A crowd of people braved the bustle of the capital city this afternoon to raise awareness for the visually impaired at the annual white cane walk in Valletta.

White cane users, activists and a guide dog walked down Republic Street from St George's Piazza to the City Gates to mark International White Cane Day. 

Alfred Reale, one of the men taking part in the walk, has been visually impaired for five years and told Times of Malta that while people are normally eager to help him out, there is still a lack of awareness about his condition.

He pointed to the bus terminus in Valletta as an example. Many people are unaware that the grooves on the pavement – the tactile paving – at the bus stops are there for the visually impaired to have easier access to the capital city.

“The idea is we come off the bus and place our cane in the grooves and get here. But often there are people in the way standing and chatting or policemen put a barrier down on it.”

Alfred Reale, who participated in the white cane walk

He said there are a lot of people who don’t understand the significance of a white cane.

"I went to a job interview recently, and had written that I'm visually impaired in my CV but the employer asked me to read something on a tablet. I pointed to my white cane but he seemed not to really understand what it meant and asked again whether I could read the notes on his tablet."

According to the Commissioner for the Rights of Persons with Disability, Oliver Scicluna, infrastructure remains the biggest obstacle to the visually impaired leading an independent life.

"We have seen changes in the last few years but infrastructure remains largely inaccessible. Wider and tactile pavements, and audible traffic signals are some of the ways which could promote more inclusion,” he said.

While there is a lot more work to do in improving the quality of life of the visually impaired through better infrastructure, there have been improvements according to the secretary of the Malta Society of the Blind, John Gafa.

"We are getting more calls from the authorities to be present and give our advice as to how to make developments more accessible, which is positive," said Mr Gafa.

Still, many are unable to lead an independent life, he added and they suffer a great deal because of this.

A woman with her guide dog