I woke up really early on Sunday (which I don't normally do) to participate in the Walk For Sight 2009, a charity walk aimed to raise funds for St. Nicholas Home, and had an eye-opening experience. Participants were asked to partner up; where one will be blindfolded and the other will guide throughout the walk. Soo Huey was my partner and we decided to take turns to be blindfolded (though I think she ended up walking more of the 2.3km blindfolded :P)
We had a great time and a good laugh when we tried to overtake 'slower' participants, or tried to inform the blindfolded partner a turn is coming up, or to slow down or to 'emergency stop' when people in front slowed down/stopped. We might have laughed it off on the spot but looking back, it actually created an awareness of the importance of one's eyesight and also the responsibilities of a guide.
As the guide:
It was my first time guiding and I must say I wasn't attentive enough at times. SHuey bumped into a couple who made a sudden stop and I almost led her near uneven pavements :P Other than that I guess we had a pretty smooth walk, so smooth in fact she totally just followed my lead till she needed time to recognize her surroundings and regain her bearings when it was time to change roles XD. I told her to take her time coz I dared not let the blindfolded me follow a blur guide!
As the guided:
Blindfolded was pretty scary. You just had to hold on to your guide and put your entire trust on him/her to guide you safely with traffic passing right next to you! Also when your guide suddenly quickened his/her pace, you'll be startled - at least I was, or when you felt he/she moving left then right then left then right as if she was avoiding obstacles (She was overtaking people actually). And it didn't help especially when your guide didn't explain much :P I had to ask her..why so fast? what noise is that? where are we? how far more to go? LOL. Also to the blindfolded it felt like walking along a straight road all the way although in actual we went through a few turnings.
Although it was just a short walk with minimal obstacles, a few stepped and be stepped on the heel moments, and a smooth route (no steep climb, no uneven grounds), all in all it was an out-of-the-ordinary Sunday morning for me and an interesting way of creating awareness and appreciation. Plus a yummy dim sum to end ;)
We had a great time and a good laugh when we tried to overtake 'slower' participants, or tried to inform the blindfolded partner a turn is coming up, or to slow down or to 'emergency stop' when people in front slowed down/stopped. We might have laughed it off on the spot but looking back, it actually created an awareness of the importance of one's eyesight and also the responsibilities of a guide.As the guide:
It was my first time guiding and I must say I wasn't attentive enough at times. SHuey bumped into a couple who made a sudden stop and I almost led her near uneven pavements :P Other than that I guess we had a pretty smooth walk, so smooth in fact she totally just followed my lead till she needed time to recognize her surroundings and regain her bearings when it was time to change roles XD. I told her to take her time coz I dared not let the blindfolded me follow a blur guide!
As the guided:
Blindfolded was pretty scary. You just had to hold on to your guide and put your entire trust on him/her to guide you safely with traffic passing right next to you! Also when your guide suddenly quickened his/her pace, you'll be startled - at least I was, or when you felt he/she moving left then right then left then right as if she was avoiding obstacles (She was overtaking people actually). And it didn't help especially when your guide didn't explain much :P I had to ask her..why so fast? what noise is that? where are we? how far more to go? LOL. Also to the blindfolded it felt like walking along a straight road all the way although in actual we went through a few turnings.
Although it was just a short walk with minimal obstacles, a few stepped and be stepped on the heel moments, and a smooth route (no steep climb, no uneven grounds), all in all it was an out-of-the-ordinary Sunday morning for me and an interesting way of creating awareness and appreciation. Plus a yummy dim sum to end ;)
5 tots:
roflol!!!!!! it sounds like i was a pretty bad guide!! i was thinking u juz follow my pace n didnt give u warning before i start overtaking ppl. sorry ya? but i didnt put you in traffic's harm lah... summore move you away from all the wheelchairs that came all of the sudden summore! the wheelchairs were on of the reasons that we sometimes had to move left right. (but mostly its coz of overtaking la. xD)
but horr... actually sometimes overtaking coz i was keeping up with your friends, sometimes its coz i duwan make it so obvious to ppl that i'm cutting them, so i juz quietly walk past them lor... if i say "ok, we're cutting this couple ahead", then the couple may think "cis, cut people". but if i juz walk past them, then they dont realise mah :P
my guide was very good! i had a very smooth walk. guess thats y i thot din need to explain much. i also din hear much explanations mah. but could feel which direction / what speed u were goin based on your hand. quite interesting. sense of touch, sound n smell were definitely heightened during the walk. guess thats y i didnt talk much when guiding, coz i know when i was blind, all the sounds that everyone else were saying were very audible to me.
all in all a very interesting experience! Thanks Mei Ying!! :) *hugs
Hahaha, it was some kind of race to win izt? I can imagine Soo Huey pushing her way dragging a blindfolded Mei Ying to the finish line. Hehehehe...
I played the blindfolded challenge there before when I participated a company event. It's a whole different experience when being blindfolded and guided. Makes you realize that we take a lot of things for granted.
haha nola, u were a pretty good guide also ma..avoiding high pavements and ppl toward the end so that I didn't have to go sesak with ppl :P
oh i din explain much kah haha but more than u i think ngek ngek
yeah hearing was heightened..everything a notch louder than usual.
hehe thanx for being my partner too! *muax
lol nola min, was a leisure walk, no competition one..imagine already overtaking ppl, if it was a race to finish line i think for sure i jatuh into longkang or sth d XD
yup..was a great experience and i am thankful :)
hmm... mindy, i'm so competitive wan meh? you're not the 1st person to imply that.... i guess i'm a driven person n dont see the purpose of doing something if u dont give it your best. but i dont think i'll push ppl... drag MY maybe la :P
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