In Trinidad and Tobago, the following are the main organizations that offer support services for the blind and visually impaired. Organizations that assist children were omitted from this report due to the adult focus of this project.
Persons Associated with Visual Impairment (PAVI)
- PAVI’s mission is to “intervene and advocate for equal opportunities for persons with visual impairment, as well as provide education for the prevention of blindness.”
- Services currently provided:
- Adjustment to Blindness
- Daily Living Skills – personal and home management
- White Cane Training – the white cane will help the individual identify objects on the ground, clearing the way to move freely. It will also assist you in getting assistance when it is needed as it serves to identify you as a blind person.
- Support Groups – PAVI currently has three support groups throughout Trinidad and Tobago (East-West corridor, Central and in South).
- Contact Information:
- Physical Address: #54 Sixth Avenue, Barataria
- Mailing Address: P.O. Bag 360B, Port of Spain
- Telephone/Fax: 674-0336, 221-7979
- Email: pavi1tt@gmail.com
- Website URL: pavitandt.org
The Trinidad and Tobago Blind Welfare Association (T&T BWA)
- T&T BWA’s objectives are to:
- Prevent Blindness
- Promote public awareness in the community
- Promote independence and integration
- Act as a resource center
- Services currently provided:
- Counseling
- Referrals to medical doctors
- Rehabilitation
- Leisure activities
- Blindness prevention
- Socialization programs
- Library Services
- School for Blind Children
- Daily living skills, mobility and orientation
- Social and Communication Skills
- Vocational counseling
- Social Welfare Assistance
- There are three (3) workshops that are conducted from the organization’s Branches – basketry, chair caning and seagrassing.
- Contact Information:
- Head Office: Corner Duke and Edward Streets, Port of Spain
- Telephone: 624-4675
- Website URL: www.bordeglobal.org
W.R. Torres Foundation for the Blind, Inc. (Torres Foundation)
- The mission of the Torres Foundation is to “To promote the educational, cultural, and social development of blind people in Trinidad and Tobago and throughout the Caribbean in an effort to bring about independence, career opportunities, and overall life enhancement.”
- Per the representative at the Torres Foundation, most programs listed below are available both in T&T and in Washington, D.C. (with the exception of training programs that are only conducted in Washington, D.C.)
- Services provided:
- Professional Training
- JAWS (including scripting)
- Voice recognition and screen magnification technology
- The Microsoft Office Suite of Applications
- HTML and web script programming
- Web accessibility
- Braille production
- Assistive Technology and Accessibility Consulting
- Technology Sales
- Technology Assessments
- Braille Production
- Personal Administrative Assistants (part-time and full-time)
- Programs offered:
- Blind Independence Technology Training (BITT)
- The BITT program is intended to provide blind people of Trinidad and Tobago with basic skills in computer literacy. It is a program designed to upgrade the basic skills of every visually impaired person of T&T who is seeking to enhance their independence, career, and educational opportunities. The program will be structured in a manner that would promote the idea of people helping people. Students taking the course together will be required to work as a team on projects as well as to assist each other in learning the technology.
- Training for the BITT Program is currently available at two locations in Trinidad:
- Torres Foundation Technology Learning Center, Port of Spain
- Carnegie Library, San Fernando
- Assistive Technology Subsidy (ATS)
- The ATS program provides subsidies for blind residents of the Caribbean to purchase assistive technology. The Torres Foundation currently provides a US$695.00 subsidy for the purchase of the JAWS program. The JAWS screen reading software is one of the most powerful programs for enabling a person who is blind to use the computer. The software is operated by a series of keyboard commands that read the information on the computer screen out loud to the blind user. Schools, libraries, businesses, and government agencies around the world use JAWS to provide computer access to people who are visually impaired. This subsidy will continue for as long as the Torres Foundation is financially able to keep the program running.
- Computer Donation Program (CDP)
- This program recycles used computer systems from corporations and donates them to individuals in the blind community in Trinidad and Tobago. Since the program began in 2000, the Foundation has donated 10 computers.
- Community Volunteer Network (CVN)
- The program is designed to provide blind or visually impaired individuals with a source of assistance for everyday tasks while also providing trained and supervised volunteers an opportunity to perform worthwhile services that they will find meaningful and personally rewarding.
- Community Volunteer Reader
- Responsibilities – in general, to read mail, other correspondence and miscellaneous materials to clients. To assist with clerical tasks such as filling out forms, organizing papers and paying of bills.
- Community Volunteer Shopper
- Responsibilities:
- To assist with grocery shopping – this may include reading labels, and comparing prices.
- To assist with personal shopping – this may include shopping for clothes or errands such as stopping at the bank or drugstore.
- Contact Information:
- Address: Capital Plaza, 11-13 Frederick Street, Suite 302, Port of Spain
- Telephone: 623-0940
- Fax: 202-318-8561
- Email: info@torresfoundation.org
- Website URL: www.torresfoundation.org
Ministry of Social Development and Family Services
The Disability Affairs Unit
- Mission: “To advocate for the rights, protection and equality of opportunity for persons with disabilities living in Trinidad and Tobago by monitoring and coordinating the implementation of the National Policy of Persons with Disabilities.”
- Programs and Services Provided:
- International Day of Persons with Disabilities
- Financial Assistance to NGOs
- The National Policy on Persons with Disabilities
- Sensitization Workshops and Public Awareness Campaigns
- Personal Assistants Training Program (PATP) in collaboration with Servol
- Access T&T – a publication of the Disability Affairs Unit, Ministry of the People and Social Development, was launched on 23rd July, 2010. This book is an initiative designed to increase awareness and participation of the disabled community. It serves to act as a guide and provide a wealth of practical and relevant information on accessible places in Trinidad and Tobago that provide entertainment and recreation. It also includes categories such as hotels, guest houses, sporting and recreational facilities, shopping malls, entertainment centres and restaurants. Access T&T has been circulated to relevant government and stakeholder agencies.
- Contact Information:
- Mailing Address: 45A-C St. Vincent Street, Port of Spain
- Telephone: 623-1983 o Fax: 623-2379
- Email: disabilityaffairs@gmail.com
- Website URL: www2.mpsd.gov.tt
National Library and Information System Authority (NALIS)
Access for Differently Abled Users
For the visually challenged, services are available in large print, Braille, audio formats, recorded books and talking books. The assistive technology employed includes the JAWS (Job Access with Speech) voice synthesizer, Magic Professional Screen Magnifier for those with low vision, the Braille Embosser, which translates text to Braille and printed material, and the Poet OCR reading machine for reading documents to the visually challenged. These services are available in Children’s, Adult and Heritage libraries.
NALIS provides easy access to persons in wheel chairs via ramps at street level and elevator access from the ground floor to the other service levels. Water fountains and bathroom facilities are designed for easy accessibility to wheel chair users.
Through the kind sponsorship of one of the Friends of the Library, a scooter is made available for persons not able to cover the large span of the library on foot. There are special workstations for the mobility impaired, equipped with special mouse devices and key pads.
NALIS’ staff has been trained in sign language to effectively communicate with the hearing impaired; staff can also communicate with the hearing impaired using the computer.
Website URL: www.nalis.gov.tt
Port of Spain Adult Library
| Library | Address | Tel. No. | Opening Hours |
| Port of Spain Adult Library | 1st Floor, National Library Building, Hart and Abercromby St., Port of Spain | (868) 623-9673/626-2547/623-6962/623-7278 Ext. 2100, 2106, 2109 | Mon-Fri: 8.30am-6pm Sat: 8.30am-4pm |
North Region Libraries
| Library | Address | Tel. No. | Opening Hours |
| Arima Public Library | 31 Pro Queen St., Arima | (868) 667-3370 | Mon-Fri: 8.30am-6pm Sat: 8.30am-4pm |
| Chaguanas Public Library | Center Pointe Mall, Chaguanas | (868) 665-9058 | Mon-Fri: 8.30am-6pm Sat: 8.30am-4pm |
| Diego Martin Public Library | Cor. Garnet Rd. and Wendy Fitzwilliam Blvd, Diamond Vale, Diego Martin | (868) 637-7915 | Mon-Fri: 10am-6pm Sat: 8.30am-4pm |
| Maloney Public Library | Willet Avenue, Maloney | (868) 642-2207 | Mon-Fri: 8.30am-5pm Sat: 8.30am-4pm |
| Mayaro Public Library | Mayaro Village Hall, Plaisance Rd., Mayaro | (868) 630-8048 | Mon-Fri: 8.30am-6pm Sat: 8.30am-4pm |
| St. Helena Public Library | Moephat Trace, St. Helena, Piarco | (868) 669-8697 | Mon-Fri: 8.30am-5pm Sat: 8.30am-4pm |
| St. James Public Library | 31 Church Street, St. James | (868) 622-1059 | Mon-Fri: 8.30am-6pm Sat: 8.30am-4pm |
| Sangre Grande Public Library | Brierly St., Sangre Grande | (868) 668-2328 | Mon-Fri: 8.30am-6pm Sat: 8.30am-4pm |
| San Juan Public Library | 20 Eastern Main Rd., San Juan | (868) 638-2179 | Mon-Fri: 8.30am-6pm Sat: 8.30am-4pm |
| Tunapuna Public Library | Cor. Freeling St. and Eastern Main Rd., Tunapuna | (868) 662-7037 | Mon-Fri: 8.30am-6pm Sat: 8.30am-4pm |
South Region Libraries
| Library | Address | Tel. No. | Opening Hours |
| Carnegie Free Library – Lending | Prince of Wales & Coffee Streets, San Fernando | (868) 652-2608 | Mon-Fri: 8.30am-6pm Sat: 8.30am-4pm |
| Carnegie Free Library – Reference | La Pique Plaza, Harris Promenade, San Fernando | contact number given is not in service (652-2921) | Mon-Fri: 8.30am-6pm Sat: 8.30am-4pm |
| Cedros Public Library | Cedros Composite School, Cedros | Presently closed (not operational) | Mon-Fri: 9am-5pm Sat: CLOSED |
| Couva Public Library | Cor. Railway Road and Grant St. Ext., Couva | (868) 636-0073 | Mon-Fri: 8.30am-6pm Sat: 8.30am-4pm |
| Debe Public Library | 1054 S.S. Erin Road, Debe | contact number listed on website is not in service (647- 8785) | Mon-Fri: 8.30am-6pm Sat: 8.30am-4pm |
| La Brea Public Library | New Lands, La Brea | Presently closed (not operational) | Mon-Fri: 9am-5pm Sat: 9am-4pm |
| Moruga Public Library | Building No. 3, L’Anse Mitan Rd.,Grand Chemin, Moruga | (868) 656-7217 | Mon-Fri: 8.30am-6pm Sat: 8am-4pm |
| Point Fortin Public Library | No.2 Cap-De-Ville Rd., Point Fortin | (868) 648-2337 | Mon-Fri: 8.30am-6pm Sat: 8.30am-4pm |
| Princes Town Public Library | 2A St. James St., Princes Town | (868) 655-5448 | Mon-Fri: 8.30am-6pm Sat: 8.30am-4pm |
| Rio Claro Public Library | De Verteuil Street, Rio Claro, | (868) 463-1230 | Mon-Fri: 8.30am-6pm Sat: 8.30am-4pm |
Tobago Libraries
| Library | Address | Tel. No. | Opening Hours |
| Charlotteville Public Library | Cor. New and Church St., Charlotteville, Tobago | (868) 660-5311 (unable to verify # listed as phone kept ringing and other libraries were unsure of correct info for this location) | Mon-Fri: 9am-6pm Sat: 2pm-6pm |
| Roxborough Public Library | 24A Bloody Bay Rd., Roxborough, Tobago | (868) 660-4403 | Mon:11am-5pm Tue-Thu: 9am-6pm Fri: 9am-5pm Sat: CLOSED |
| Scarborough Public Library | Scarborough Regional Library, Gardenside St., Scarborough, Tobago | (868) 639- 3433,(868) 639- 3593,(868) 639- 3635, (868) 639- 2256 |