The Malaysian Association for the Blind (MAB) has been providing humanitarian assistance to the visually impaired and blind community since 1951. MAB aspires to create equal opportunities for the visually impaired persons so as to enable them to enjoy the same quality of life as the sighted.

As an initiative moving towards sustainable living, MAB will be initiating a pilot project called SL-BLIND: Sustainable Living for Families of the Visually Impaired and Blind, reaching out to 30 families’ with insufficient or no income. This hand-holding project aims:

1.   to provide comprehensive welfare assistance and psychosocial support to families of visually impaired and blind

2.   to ensure sustainable living - self-reliant to support themselves and their families financially

Through this fundraising initiative, the project ensures the beneficiaries have access to basic needs such as shelter, nutritional food, access to healthcare, education and employment. The total duration of this project is 1 year whereby 15 families will be reached out in the first 6 months and another 15 families will be reached out in the last 6 months. Each beneficiary will be visited at least 6-10 times in the duration of 6 months to provide the needed assistance. During these 6 months, the beneficiaries will be receiving food aid- dry grocery items, children essential needs (diapers and milk), assistance to medical care, school placement for the children in the family and job placement according to their skills, experience and educational capacity.

We believe in empowering the visually impaired and blind community to be self-reliant through adequate support. The blind community also wants a chance to earn a decent living for themselves and to live a life with dignity.

Let’s play our part in making a difference in someone’s life. It may be a small change today but it has a long-term positive effect on the families and children of the visually impaired and blind community.