Stage of Innovation: Idea (You have thought it through and documented it)

Problem: The project, Vision for Visually Impaired Persons [VVIP], is aimed at the visually-impaired. There are thirty-seven million [37, 000, 000] blind people who live in the world today. Of that number, a large majority live in developing countries. In Nigeria alone, over one million [1, 000, 000] people live in blindness and another three million people [3, 000, 000]people live with varying visual impairments. Of these numbers, 42 out of every 1000 adults are blind. Many times, a majority of the people who live in blindness end up either as beggars or completely dependent on others for their livelihood. Only a negligible number of blind people in Nigeria actually have any sort of formal education. A slightly larger, but still insignificant number of blind people have learnt trades which make them self-sufficient. The truth, however, is that for those who live in blindness, there is no thoroughly significant disadvantage that the condition brings which makes them less able to contribute meaningfully to themselves individually as well as their communities at large. When we ignore these critical set of people, we inadvertently deny them the opportunity to live to their full potential as well as rob the nation of the unique contributions that these people can bring to the table. There is therefore a very pressing need to provide a means through which blind people can be empowered through human capital development.

Unique Selling Point: People are creating opportunities to provide means through which people such as the visually impaired can be empowered through human capital development, they may also make digital walking aid. However, how is our solution different? In the first phase, we plan to carry-out reading and recording of books for the visually-impaired at the Vocational Training Centre for the Blind, Oshodi for a start. In this phase, aside from reading to convert several books in the library to audio which the blind can listen to and enrich their reading experience, we would also make use of the opportunity to get more familiarised with people living with visual impairment and gain not only their trust but also a richer perspective on how best to solve the challenges facing them. We are creating a digital walking aid products that is eco friendly that will assist them in counting their steps as they walk. We use materials like plastic and other eco friendly materials to make our products and we are aiming at affordability unlike other similar products, We are also working to create a platform which would train the visually impaired both academically as well as vocationally in several selected fields, in order for them to learn important skills necessary for survival, self sustainable and fulfilled potentials. We would be partnering with computer education centers specialized in teaching computer appreciation and computer skills to blind persons, creating a market for the economic empowerment of the blind. As more blind persons are being taught skills and trained both formally and informally.