‘I will welcome happiness for it enlarges my heart; yet I will endure sadness for it opens my soul. I will acknowledge rewards for they are my due; yet I will welcome obstacles for they are my challenge.’ ~
Og Mandino
When I met Amir Abdi in 2017 working at Dialogue in the Dark, I knew instantly we’d be friends. He is that kind of guy who is always thinking of ways to help others in his community and can find the sunshine on a cloudy day.
Amir is totally blind, the Captain of Australian Blind soccer, a student at Deakin University and a passionate advocate for social inclusion – giving talks whenever he is invited to share his vision of mutual acceptance in a multi-cultural society.
On one of our regular chats over the phone, Amir asked, ‘Would you like to co-facilitate a presentation with me? I’ve been invited by Kingswood College to talk to their students.’
‘Hey, that’s great!’ I said.
‘Yes. And I’d like you to share your story too. I think you are amazing. Amir said with a smile in his voice. How could I refuse his kind offer?
We shared ideas on what we could cover that would help the students gain a better understanding of a life with less sight. We realised that our journeys into blindness were so different, yet, on a deep level, we also shared many similarities in knowing the true challenges we have to overcome on a daily basis.
As a writer, I was keen to pinpoint an engaging title for our new venture – what name could we give to being two ‘blind’ speakers sharing the same stage? We both knew it could be the first of many talks together. Scribbling down ideas as they scrambled into my mind, I was thrilled when ‘Speak 2 Inspire’ came into focus. Amir loved it, ‘Perfect.’ He said.
Teamwork Makes the Difference
At Kingswood College, Amir and I spent the time engaging the students in a unique presentation. Amir shared his story that originated in Kurdistan and the unfortunate incident that caused him to go blind. Then he talked about his passion for blind sports, how he has learned to embrace many challenges throughout his life and ended up by showing the students how he has adapted to using Braille. The highlight for the students was being given the opportunity to actually write Braille on his portable machine.
For my part, I shared the story of going blind during my teens and how I chose to lean on a resilient spirit to face certain challenges over my life. We talked about some myths of being blind – one being that all ‘blind’ people know how to read Braille. Not true. I gave a quick demonstration using technology on my laptop. My screen reader (JAWS) spoke a prepared message and then I handed out a few portable low vision gadgets to pique the students curiosity.
We ended our session with an open conversation with the students and encouraged them to consider their own vision of what is possible in their lives and when confronted by a life-challenge, being able to see it as a new opportunity to somewhere else is an empowering way to cope with change.
We Can Do It Again
It was so rewarding for Amir and myself to make a difference as a team on the court of life, playing our part in raising awareness one life-student at a time.
‘The students were highly engaged and were still talking about the presentation weeks afterwards.’
Oliver Maddison, Year 9 Coordinator, Kingswood College
From this secondary college to speaking at a multi-cultural event, Amir and I recently gave a workshop to raise social awareness for people from multi-cultural backgrounds. We explored access rights for people with a visual disability who use a service animal such as a guide dog in Australia.
My next post shares some common social myths for people living with a visual disability who use an assistant dog. Spoiler alert – these 2 working guide dogs are more than adorable large puppies! Subscribe and don’t miss the post…
You Might Also Like to Read
How to Book a Presentation ‘Speak 2 Inspire’
Guide Dog Training: Breakdown to Breakthrough
Blindness for Beginners in Your Hands
Copyright © Maribel Steel 2019