Issued by Hong Kong

Issued on Oct 15, 2013

Issued for : Art knows no borders. Everyone has the same rights and opportunities to enjoy and produce artworks. Physical impairment of disabled artists does not affect their passion for art. With strong endurance and remarkable innate abilities, they are able to create extraordinary and distinctive art pieces. Hongkong Post issues a set of four stamps, featuring the artworks of four disabled artists to promote inclusive arts and foster social integration.

Designs :
$1.70 – “Thanksgiving” – Chan Tung Mui (2006),

$2.90 – “Always by your side” – Cheng Kai Man (2011),

$3.70 – “The vitality of Hong Kong” – Ko Nam (2010) and

$5.00 – “How are you” – Liu Tung Mui (2006).

Designed by : John AU

Type : Stamps, Mint condition

Watermark : No

Colour : Multicolour

Denomination : 1.70, 2.90, 3.70 & 5 Dollar

Stamp Size : 4.50 x 2.80 cms.

Perforation : 13.25 x 14.25 (one elliptical perforation on each vertical)

Paper : Paper with security fibres

Stamp Layout : Pane of 25 stamps

Printer : Joh. Enschedé B.V., the Netherlands

Printing Process : Lithography plus Braille ink

The post Hong Kong on Inclusive Arts appeared first on iStampGallery.

Issued by India

Issued on Jan 4, 2009

Issued for : India post is proud to issue commemorative postage stamp on Sir Louis Braille.

Credits :
Stamp : Shankha Samanta
FDC & Cancellation : Alka Sharma

Type : Stamp, Mint Condition

Colour : Multi colour

Denomination : 500 Paise

Stamps Printed : 3.0 Million

Printing Process : Photogravure

Printer : India Security Press, Nasik

Name : Louis Braille

Born on Jan 4, 1809 at Coupvray, France

Died on Jan 6, 1852 at Paris, France

About : 

• There was a time, not long ago when most people thought that blind people could never learn to read. People thought that the only way to read was to look at words with your eyes.
• Blind persons, correctly addressed as ‘visually impaired‘ or ‘visually challenged‘ use an embossed script for reading and writing. Named after its inventor, Louis Braille, it is known as the Braille script.
• Louis Braille, a French man, was born in Coupvray, near Paris, on January 4, 1809. India and the entire world were, thus, celebrating the 200^th Birth Anniversary of this great inventor.
• Louis‘s father, Simon Braille was harness and saddle-maker. One day when Louis Braille was a small boy, he crept into his father’s workshop to play. He had often seen his father making shoes and he decided he would like to try. He picked up an awl, a sharp, pointed tool used for making holes in leather. As he bent over, the awl slipped and pierced his eye, destroying it forever. Some time later his other eye became infected by the first and he lost his sight altogether. He was aged only 4, but still on to become one of the most famous Frenchmen ever to live.
• Despite his sight loss the young child attended the village school with his sighted friends for two years. Eventually it became clear that he would not be able to learn much more, largely because he could not read or write. Without an education it was likely that he would have to beg on the streets, like other blind people at that time.
• At the age of ten he was lucky enough to be sent to a school for blind boys in Paris, one of the first in the world. Conditions in the school were very harsh. The building was damp and unhealthy and discipline was severe. Pupils who misbehaved were beaten, locked up and given stale bread and water. In fact, this kind of discipline was common in all schools at that time. Life was harsh for nearly everyone and most sighted children left school at the age of 12 and went to work in factories or in mines.
• At the school in Paris the blind pupils were taught practical skills like chair caning and slipper making so that when they left the school they would be able to make a living. Once a week, after lunch, the boys were taken for a walk in the park, linked together by a long rope.
• They were also taught to read but not to write. The letters they read were raised above the surface of the page so that they could feel them with their fingertips. This form of writing was very difficult to read because it was very hard to tell the letters apart. The letters were printed by pressing copper wire into one side of the paper to make a raised shape on the other. Because each individual letter had to be made out of wire first and because the wire then had to be forced into the paper with a press blind people were unable to write anything for themselves.
• One day something happened that changed the lives of blind people forever. In 1821, a soldier named Charles Barbier visited Louis‘ school. He brought with him a system he had invented called “night writing“. Night writing had originally been designed so that soldiers could pass instructions along trenches at night without having to talk and give their positions away. It consisted of twelve raised dots which could be combined to represent different sounds. Unfortunately it proved to be too complex for soldiers to master and was therefore rejected by the army.
• The young Louis Braille quickly realised how useful this system of raised dots could be, provided it was simplified. Over the next few months he experimented with different systems until he found an ideal system using six dots. He continued to work on the scheme for several years after, developing separate codes for maths and music. In 1827 the first book in braille was published.
• Even so, the new system did not catch on immediately. Sighted people did not understand how useful braille could be and one head teacher at the school even banned the children from learning it. Fortunately this seemed to have the effect of encouraging the children even more and they took to learning it in secret. Eventually even sighted people began to realise the benefits of the new system.
• Not only could people with sight problems read braille but they could also write it for themselves using a simple stylus to make the dots. For the first time blind and partially sighted people began to be truly independent and to take control of their own lives.
• Louis Braille eventually became a teacher in the school where he had been a student. He was admired and respected by his pupils but, unfortunately, he did not live to see his system widely adopted. He had always been plagued by ill health and in 1852, at the age of.43, he died from tuberculosis.
• In France itself, Louis Braille‘s achievement was finally recognised by the state. In 1952, on the 100^th anniversary of his death, the French Government honoured his memory by moving his remains to the Pantheon in Paris, the resting place of all great French heroes.
• Louis Braille‘s system has remained almost unchanged during the last about 150 years, despite the onset of various technologies, bearing testimony to his farsightedness and ingenuity. Louis Braille paved the way to knowledge and empowerment for millions of blind persons throughout the world.
• Braille, which is a script and not a language for the visually impaired, as is erroneously stated at times consists of six embossed dots placed in two vertical rows. It can be used for any language in the world and is written with the help of a pointed object known as ‘stylus‘. These days, technological devices and softwares are also available for writing Braille and producing books in that system.
• On his 200^th Birth Anniversary, the visually impaired and all their sighted well-wishers salute this great international personality, who belongs not just to one country or continent, but the entire world and all languages.
• Text : As per the material provided by the proponent.

The post India on Louis Braille appeared first on iStampGallery.

Issued by India

Issued on Dec 3, 2007

Issued for : The Department of Posts joins the cases by bringing out a commemorative postage stamp on International Day of Disabled Persons. The stamp is a tribute to the spirit of persons with disabilities. For the first time, the denomination of the stamp is mentioned in Braille script. The first day cover also bears inscriptions in Braille.

Credits :
Stamp & FDC : Sankha Samanta
Cancellation : Alka Sharma

Type : Stamp, Mint Condition

Colour : Multi color

Denomination : 500 Paise

Stamps Printed : 0.8 Million

Printing Process : Photogravure

Printer : India Security Press, Nasik

About : 

• The annual observance of the International Day of Disabled Persons, 3 December, aims to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilize support for the dignity, rights and well-being of persons with disabilities. It also seeks to increase awareness of gains to be derived from the integration of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life. The theme of the Day is based on the goal of full and equal enjoyment of human rights and participation in society by persons with disabilities, established by the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons, adopted by General Assembly in 1982.
• According to the Census 2001, there are 2.19 crore persons with disabilities in India who constitute 2.13 percent of the total population. These include persons with visual, hearing, speech, locomotor and mental disabilities. Seventy five percent of persons with disabilities live in rural areas, 49 percent of disabled population is literate and only 34 percent are employed. There has been a paradigm shift in rehabilitation of persons with disabilities where social rehabilitation has replaced medical rehabilitation.
• In India to promote empowerment of the disabled a number of initiatives have been taken. The Government of India has adopted a comprehensive “National Policy for Persons with Disabilities” in February, 2006. The policy advocates empowerment and full participation of persons with disabilities in all walks of life.
• An extensive infrastructure has been developed for rehabilitation of persons with disabilities. Seven national institutes specializing in various disabilities are working for development of rehabilitation manpower, to provide specialized services to persons with disabilities, research and development of models for delivery of services.
• The Constitution of India ensures equality, freedom, justice and dignity of all individuals and implicitly mandates an inclusive society for all, including persons with disabilities.
• Signing of the United Nations Convention on the Rights for Persons with Disabilities on the 30^th March, 2007, the day on which the Convention was opened for signature, has further reaffirmed our commitment for empowerment of persons with disabilities. The Convention is to promote, protect and ensure full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms, with respect and inherent dignity by all persons with disabilities. It is a human rights instrument with an explicit social development dimension. It identifies areas where adaptations have to be made for persons with disabilities to effectively exercise their rights and where protection of their rights must be reinforced.
• Text : Based on material provided by the proponent.

The post International Day of Disabled Persons 2007 appeared first on iStampGallery.

Issued by India

Issued on Oct 15, 1987

Description of Designs : The Stamp on Eye Donation has been designed by Shri Chaitanya Joshi. The Stamp on 100 years of service to the blind has been designed by Shri C.M. Pardesi. The first day cover is designed by Smt. Alka Sharma and the cancellation by Miss Nenu Bagga.

Type : Stamps, Postal Used

Colour : Multi Colour

Denomination : 100 & 200 Paise

Printer : India Security Press

About : 

• LIGHT – God’s great gift – is denied to millions, often through ignorance or neglect. India today has approximately one-fourth of the total blind population of the world. The problem requires preventive, curative and supportive measures to tackle it. Undernourishment and insanitary health conditions have to be prevented.
• Among curable blindness is the one due to corneal opacity caused by nutritional (particularly Vitamin A) deficiency, injury, diseases or infections. The clouded cornea is removed and replaced by a healthy one taken from the eye of a recently deceased person by means of a relatively simple operation called enucleation. The cornea is supplied through an eye bank. Each donor brings light into two dark lives. There is, however, a paucity of donor eyes in India. Times Eye Research Foundation, founded in 1983 makes the process of pledging donation and acquiring donated eyes simpler. It also educates the public on the need for eye donation.
• Sometimes, however, human efforts fail. Into such lives hope comes from the Schools for Blind, which began first in Paris at the end of the 18^th century. Louis Braille’s system of embossed reading and writing has lifted the burden of helplessness from the blind.
• The first school was established in India in 1887 at Amritsar. This year completes a century of service to the blind. Bharti Braille, the all-India system of reading and writing, was accepted by the Government of India in 1951.
• The blind have kept pace with technological development, working at telephone operating, computer programming, electronic assembly and production of electronic items. Among other concessions, the government reserves posts for the blind. The All India Confederation of the Blind provides the essential solidarity and guidance. The blind have come a long way from charity to social equality and independence.
• Material for text, courtesy: Times Eye Research Foundation and All India Confederation of the Blind.

The post India on Eye Donation & Service to Blind appeared first on iStampGallery.

Issued by Pakistan

Issued on Feb 28, 1965

Issued for : Blind persons form a part of the community and “How to help the Blind” is a burning question facing the modern civilization. Every country is trying its utmost to do every thing possible for the welfare of the blind. Pakistan Post Office is issuing this commemorative postage stamp to direct the attention of the public and the concerning institutions to this national aspect of life.

Design : The design has been prepared by the famous artist Mr. A. R. Chughtai depicting the helplessness of the blind. The words “Help the Blind” appear at the top. The words “Pakistan” in Urdu and Bengali are at right and left margins respectively. The words “Postage 15-Paisa” and “Pakistan” in English are shown at the bottom.

Type : Stamp, Postal Used

Denomination : 15 Paisa

Colour : Deep Blue and Yellow Ochre

Size of Stamp : 28.6 mm x 34 mm.

Size of Print : 26 mm x 31.5 mm.

Perforation Gauge : 13 x 13 (c)

Quantity Printed : 15,00,000

Number of Stamps in each sheet : 100

Process of Printing : Litho Offset

Printers : The Pakistan Security Printing Corporation Ltd., Karachi

About : 

• In Pakistan the work for the welfare of the blind is being supervised by the “National Federation for the Welfare of the Blind”. The Federation is a national body and is affiliated to the World Council for the Welfare of the Blind. It has a Braille Press, which is the only Press of its kind in Pakistan managed and run for the welfare of the Blind. The Federation has chalked out a syllabus which has been approved by the Education Department. The Braille Press started printing and publishing Text Books according to approved syllabus which are being supplied in Karachi and West Pakistan for the education of the blind. Arrangements to get the syllabus approved and to supply books for East-Pakistan is also in hand. The “Holy Quran” and a book on the life of the Holy Prophet (may peace be upon him) has also been printed in Braille. Besides all this, the Federation is also printing other literature, magazines and calendars.
• Not only does the Federation take care of the Education of the blind in Pakistan but also co-ordinates the work of the different agencies working for the welfare of the blind in the country and is in constant touch with all the International Bodies. It also sends its representatives to the International and National conferences for the welfare of the blind.
• On every Saturday the Hon. General Secretary of the National Federation for the Welfare of the Blind meets the blind at Karachi. Complaints are heard and efforts are made to educate and rehabilitate the visiting blind.
• In order to raise funds for maintaining, developing and expanding the manifold work of the Federation, it has launched a Seals Campaign and seals are being sent to the well-wishers all over Karachi in return for a small donation from them. An amount of Rs. 37,716.72 was collected till May, 1964 by sale of these seals. The Ministry of Education and the Directorate of Social Welfare are also contributing an annual grant of about Rs. 15,000 and Rs. 5,000 respectfully.
• The following Institutions/Schools are affiliated to the Federation :
  • 1. The Adult Blind Centre, Karachi (West Pakistan).
  • 2. The Ida Rieu Poor Welfare Association, Karachi (West Pakistan).
  • 3. Rotary School for the Blind, Dacca (East Pakistan).
  • 4. The Association for the Prevention of Blindness, Dacca (East Pakistan).
  • 5. The West Pakistan Society for Blind, Rawalpindi.
  • 6. The West Pakistan Department of Education, Lahore.
  • 7. Blind Welfare Association (West Pakistan), Lahore.
  • 8. Sunrise School for the Blind, Lahore (West Pakistan).
  • 9. The Society for the Prevention and Cure of Blindness, Karachi (West Pakistan).
  • 10. Pakistan Association of the Blind, Karachi (West Pakistan).
  • 11. The Welfare Society for the Blind, Multan (West Pakistan).
• The above institutions provide healthy and good accommodation for the blind. They are taught to read and write in Braille and are taught handicrafts e.g. carpet-making, weaving of doormats etc., tailoring, plastic furniture-making, cane furniture-making and carpentry etc., to enable them to earn their livelihood. Students have opportunities for recreational activities too. They are encouraged to take part in outdoor and indoor games.
• With the compliments of the Director-General, Pakistan Post Office, Karachi.

The post Pakistan on Help the Blind appeared first on iStampGallery.