Onkyo Braille Essay Contest 2006 -- Japanese Section ■Highly Commended "What I Can Do" Ms. Yoko Kanbayashi (60) Niigata City, Niigata Prefecture |
This is what happened two years ago, early in the summer. I got on the bus just before it left and it was full of high school students who had finished their lessons for the day. The boy next to me said, "I haven't seen you for a long time. Shell looks fine as well," and helped me to grab the hand strap. "You might not remember me. I heard your story about Braille in Japanese class when I was a fourth year student at primary school. At the time, Shell was still a novice guide dog." That was when I had just begun to walk with a guide dog. After I went to the local primary school to help with their Japanese lessons, I received a description of the children's impressions that they'd written in Braille. Their messages were hard to read because there were no spaces and the symbols were cramped. Still, Braille is the only thing I can read, so I was pleased. Among the letters, I found one that got to me. It said, "I have a sty in my eye now, so I'm wearing an eye bandage. I feel scared if I walk around using just one eye. It's not fun and I don't want to go to school. What's fun if you can't even see?" The boy who spoke to me on the bus was the same boy who wore an eye bandage that day at school. He said he was inspired by my story about my hobbies, and got more involved in his favorite hobby: magic. He also started looking after a labrador retriever--the same breed of dog as my Shell. The boy told me excitedly that he now performs as a magician and travels around many cities. I said, "Shell is retired now and has been replaced by Tasha here." He laughed and said he wasn't surprised. Then he told me he was going to take university entrance exams. After a few months, I received an e-mail from him that said, "As I said on the bus, I gained lots of experience after I met you the first time. I visited Yamakoshi village after the Niigata Prefecture Chuetsu Earthquake; I went to a school for deaf-mutes; I attended a blood-donation festival--the list goes on. I'll never forget all the things that the various people taught me at each event. Volunteer work really is beneficial to all those involved. Thanks to hearing your story when I was a child, I can now do humanitarian activities like this. I really appreciate your input." Early one evening, some time later, I met his father while he was walking his dog. "This is my son's dog, Lab," he said. He told me many things about the boy: that the dog belonged to an animal therapy facility and that the man visited the city's facilities in accordance with his son's wishes; that his son had won a prize at a students' magic convention in Las Vegas; and that his son had been accepted into the university of his dreams, where he was able to further his hobby, magic. I also met his mother one day while she was walking the dog. So I got to know his parents through their dog. Recently, when I visited a suburban primary school, I showed them a voice clock and a Braille calendar, and I talked briefly about my daily life and things I enjoy doing. I also asked a favor, "It would be helpful if you would call out to us blind folk when we're looking for crosswalks and shop entrances and the like." Then, I answered questions such as "How long does it take to learn Braille?", " Do guide dogs bark?", " What is the most annoying thing about being blind?" After that, I heard a loud voice ask me to demonstrate how blind people put on their shoes. Before I could say anything, the teacher answered that of course we can do such things properly. I couldn't think of what to say straight away. Then, fortunately for me, the school bell rang and the lesson finished. When I went out from the classroom and was seen off by the children, I heard a little voice pleading me to demonstrate putting on my shoes. I still regret that I couldn't answer him. Why was he so obsessed with shoes? I guess he had some unusual thoughts about them. If I'd stopped and showed him how I put on my shoes, I would have been able to make a connection with him from there. Like these children, when I was young I didn't have a clue about what it was like to be handicapped. However, I came down with glaucoma when I was 15 years old. It took my eyesight, and no operation could save it. For a while, it also took my will to live. Eventually, I came to accept the visual impairment. I've been carrying on with my life, thanks to the heart-to-heart relationships I have with family, friends and acquaintances. These days, real heart-to-heart relationships between people are becoming less common. That is, we don't have true communication. When you keep your pain to yourself, you can't open the door to tomorrow. But if you open the door to the outside world, even a little, a spirit of cooperation will be born. This spirit of cooperation becomes a treasure for later generations. I think what we need in today's society is to bring up this idea and pass it on to the children--those who create the future. I don't have enough knowledge or ability to create world peace, but I believe that talking about my way of living is the biggest contribution that I can make. Through my communications, I want to share my thoughts about peace with the younger generations. |
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