Pedagogue Valentin Haüy, born in France on 13 November, 1745, is the man credited with the invention of tiflopedagogy – the educational method for the visually impaired.  He also created the world’s first boarding school for the blind. To celebrate his work, 13 November has been declared international day of the blind.

Although there are no precise data as to the number of people with moderate/severe visual impairments, they are thought to be around 400,000. Their impairment means many of them have been shut up at home, with scant job opportunities. The badly fitted tactile markings, broken pavements, confusing traffic lights sound signals combine to make public spaces practically inaccessible for them.

However, visually impaired people in Bulgaria do get a certain amount of support from the Union of the Blind in Bulgaria, the Louis Braille national chitalishte (community culture club) for the blind, which has more than 2,000 volumes of audio books of all genres, as well as like-minded people with various initiatives to help them in their everyday lives. One such initiative is a project, launched with the financial support of the National Culture Fund. Its aim, based on the practice in the US, Belgium, France and Japan, is to make available comic books in Bulgaria that are adapted for the visually impaired.

“It is important to have comic books like this, because comic books are a world that acts as an intermediate link between books and films,” Ivan Karastoyanov, one of the people who inspired and was involved in the project, explains in an interview with Radio Bulgaria. “As you know there are a great many films based on comic strips and books. With regard to books, fortunately, more and more people with visual impairments now have access to texts in e-format, and to books recorded and narrated by actors. The same is true of films, though to a lesser degree. At one point it turned out however, that with comic strips there was absolutely nothing. That is why our team thought we must do something and avail ourselves of the good practices in the world.”

Ivan has been passionate about comic books since he was a child, and an avid comic-book reader, until in the past few years his eyesight started failing progressively, and he could no longer enjoy the pictures. To make his dream come true, he was joined by actors Georgi Arsov, Mariela Dimitrova and Svetlana Smoleva. With her help as dubbing director, the comic strips came to life recorded on CD.

The team is now ready with comic stories, presented by their author Maya Bocheva – Rusalii (printed in Braille) and Wiki’s Travels. They have submitted their next project, and are hoping to receive financing for 6 or 7 more titles.

• Modern children need modern tales

“Rusalii is a teenage love story full of folklore motifs,” Ivan says. “The boy’s father goes to Spain, and sends his son off for the summer to his two aunts. And there he meets a girl calls Rossy. Little by little, the two fall in love, but then someone else disrupts their relationship – grabbing the girl and throwing her into the river. The girl dies, and the boy mourns her death. Then his father returns, and as they are travelling home, the boy sees a young female figure appear in the river waters, and a second later – a mermaid tail.”

Wiki’s Travels is much more of a story for children, but there is a moral to it as well.

“It’s is about a little girl who finds a big, bright flower. While she is looking at it, a witch passes by and sprinkles the flower with a special kind of powder, the flower shrivels up and turns into a flying broomstick. The girl gets on the broomstick and chases the witch. She reaches the moon and there she has a lot of adventures – meeting a young knight, talking mice, saving a city full of flowers and many more adventures.”

On the international day of the blind, Ivan says he is hoping that even though the lives of people with visual impairments are by no means easy, they will still find  the positive things in the world around, and all the small things that will make them happy.

Translated and posted by Milena Daynova

Photos: Maya Bocheva