WITH MARCH designated as Month Of The Disabled, the Barbados Council for the Disabled is hosting activities under the theme: Here Today, Here To Stay; Come, Get To Know Us!
This month the Monday Man column will feature members of the disabled community as they share their stories.
Today we focus on Rudyard Welch, president of the National United Society for the Blind.
RUDYARD WELCH considers himself to be a good judge of character. He cannot see but he believes his reliance on other senses gives him a heightened sense of awareness.
Welch, who lost his sight in 2009, said one good thing about being blind was that “you accept people for who they are”.
“If they are nice, trustworthy or understanding, you know,” he said. “You can sense emotion, tone of voice and can tell when being taken for a ride or taken for granted, but when you can see, you are looking at the body and the exterior.”
Additionally, he is more aware of his surroundings. He knows where the potholes are in the road, has memorised the corners and turns on the road, and smells and sounds help him identify his location.
“When I get by Purity I can smell the bread, by the hospital has a different smell to anywhere else in Barbados and the breeze on Bay Street is different to the breeze along Hastings,” he said with a smile.
Welch, who has been president of the National United Society of the Blind (NUSB) for the past three years, said his sight started to deteriorate in November 2008 and by February 2009, he was totally blind. Because of his diabetes, not enough oxygen was getting to the blood vessels at the back of his eyes leading to retinal detachment. Even though he got laser treatment which he knew had a 50/50 chance of being successful, he lost sight in the right eye.
He quickly had to face up to the fact that he would soon become blind.
“That was the hand that was dealt to me so I had to deal with it the best way I could.”
But it was not easy, as he was initially terrified when he first learned his sight would be lost.
“This was unchartered waters for me. I never thought I would be disabled. No one ever thinks they would be disabled,” Welch said.
He said the hardest part of his disability was the adjustment because to lose his sight as an adult and then be dependent on others was “rough”.
“When you have been seeing all the days of your life and then you lose your sight, the transition is very difficult. Some of us will accept it, some of us just cannot.”
When he first lost sight, Welch said he asked God why him since people were walking around doing crime and wickedness and he was just trying to take care of his family.
The software available in the iPhone and other disabled friendly devices allows the disabled to do what the seeing population can.
It was challenging mentally, physically and socially for the former employee of the Pine Hill Dairy of 20 years, starting as a security guard before transferring to the computer department.
“I played an active role. I was president of the social club for those 20 years and played an active role in all aspects of the organisation,” he recalled.
Welch said he believed he could have been incorporated into the company but he also had to accept that management was more scared of the unknown and for his well-being, and did not intentionally want to put him out of a job. He said that since he was employed at an industrial plant, he was declared medically unfit for work.
“The first year or so I went through a state of depression. I wouldn’t leave home . . . I did not want anybody to see me. I was trying to battle with my situation but I have good family support, the church and a handful of friends who really supported me.”
Welch’s aunt, who is visually impaired, encouraged him to visit the centre for the blind. “When I could see I used to assist some of people at the centre, I would drop them home, and do things for them but I never really saw myself as being blind.”
