In this Episode, Abilities are Found Beyond Horizons at a School for the Blind

See what I did with that title, working in our organization's name and such? Clever huh? :-) I think its good to start any endeavor with a smile, so figured I'd at least entertain myself with this blog post.

So, since we last spoke, a lot has happened. I could write every day and have so much to say, because Lauren, Susan and I are literally working nearly all day. Its so great though, I have to remember to let Lauren and Susan work with blind kids, I get so involved, and its like I have laser focus on. I told them tonight that they need to advocate for themselves and say when they want to get in there and get dirty. Don't get me wrong, they're definitely all in the action, but I'm afraid that sometimes my enthusiasm might make me a bit of a "ball hog". Here's my public admission of guilt, and request for forgiveness :-)

Ok, to the action! We met with Abbyshake on Monday and went on more adventures. First we reviewed some of the work we did the previous week, which he struggled with. Some of the enthusiasm and bullet-proofness he was feeling when he left us on Wednesday had diminished a bit, so we worked to build that back up. We explored out of the Enable India center and went about half a kilometer or so down the street with the intention of buying a flower for his mother. I don't like to just send kids walking, I like travel to have a purpose, so the flower was just a means to an end, and set the necessary stage for other teaching to happen. So along the way we were able to explore different jobs in the world, like the Autorickshaw driver, a critical part of the working of India. Autos, as they are more commonly called, are essentially the taxi cab in India and there are literally thousands in Bangalore.

Abbyshake exploring the auto

So, after we explored the outside of the auto, which to my understanding, he's never done, and with the smiles and universal body language of "I like this, that kid is cute" of Latif the driver, I asked if Abbyshake could get into the driver's seat. He did this pretty eagerly and seemed to enjoy seeing the auto from the drivers perspective. He even got to honk the horn, a very common sound here in Bangalore, and one that Abbyshake has now learned the origin of with first hand experience.

We then moved on to the flower vendor and worked on money skills. Abbyshake, as is common with children with visual impairments, could verbally tell me exactly what needed to happen, and how much change he would get with a 20 rupee note when the flower costs 10 rupees, but when it came to the actual transaction, he had to be prompted through the whole exercise. He put the money back into his pocket after showing it to the vendor, and when the vendor asked for money he said, indignantly, "I've already paid you!" to which I had to tell him, "No, you haven't." So after he paid and received his change, he asked if he could buy another flower for his teacher Shanthala, and of course, that's fine. He did this second exchange much more appropriately. Do you see how critical it is to get the hands involved when working with a kid with a visual impairment? Just talking to them, doesn't work, they're great at parroting back, even if they don't really understand, as was clear with Abbyshake and the money.

Abbyshake with flowers

We began our walk home, and were pretty soon accosted by a street kid dressed in a funny costume begging for money. This in itself isn't too unusual here, but what was really cool about it was to watch Abbyshake in action as he told the kid, "No, go away." and other types of phrases. It was really cool to see his advocacy for himself here, he was very firm with this other kid.

Street kid begging from Abbyshake, Abbyshakes head is turned back as he tells the kid to "Go!"

We headed back to the school, and along the way he learned about postal workers, and talked with a software engineer when the man came to check his mail. Once we returned to the center, Abbyshake tried to give his mother the flower, and she tried to have him give it to me. Grumble, parents sometimes just don't get it! Its like last Friday when the kids made sandwiches and a couple of the parents refused to eat them, it crushed the kids. They were so excited to finally participate, and here they were being shot down. You may as well tell a kid who draws you a picture in crayon that his art sucks, and that he should pursue a career elsewhere. Its no different here. Yikes.

The school for the blind

Yesterday we visited a school for the blind that two of my students are working at. They will leave our class and work as mobility instructors for this school. There is currently a guy teaching mobility there, but he only teaches "theory" whatever that means, and not until they are 12-14 years old, and even then he doesn't teach them actual cane skills, they just learn about them. Oh, and he refuses to teach girls. So, Latha and VjLakshmi are going to be real assets to the school. When we went out yesterday to visit we sat for the first 45 minutes and watched promotional videos about the school, and all the things they do there. I'm getting copies of these videos. They have their own dairy, packing plant where they make cardboard boxes, silk worm production area, and coconut harvesting, and horticulture business. All of these things are staffed with blind kids, and its really quite impressive. Independent living skills at this school are not so much a concern as workplace injury is!

Blind students working with large industrial staple machine

Blind students making cardboard

We introduced a total of 7 children to canes yesterday. It was magic for them, you would think these kids had used canes for years, they learned so quickly! They buzzed around the school, which they already knew, with such confidence and speed the teachers were really surprised. Before, even though the kids knew the school, they would still walk with shuffling feet so as not to stumble over the upcoming drop off, or hit the wall. When we put a cane in their hand, and they now had 3 feet of advance notice in front of them, they couldn't be stopped. It was wonderful. The saddest part was having to take the cane back from them to give to another child. They wanted to keep them! They don't make canes that are kid sized in India, so I think we're going to make them out of mop handles instead that we've cut down to size. 

Seriously, how cute are those kids?!? Here are some other random photos.

The only deaf girl in a school for the blind, not sure what will happen with her

Kids teaching each other dance moves and finger positioning

The dairy cows

The Prayer Hall

This cool thing they do math with, that I get to bring home to the states for show and tell

Kids working on math

Preschool class, looks like fun huh?

Seriously, how adorable is she?

Susan talking with her bff, this girl was a speed demon once she had her cane

The one that can see the best leads the others in a train

Kids being guided around the school, with O&M this lady wouldn't need to hold their hands

Unfortunately, we don't see much of Lauren in these photos, and that's because she's responsible for taking all these great pics. We'll try to get some of her in front of the camera soon. That's enough for now, I'm off to work with Abbyshake again. Today we're going to buy a jackfruit, cut it up and eat it. I hope your lives are going along wonderfully. I look forward to hearing from you all.

~Mickey