On 16 October 2026, the Union of the Blind of Serbia celebrated its 80th anniversary of the Union and the 55th anniversary of the Library for the Blind “Dr Milan Budimir”. Among the most memorable moments was a moving letter addressed to Louis Braille by Ana Jovčić, a young blind teacher of Serbian language and literature, reminding everyone present how transformative Braille literacy remains today.
Please find below the letter translated into English by Goran Pećanac.
A Letter to Louis Braille
Dear Louis,
I graduated from university two weeks ago. I studied literature. And although you lived long before me, you directly influenced the decisions that brought me here. There is no writing system including yours in which I could write words nice enough to thank you from the bottom of my heart. But nevertheless, I do write. I am writing to you, but also to all those who do not understand how many lives your invention has influenced and to what extent. How many of us, thanks to your invention, attended schools and universities and were provided for existence, both our own and that of our families. I will not exaggerate even if I say that many lives would have remained in that true, sad darkness, in the darkness where there is no culture, no information, no opportunities for a dignified life. Someone will say nowadays, we do not need Braille, we have talking software and audio books, who in this century still depends on Braille?! I confess, people can live without your dots today, but at what price? We, as blind persons, convinced ourselves that your dots were not necessary, because there are not many people who could make us acquainted with them. Very few teachers require blind children to read their own scripture. These children, Louis, become young people who educated themselves by listening, never having experienced the magnificent feeling to sense the letters independently, without other people’s voice; letters that then change into words, sentences and whole books.
Dear Louis, I read about your accident. You were quite a little boy when you became blind. God, even then you explored and were so curious! You played in your father’s workshop with his awl and injured your eye. You became totally blind due to the infection. This was a huge misfortune for your family. But nonetheless, dear Louis, you showed that true and real miracles, miracles for the whole of mankind, can be born from accidents, even from those we consider not likely to survive. I know that there are not many blind persons in the world – they say hardly 0.53%… but let us not talk about numbers. I would like to write to you about myself, about how you and your invention determined my life, irreversibly and forever.
Imagine a six-year-old girl in her grandparents’ house on the outskirts of a city. The girl stands in front of a bookshelf which contains tens of different books. She is attracted by colourful covers and big letters. She calls her mum to decipher titles for her: “A Bomb in The Café au Lait” by Dragan Lukić; “Tales” by Hans Christian Andersen; “A Woman from Sarajevo” by Ivo Andric; “The Fortress” by Meša Selimović…
Outside, cars rumble by at insane speeds, and she lies under a thick quilt, warming the cold sheets with her warm body. Her mother’s voice with the shining of the lamp takes her very far away:
“My poor flowers died,” the little Ida shouted. “They were so beautiful last night, and now, all their petals are withered. Why did my flowers wither?”
She loved her mother’s voice. And not only hers. Whoever could read, even slowly and unclearly, was being forced by her constant requests to get down to book and read until both were tired.
Soon she learned the letters herself. But all the books were printed so that she seemed to see dark dots instead of letters. It was a real vast anthill. She knew that she would soon begin to attend the school for visually impaired children. There they have books with big letters! The summer before her first class was the longest and the most annoying one, she has ever remembered.
Imagine, dear Louis, that same girl one year later sitting beside the window in the school bus, her face pressed against a book in large print, and her joy because she, herself, without someone else’s voice, is able to read a fable and so to prepare herself for a class of Serbian language.
The time was passing, and the big letters became increasingly unclear. Her eyes became tired faster and faster, and her handwriting was worse day after day. Again, others read her books, and she did her school tests whispering the answers in her teacher’s ear.
“In your new school you will meet friends who cannot see, just like you,” her teacher said. “You will learn Braille. It is read with fingers. So, you will be able to read books again!”
The girl could not imagine this unusual scripture. What kind of scripture is not read with eyes? “It must be a strange school. They must think that I became stupid, that I no longer belong here and have decided to get rid of me,” she believed.
A few months later, holding her mum’s hand, she stood in front of her new classroom. She heard a strange thumping and the strong voice of her new teacher who dictated something to the pupils. Later, while touching school benches, the girl understood that the noise was produced by typewriting machines penetrating thick sheets of paper. The dots were so clear. She imagined them to be black. Every day she attended the literacy classes. In the third class, everyone already knew how to read and write well. The girl wanted to reach their level as soon as possible, and most of all, she dreamed of reading a huge Braille book. It did not matter which book it was; she just wanted to read it from cover to cover. During the classes, she did not even reach the 15th letter, but with her new friend, hand in hand, went to the school library. Uncle Mića, the librarian, handed her the book of folk fairy tales. Knowing almost a half of the letters, she managed to decipher the other half that she has not yet learned with her teacher.
“Leave that book! Let’s play together!” Her friend was upset.
“Just one more fairy tale,” replied the girl, trying to calm her.
Three months later, sitting in the same school bus, the girl held a novel for children by Elin Pelin on her knees and knew that nothing could stop her anymore. Now she had her dots! She wanted to read a whole uncle Mića’s school library. She wanted to read all the books in the world!
Dear Louis, can you imagine the whole world you gifted her two centuries after your life? There is no audio book, Louis, that has been engraved in her memory as much as the books she has read with her own fingers. A direct contact with a book is like a direct contact with a friendly hand. You too, dear Louis, do know how important touch is for blind persons. While talking, we like to take each other by the hand. Instead of a warm look, we shake hands.
Unfortunately, nowadays, many people do not give your invention a chance. They say that it is unnecessary, given the abundance of software and audiobooks available today. I am so sorry, Louis, because they will never sense the joy of touch with books, of complete diving into its world and that sense of victory when reaching the end.
And finally, my dear Louis, even if generations to come were to forget your invention completely, never forget that you profoundly influenced the lives of so many people. As for my own life, I simply cannot imagine it without Braille.
With huge respect
Ana
Sunday, October 11, 2026