Christopher Venter – Blind Adventurer, Writer, Speaker, Content Creator
Driving from East London to Umtata yesterday was interesting. We encountered many stop and go points where road works were in place. There were police pulling cars over here and there, but we were just ushered through. Animals strolled the streets in some places. Pigs, sheep, cows, donkeys and many stray dogs, but in general, other than a few bad areas and some impressively large speed bumps, most of the roads were good.
We arrived at the Efata school for the blind just on time and after what took almost an hour of the staff pondering where to present the canes to the children, it was decided to do so right where the children had been sitting outside and waiting patiently all along. I do not believe they had been told about our visit, or reason for being there, because, once they were spoken to and called up to collect their new canes, they were shocked. It did not take long and the children had broken out in song. Minutes later, they were all playing with their canes and smiling. The Orientation and Mobility Instructor was super excited and told us that he was taking them all into the hall after we left to start their training. The solar powered audio players also went down extremely well and within a few minutes, we could hear them playing all over the place.
Big Mike did some filming and took a pile of photos while I chatted to the teachers. Our scheduled one hour visit became a three hour visit. This is Africa time and we did not mind. We actually expected it.
After the school visit, we drove through the gauntlet that is Mthatha and made our way down to Port St Johns. Reaching our accommodation was truly challenging with the last few kilometres of road being muddy, rocky, full of massive craters and mostly under water. Our little rental car did the trick fine and despite us having to crawl along to get through, we all survived.
We ate dinner at a local place that was very well priced then hit the sack early. The mozzies had a nice feast. Luckily, there is no malaria in this area.
In the morning, we head to the next school, at Bizana. This road will also be a proper test of Big Mike’s driving skills and patience. Its only 150km from us, but we expect to be on the road for no less than six hours to get there and back. It’s all worth it when you hear the joy from the youngsters when they get their new canes.
Today we reach the farthest point from home and turn to start heading west again. This will also mark the halfway point in distance and time on the road. We have ten more days before we get back to Cape Town. After today and tomorrow, the roads should become a lot nicer though.
There has been a great deal of interest from journalists and the press in general about the expedition. We are extremely grateful for the media attention and hope that this opens some doors to garner future support for the schools and children. These far out places rarely get any exposure, so this is significant support for them.
Sam has been the rock star dog he always is. Both Big Mike and I are tire, but feeling so proud and happy about how everything is going. When you are amongst the kids and you know that you are changing their lives, you feel like something of a super hearo.
Cellphone Coverage is poor in this area and with no wifi, picture sharing is limited, but once back in a more developed area, we will share much more.
At our next stop, we will get some laundry done and go stand under a waterfall or something. You can only wear a shirt so many times before it needs a freshen up. None the less, we are having the time of our lives.
#BlindManCan#MobilityCaneExpedition#Inspiration#Education#Empowerment
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