Author: Pam
We were in the process of trying to contact the Association for the Blind (which is not an easy feat when you don't speak the language) when a reporter was "tipped off" about our arrival in Noumea by another yacht (Kracht). He came by Starship and he asked his questions as best he could and we answered the best we could considering our language barrier, it helped that he has circumnavigated several times. The outcome of our interaction was a very nice article in the Les Nouvelles Caldoniennes, Noumea newspaper. On the same day the article appeared Michel, a volunteer from the Association for the Blind tracked us down at the marina and once again thanks to media the barriers were immediately broken down. He speaks very good English which certainly helped as we had a million questions. After a mutually informative initial meeting he invited us to visit the Association on the following Monday and offered to pick us up at 13:00.
We were ready at 13:00, but we really had no idea what to expect. When Michel arrived he was accompanied by his wife Viviane (who is visually impaired) and a photographer from a magazine. The photographer took a couple of pictures of Scott and I on the boat and then disappeared. Michel was eager to get going, because he explained the TV station was planning to meet us back at the boat at 15:00. That was news (pun intended) as I stepped off the boat looking at her complete disarray as we were mid dodger and dodger frame repair, I just had to go with the flow.
We arrived at the Association Valentin Hauy after about a fifteen minute car ride. We walked in with Michel and Viviane and I immediately felt like I was Cinderella entering the ball. There were about 20 people in the room and whatever they were doing was instantly and completely interrupted. The plan was to observe the normal activity of the "center", but it became clear that between us and all of the media that had shown up for the occasion that was not going to be the go. We were introduced and then introduced to a few individuals before we were whisked to the couch were we held court with two radio stations, one magazine and the same newspaper reporter again. Thank heavens, Claude the leather teacher originally from Canada graciously interpreted for everyone. We answered some questions four times and hopefully we were consistent. There were several participants who sat as close as possible so they could hear and sometimes asked a question or made comments, none of which we could understand.
There unfortunately was not time to give a presentation to all of the participants and given the language barrier in this instance they will hopefully learn a lot more from the information we were able to share with the media.
Once our media "commitments" were fulfilled we were given a tour of the building the Association owns. The walls of the main room when you first enter the building are lined with bookcases filled with books on tape. The Association has 15 volunteers, 12 of them record books at home for the lending library. As mentioned, Claude is the leather arts teacher and he is teaching Gilles the craft with the goal that Gilles will pass the skill on to other people with visual impairments. Gilles is a big, gregarious guy who lost is vision in 1998 to a brain tumor. He speaks very good English because he worked in the hospitality business before losing his sight. He believes he was given a second chance in life and he clearly embraces it with every ounce of his being. His connection with the Association and the gift he believes he has received to meet Claude and learn to tool leather exuded from every ounce of his being as he towered over me. His handiwork was beautiful and he will fulfill his goal of being the next leather arts teacher and who knows what other doors may open.
We learned that the Association does what it can to assist clients to find employment, but New Caledonia is not exempt from the discrimination that so often limits employment for people with disabilities. In a typical year the association finds employment for two to three people. Some of the employment placements include civil servants, telephone company representatives, tourism, and retail positions.
We met one of the two guide dogs in New Caledonia. His name is Shine and he is a boofy looking boy with a big head. He was just getting his leash back that had been repaired by Gilles.
There was an individual Braille lesson in progress in the same room where they have several computers with some assistive technology. Unfortunately, they do not have a computer teacher or anyone to maintain the computers at this time. It is very difficult to know that Scott has so much to offer, but under the circumstances would not have the opportunity to update the equipment and software.
On Mondays there is a painting class. Viviane participates in the painting class; she used to paint on silk before she began losing her vision seven years ago. She also takes the yoga class every Friday.
The Association has identified 130 people who are blind or visually impaired in New Caledonia. The Association struggles with locating visually impaired people, as many families isolate and "protect" family members from the outside world. The volunteers have made an effort to try and meet each person to let them know what services are available. Funding for the Association comes from service organizations and the New Caledonian government.
After we partook of refreshments we were whisked back into Michel and Viviane's car and headed back to Starship to meet the TV crew. When we arrived at Port Moselle we discovered that half of the participants from the center had also come along to see the boat. We stood at the top of the dock and chatted while everyone gathered and the cameraman began shooting the casual conversations. Once we arrived at Starship it became chaos. There were people everywhere and the cameraman was walking around filming, he had yet to speak to us. I ended up giving tours of the front of the boat, and Scott was between the helm and the back, we didn't see one another at all. After an hour I came out to say goodbye to Michelle and Jaque and one of the TV crew asked if he could ask me a couple of questions, Scott was nowhere to be seen. After they left I asked Scott if they interviewed him, no they just filmed him demonstrating Zoomtext with charts on the computer. We looked at each other in our complete exhaustion and said I guess the word will be out now in New Caledonia. Then I asked Scott if he had made any future commitments, while I shared that we had been invited to lunch at Michelle's house on Friday so we could experience time with a New Caledonian family. We owe a huge thank you to Michel and Viviane for organizing another amazing experience for us and the wonderful opportunities for us to share our message in New Caledonia.
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