired people are audio books which, in my opinion, are not the solution for people who, like me, prefer to read a book and let their imagination create the scene. Another problem I found when I was still a member of the local audio book library was that the books were in an abridged form when I prefer to read the original work. It has always been my dream that one day Malta, like other countries, will have books transcribed in Maltese Braille and more blind people discover how much Braille can help in their daily lives. Braille has become part of my daily routine, and knowing Maltese Braille has helped me to participate actively in two parishes where I serve as a lector. I transcribe the readings to Braille and when it is my turn to read in church, I can go to the altar and read like my fellow lectors, but with a difference: instead of reading with my eyes I read with my finger.
It is important that more blind children, youths and adults are encouraged to learn and discover the beauty of Braille and what it can offer. In my opinion, blind people, like sighted people, can also be classified as being illiterate if they do not know how to read or write Braille. One way of tackling this difficulty is having books by Maltese authors transcribed into Maltese Braille. European funds can be tapped into to make this possible. I hope that this dream will not remain a dream but will become a reality. I look forward to that day when I can read a book in Maltese Braille.
This article forms part of the campaign ‘l-ilsien Malti għal qalbi’, organised by the Office of the President of Malta and the Maltese language organisations.