Occasioned by the International Day of Blind Children’s Education, Romfilatelia, the company specialized in editing and trading Romanian postage stamps introduces into circulation the philatelic issue Support for the blind. This day marks Valentin Hany’s birthday, the one who, in 1784, set up in Paris the first school in the world for visually impaired people.
The Romanian Association of the Blind is a non-governmental organization, its members being visually impaired people. It carries on the activities held by the "Blind Society" set up on August 1, 1906 by Queen Elisabeth of Romania. Presently, the Association of the Blind in Romania counts over 80,000 members with a first degree sight disability - severe disability (complete blindness or non-functional, very weak sight) and second degree disability - severe disability (ambliopy, partial sight).
The organizational structure of the association is coordinated by a Central Council having 30 territorial, county, and inter-county subsidiaries, including a maximum of two counties, excepting the one in Bucharest that comprises the capital, the county of Ilfov, Ialomiţa, and Călăraşi. The supreme administrative forum is the National Conference for the Association of the Blind in Romania while, at the territorial level - the conferences of the subsidiaries. The National Conference, summoned every five years, will express their free unconditioned vote to elect the Central Council while the latter, in turn, will choose the Executive Office in the country. The Council is presided over by the President, a vice-president, and four disabled vice-presidents while the Executive Offices of the subsidiaries are also presided over by disabled presidents. The Central Council for the Association of the Blind in Romania will support all members of the association with specific services: social security, education - training, cultural service (spoken book, Braille printing house), press ("Our Letter" magazine - monthly in Braille and trimestrially in visual writing) and sports related activities.
The A.B.R is member of the European Union of the Visually Impaired and of the World Blind Union, of the International Sports Association for Visually Disabled Persons and of the International Relief Chess Association. It has representatives in specialized commissions of the European Union for the Visually Impaired: the Commission on Social and Human Rights, the Commission on Education, the Commission on Access to Culture and Information, the Commission on Rehabilitation, Professional training and employment, as well as the Nominee Committee. The members of the A.B.R. in these organizational structures have been elected by the vote of the other national organizations in Europe.
The postage stamp dedicated to the visually impaired comes as a national stamp issue premiere, through the printing, in the Braille system, on one of the labels of the stamp sheet, of the Latin text Fiat Lux! (Let there be light!).
