Lionel Messi Joins Initiative To Aid Blind Ethiopians

Football star Lionel Messi has joined a cause to aid Ethiopians who are blind.

The World Cup-winning captain of Argentina wrote on social media that it was an honor to work with the manufacturer of assistive technology OrCam to provide Ethiopians with visual aids.

One study estimates that 1.18% of Ethiopia’s population is blind, making vision impairment one of the country’s major public health concerns.

OrCam claims that their technology for visual aids enhances “the lives of people who are blind, visually challenged, and have difficulty reading.”

Last year, 2,000 people—mostly students and government employees—received the cutting-edge visual aid tool from Ethiopia’s first lady’s office thanks to donations.]

According to the office, blind persons may now read texts in both English and Amharic, which is the nation’s official language.

Visually challenged persons can read and recognize colors thanks to artificial intelligence technology that is fitted to eyeglass frames and reads out loud to the user.

According to Time magazine, this technology is among the biggest innovations of 2019.

However, the OrCam MyEye glass is pricey and out of reach for many individuals, with a single unit costing over $4,000 (£3,200).