By Chen Yu-fang

Among all the stories of visually impaired people, Chen Chin-chun is the most fortunate person! Why? Her life has been smooth since her childhood , and she has a wonderful marriage. In addition, she has also received a very special gift from God-Cheng-en, her only boy.

Cheng-en is nine years old. Both of his parents are visually impaired, but he is no different from any other normal children of his age. He is innocent and cute, but the truth is that his growing up has been full of hardship. For instance, whenever he is sick and must go see a doctor, he has to lead his father to the street to get a taxi. He also complains that if his parents could see, they could take him to more places.

Knowing that her child feels this way, Chin-chun lovingly makes up by spending more time with him. Each evening, no matter how busy she is, she always sets aside half an hour to talk with him. She keeps in touch with his teachers, and she asks volunteers to help Cheng-en with his homework. Her unlimited patience and unwavering confidence have helped the family get through many difficult periods.

They communicate not with their eyes, but with their hearts.

Dealing with Frustration

Chin-chun remembers that when Cheng-en was born, it was a terrible time for the family.

She could not see the marks on the milk bottle. With a friend's help and a great deal of practice, she learned to weigh with her hands how much milk powder to put in. It was the same with putting diapers on the baby. She had to grope and feel again and again until she got the hang of it.

The only thing that really frightened her was any sound. Especially when Cheng-en made even the smallest sound in the middle of the night, she would worry that something had happened. When he could run around and get into things, Chin-chun would ache with fear if she did not know what he was doing.

Parents always want to give the whole world to their children. When Chin-chun discovered her limits, she started to ponder whether she had actually accepted the fact of her disability. Would she be persistent enough to stick to her original decision? Was her confidence strong enough?

Then, she realized one important thing-having a healthy mind was the best way to face life's frustrations.

Cheng-en is now a confident, brave boy. He invites his friends to his home to play. He insists that his parents attend parent-teacher meetings . He even gets his father to set up booths for the school fair. It seems that he is no longer concerned that his parents are blind.

Chin-chun admits that when she decided to have a baby, she was too confident: she thought she could do anything that anyone else could do. This tenacity and courage originate from her childhood.

Beauty and Goodness

Chin-chun was a premature baby. When she was eight or nine months old, her parents realized her abnormality. She would not reach out to get a toy that was right next to her. She would only go look for something that made a sound. After examining her, the doctor determined that her extremely poor eyesight was caused by an incurable congenital condition.

Her parents treated her like a normal child. They did not overly protect her or spoil her. She was thus able to enjoy her childhood like any ordinary child.

"Actually, I did blame my parents for my condition. But then I thought that if I kept on complaining about my bad luck, it wouldn't change anything, so I decided just to accept it ."

When she was in ninth grade, her family ran into financial difficulties. A friend helped her get a job at a major hotel , and she thus began her massage career [a common occupation for the blind in Taiwan].

One day, Chin-chun met a Japanese client who was staying in a large suite. Through a porter's translation, she learned that instead of a massage, the Japanese gentleman wanted to buy her a meal. She immediately refused the offer, so the man gave her NT$200 [then US$5.50] instead of the usual fee of NT$70 [US$2.00] and told the porter to take her home because she was so young and should not be out working so hard.

Another patron gave her a large sum of cash after a massage. She thought the bills were of low denomination, but when she counted the money after she got home, she realized that it was several times the usual service charge. She went back to the hotel to return the extra money, but the customer told her that the money was for curing her eyes. Her tiny heart was moved, and she told him what the doctor had said. The customer still refused to take the money back, and he told her to take the money to do anything she wanted.

It was probably due to these few experiences that her mind was not closed off to the outside world simply because she was blind. She came to trust other people more, and she believed in the beauty and goodness of human nature.

Waiting for Acceptance

After Chin-chun finished high school, she fortunately got a job as massage instructor at a training school for the visually impaired in Hsinchuang. Filled with consideration for the best qualities in people, she volunteered to be a counselor for the students. For eighteen years, she has worked to accept, listen to and accommodate the students. She has gone through rough times with many visually impaired students filled with despair and doubt.

More than ninety percent of the students became blind after birth. Chin-chun said that being with the students, she has really seen the fickleness of the world. Their world, originally so full of color, suddenly became black-and-white. They went from having everything to having nothing.

Some became blind just before getting married, and thus just missed a chance for happiness. Some at the height of their careers suddenly had to start over again, learning to walk with a cane and read Braille. Some became blind when they were about to graduate from medical school, and all their medical skills were totally useless.

Maybe fate is cruel, but to blind people it is even more cruel that society does not accept them. Sometimes it is so hard for Chin-chun to tell these students to start over again. She can only tell them that they have to carry on, and that she will be with them as they wait for society to change and accept them. She can only give them this bubble of hope.

She decided to quit her job this year to be a volunteer for terminally ill patients or other social services. "People nowadays are very lonely, because no one will listen to them. Modern people are also too busy, so the warmth in their hearts has not woken up."

Chin-chun emphasizes that she is an ordinary person. Cheng-en wants to be scientist when he grows up, but she simply hopes that he will be an ordinary, warm, loving person.

She is ordinary, but isn't that the most important value for being a human being ? Her commonness has a tenacious, enduring strength that encourages others to walk to the light.

By Chang Shun-yen

In her childhood, the old organ at home and the melodies from her brother's violin brought Hsu Pai-hsiang to the beauty of music. Unfortunately, she could not see the notes in the music book because of her congenital glaucoma.

When she was in junior high school, everything was black to her eyes, but music never faded from her ears. She received a musical education with the help of her neighbor, Yang Ching-feng.

Yang told her parents several times that although one may not make a career of music, it could still help to cheer one up. Pai-hsiang followed Yang's daughter's hands, trying to stroke moving melodies on the black-and-white piano keys.

The Next Step

The university departments that accepted visually impaired students were limited to the Department of Psychological Counseling at Changhua Normal University, the Department of History at Tamkang University and the Department of Music at the Chinese Culture University in Taipei. Pai-hsiang passed the entrance examination for the traditional Chinese music division of the Chinese Culture University.

Eight years ago, in her second year at university, she was wondering what musical instrument she should choose. At the urging of a friend, she decided to major in the traditional, but to her unfamiliar, ku-chin.

The first time Pai-hsiang heard a ku-chin recording, she discovered that the melody had a soothing, tranquilizing effect. When she practiced the instrument, listening carefully to the music as her fingers slid along the strings and body of the instrument, she couldn't help but shiver.

Along with the instrumental music, there were also sung lyrics, so she began to learn to add her own voice to the sound of the instrument. This led her to the next step of her musical journey.

When she was just starting to learn traditional Chinese singing, her instructor frequently had her participate in all sorts of performances. "At that time, I sang in the National Music Hall even though I still wasn't very good. Come to think of it, it was a great risk for the concert organizers to take." She emphasized that the many opportunities given her from all sides were of tremendous help to her.

From the Heart

"If you study music for a long time without making any progress, you will eventually burn out." Pai-hsiang said that even now, she does not dare to think of herself as a musician.

Though she did not push herself to reach any particular level, her extremely slow progress sometimes gave her a lot of pressure. She realized that if she did not make more progress, she would fall back. For a while, she wondered whether she should continue singing at all.

By good fortune, Pai-hsiang went to Shanghai three times to "see" the places that she sang about in her songs. When she heard a music teacher singing the folk song "Jasmine Flower ," her confidence in singing was rekindled.

"That was the first time that I really had the impulse to go and embrace a voice! That feeling made me want to sing just like that teacher." When she sang the highest notes, it felt like her whole body was being pulled apart. Groping her way, she found the concrete realization of the abstract theories she had learned, and thus she gradually realized the secret of opera singing. After intense training, she finally found out how to sing both from her abdomen and from her heart.

Reborn in Music

Since Pai-hsiang cannot see this world, her musical journey has never relied on music books. She uses her brain to memorize, her ears to listen, her hands to play, and her heart to feel the music.

She was asked how she could be an opera singer with such a dry, thin voice. From her own example, she explains for those born without natural talent, hard work is the best element for anyone's success. This year she represented Taiwan at a world musical competition for the visually impaired in Czechoslovakia. Sharing the life of music with other people like herself and bringing back more experiences were the result of years of hard work.

Pai-hsiang candidly admits that in her process of growth, she cried because she could not see. At school, she would only appear at the department office, the dorm and the practice room.

"If you only follow the same old route and don't dare to try new ones, you will miss many good chances." As an example, she said that if she did not ask other people at the bus stop, bus after bus would go by and she would never get home.

"Am I really 'different' because I can't see? Actually, isn't everyone 'different' from each other?"

Pai-hsiang was reborn in the sound of music. Not being able to see is not a concern anymore. Actually, if those who can see their friends clearly find that everyone really is different, they will have discovered the true meaning of life.

By Chen Chiu-shan

Chen Kui-hung graduated from the Department of Music at the Chinese Culture University, where he majored in the erh-hu, a traditional Chinese instrument. Nevertheless, in less than half a year, he created a record of NT$2 million [US$55,600] in insurance sales.

I asked him how he did it.

He replied, "It was probably the ambition to be successful."

From Passive to Active

One night, this award-winning erh-hu soloist participated in a concert in Taipei. After his performance, he sat in the audience to listen to other performances. There, he not only experienced what it felt like to be in the audience, but he could also learn from other performers.

Just as Kui-hung was absorbed in the music, a greeting rang out next to his ear. After a little chitchat, Fei Pao-chih, manager at an insurance company, mentioned that her company had recently devised a Braille insurance policy for the visually impaired. This aroused his curiosity and interest. Because most insurance companies believed that the visually impaired had a higher rate of accidents, there had never been a special insurance plan for them.

"Other than my eyesight, I believe my limbs, my body and my brain are worth as much money as anyone else's." Kui-hung felt that the lives of the disabled also deserved respect. Along with Ms. Fei's encouragement, he was eager to enter the insurance field and take up the challenge.

Selling insurance is a very active, aggressive type of work, quite different from the more passive style of his music teaching and performing. When he taught, it was the students who came to his home. When he performed, it was at the invitation of concert organizers. However, the insurance job required people to continuously go out and find new customers.

Kui-hung said, "I pushed myself to turn passive into active."

We can imagine that during his training he worked much harder than his colleagues. Other people could simply read the insurance policies, whereas he had to use his ears instead of his eyes, recording the lessons and then memorizing the tapes. Ms. Fei had to whisper to him what the instructor wrote on the board. She often helped him in his studies, and she also acted as his chauffeur.

Even after mastering the policies, Kui-hung also has to face frustrations in his work and rejections from customers. He takes these as a matter of course and feels that these challenges are just part of his job. He does not allow his disability to add to his frustrations.

Many customers are curious about his work, but they do not pity him. On the contrary, they affirm that he is as professional as any other insurance agent. Some originally doubt his ability, but after his sincere, honest explanation, they lose even the most stubborn suspicions. Kui-hung says that is the moment of success!

Creating Hope

Actually, a life of teaching and performing is quite good for visually impaired people. Then, why would Kui-hung abruptly abandon such a wonderful life and enter this challenging field?

He told me this story:

"A little elephant was bound by his trainer with a rope to a wooden post. At first, the elephant pulled every which way, trying to break free. But after a long time, he told himself , 'I can't break free.' When the elephant grew older, the trainer only needed the same familiar post and rope and the elephant would tamely do as he had been trained.

"One day, the circus caught fire. The elephant was burnt to death, because he did not even try to escape. He only lay on the ground and said to himself, 'I cannot break free no matter how hard I try.'"

Deeply ingrained social stereotypes shackle the visually impaired to jobs in massage and fortune-telling. However, Kui-hung did not want to be so limited. He not only wanted to break free from those bonds, he also wanted to create new hope.

"The insurance field can be significant to the visually impaired, since it provides protection for both individuals and families of the disabled. Especially for low-income families, the financial burden after an accident can be avoided and the burden on society can be reduced. This is undoubtedly a force for social stability."

"It is extremely difficult to open new job opportunities for the blind because society has never dealt with them fairly. I am really grateful to the company for providing a new line of work for the disabled, and especially for giving me the opportunity to open a new chapter in my life and to make new achievements."

By Wen Chi-yuan

Most dogs are pets and people's closest friends. Aggie is a seeing-eye dog for the visually impaired.

When I just walked into the office of the training center for the visually impaired, Ke Ming-chi and Aggie stood up together. Ming-chi asked me who I was, while Aggie kept jumping up and down.

Aggie is as strong as a little calf. She is like any dog that enjoys playing with her master, but whenever Ming-chi picks up the harness and says, "Aggie, come!" this five-month-old Labrador retriever becomes the "eye of the master."

"Is it that if you want to go somewhere and tell the dog, she'll take you there?" When I asked Ming-chi this question, I felt so stupid.

Ming-chi smiled. "If that were so, a seeing-eye dog should be called 'Super Dog.'" He then explained that the place where any dog owner was heading had to be a place where he or she had gone before. With the help of the vision and hearing of the dog, they then can reach the destination. It also means that the dog owner actually leads the dog, who watches the road for the master.

Aggie is Taiwan's first seeing-eye dog. She started her service in November 1996. Because few Taiwanese know much about this kind of dog, Ming-chi and Aggie sometimes receive unfriendly responses: bus drivers refuse to let them board, children throw rocks at them, and people yell at them when they go to public places. Ming-chi said casually that these reactions come from lack of understanding. Because Aggie is quite large, some people are frightened and act first to "protect" themselves.

One time, Ming-chi wanted to take a bus with Aggie. At first , the bus driver did not want to let them get on, but after Ming-chi persistently explained to the driver, they were finally able to take the bus. When he sat down, Aggie immediately lay down quietly on the floor. When they got off , the driver praised the dog: "Wow! I've never seen such a quiet dog!"

Besides his wife and son, Ming-chi now has another good companion in his life. "In the past, when I had to go out, I would reluctantly pick up my cane, but now I go out more often to walk the dog and also to get some exercise."