On October 8th we commemorated the centenary of the Norwegian Association of the Blind and Partially Sighted with a stamp designed by Enzo Finger. The value of the stamp is printed in Braille.
They say that, if you lose one of your senses, the others will become stronger. It is not quite as simple as that, however.
The other senses have to be developed through training and, even if they become stronger, they will never fully compensate
for the one that is lost. There will always be things a blind person cannot do by himself, things he needs help with.
Norway's first school for the blind, Kristiania Blindeinstitut, was established in 1861. There was very little experience
to build on at that time and every small advance was made through painstaking trial and error. The objective of the school
was to teach the pupils a skill or craft that would enable them to be self-supporting when they left the school. The school
opened with only two pupils, but the numbers grew rapidly. By 1867 it was ready to move into a new building with room for
36 boarding pupils. The plans for the school were drawn up by the Society of the Blind (founded in 1858). The State took over
full responsibility for the school in 1896.
In addition to the Society of the Blind, a Mission for the Blind was founded in 1891 and a Self-Help Society of the
Blind
in Norway was started in 1903. All three organizations had sighted members only, whose efforts were directed at improving
conditions for the blind. As time went by, the blind began to organise their own local self-help societies. The first to do
so were former pupils of Klæbu School for the Blind near Trondheim, who founded the Self-Help Association of the Blind in
1900. It was renamed the North Norway Association of the Blind in 1908, and local associations were founded the same year
in the West and East of Norway. In 1909, the three associations merged to form the Norwegian Association of the Blind. One
of its primary goals was to give the blind and partially sighted a chance to support themselves by, for example, selling their
own products. The Association also set up a Braille printing works and Braille libraries were opened in Kristiania, Bergen
and Trondheim. In time those also acquired a good selection of audio books.
The Norwegian Association of the Blind currently has 6,500 members. Its most important activities include projects for
children
and young people, rehabilitation courses and a work centre for the visually impaired. The Association also runs a guide dog
training school.
Number: NK 1734
Subject: Man with cane and guide dog
Design: Enzo Finger
Value: NOK 8.00
Issue: 600,000 stamps
No. per sheet: 50 stamps
Printing: Offset/relief printing by Royal Joh. Enschedé, Netherlands.
Sales prices:
First day cover NOK 12.00
Presentation pack NOK 13.00
Collector's set
NOK 30.00
Collector's sheet NOK 28.00