Redemption International for the Blind was founded By Barr. Sunny Ezurike while in the United Kingdom for his Masters Degree programme in Human Rights. We are a charity registered in the United Kingdom with charity No: SC040825. We are also registered in the United Kingdom as a company limited by guarantee with company No: SC364261. In Nigeria, we are called and known as Redemption International for the Blind Initiative with the main objectives of making education more accessible to the blind through the transcription of relevant study materials used in Nigerian schools into Braille, providing bursaries and scholarships to the blind, improving on the general well-being of the blind persons in Nigeria, eliminating street begging by encouraging unskilled blind persons to acquire skills capable of providing and sustaining him and his dependants thereby making them less dependent on the society. We also encourage independent living of blind and partially sighted persons by the provision of specialist facilities.
Education for the Blind in the third World Countries, particularly in Africa, for instance, Nigeria , the giant of Africa , is indeed a true challenge. It is oftentimes a herculean task appearing almost seemingly impossible to accomplish. In fact in most cases, success in blind education in Nigeria is entirely dependent on the individual. You are simply on your own!
Our founder could be one of the more fortunate Blind folks from Nigeria , having attended King’s College, Lagos which received the attention of the Federal Government of Nigeria. It was there that he learnt how to use the Perkins Brailler. Yet, until he finished from King’s College, Lagos , he had no single relevant study material in Braille. He either begged people to record his notes for him or he did the Brailling himself. It was truly too horrible an experience to remember. His tertiary education was even more excruciating. From his year one to his final year in the University of Nigeria , Nsukka, he never had one law textbook in Braille. He was forced to rely only on handouts which he again either Brailled himself or begged people to do the recording for him; yet, he had to sit for, and write same examinations with his sighted colleagues notwithstanding the obvious advantages they had over him. The Nigeria Law School was not different either. Again, he had to rely only on handouts which he Brailled himself with no single law textbook in Braille. And of course, as expected, he sat for and wrote same bar finals under such extremely harsh and unfriendly conditions with his sighted colleagues.
