Last Wednesday, after lunch with the Ponoka White Cane Support Group, Lyle and I drove on to Stettler to meet with the Stettler Sight Seekers. Luella, the facilitator of the group, along with several others and the reporter from the local paper, chatted with us over coffee and cookies. Luella led us on a short walk towards downtown Stettler.
From Stettler on that same afternoon the wind swept us across the prairie towards Regina. Thankfully on Friday morning, the day of our walk there, the wind had stopped blowing and the sun was shining. It was a perfect morning for a walk around the lake.
All in all there were eighteen of us walking and of those, there were nine using white canes and one young woman with a guide dog. What a great representation! We also broke another age record by having with us the youngest walker and white cane user so far in the White Cane Connections project. Emily is only nine years old and she walked the 4.3 kilometers with the group.
I enjoyed this walk for a number of reasons. The weather was amazing, and the distance was long enough that I was able to talk with nearly everyone who participated. I heard about the improvements made to the lake trail over the past decade and about some of its history. I learned more about guide dogs from Michelle and her dog, Jimmy. I listened carefully when another member of our group told me how much more vulnerable she felt when she used her cane as opposed to walking with her guide dog.
This latter is an interesting point. While I have never been attacked myself, I have heard stories from other people – women mainly – who have been the victims of taunting and robbery. Lily (from Edmonton) had had two such experiences. Once she had her purse stolen and on another occasion two teenagers walked backwards in front of her making faces, waving their arms in the air and calling her names. Lily had just enough sight to detect all of this, but not enough sight or mobility to do anything about it.
I am including two pictures with this post. The first is of some of the group as we were about to set off from the Regina CNIB office, and by the way, thanks Lisa, for gathering the group, organising the route and generally taking charge of the day. Lisa is the Orientation and Mobility Specialist at the Regina CNIB Office.
The second picture is one taken of Emily and myself. Emily is using a very short white cane, but as she grows older, the cane will be exchanged for a longer one to suit her height.
All in all, this was a great day!
I do not think about younger people have a problem with their sight, so I found it interesting to read about Emily. How sad about people being attacked. Also sending you an e-mail, under Lyle's name.
ReplyDeleteDorothy