{"id":3851,"date":"2011-12-14T00:00:08","date_gmt":"2011-12-14T00:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/new.brethren.org\/news\/?p=3851"},"modified":"2018-11-03T20:55:25","modified_gmt":"2018-11-03T20:55:25","slug":"wonder-stick-interview-with-grace-mishler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2011\/wonder-stick-interview-with-grace-mishler\/","title":{"rendered":"Wonder Stick: An Interview with Grace Mishler"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
VNS photo by Va\u00ean \u00d1a\u00eft<\/small>
Grace Mishler is serving in Vietnam with sponsorship from the Global Mission and Service department, placed at the HCM City University of Social Sciences and Humanities. Working with disabilities issues, she was interviewed for White Cane Safety Day in Vietnam by a journalist from the Vietnam News Outlook, a publication with national distribution.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The following interview with Grace Mishler, Church of the Brethren member serving in Vietnam with support from the denomination\u2019s Global Mission and Service office, is by Vietnamese journalist L\u00f6u Va\u00ean \u00d1a\u00eft. It is reprinted here with permission. The article originally appeared Nov. 15 in English in the \u201cVietnam News Outlook\u201d social section, a publication whose circulation is nation-wide:<\/p>\n

The visually impaired struggle to be more independent by using a white cane that allows them to better integrate into society. \u201cWith my cane, I feel more independent in Vie\u00e4t Nam. It\u2019s my best friend here,\u201d says American Grace Mishler, whose eyesight began to fail when she was 31 years old.<\/p>\n

Today, at 64, Grace works as a consultant at the HCM City University of Social Sciences and Humanities. Her work, which aims to raise public sensitivity and compassion about the disabled, is supported in part by Church of the Brethren Global Mission based in the US.<\/p>\n

Grace settled in Vie\u00e4t Nam 12 years ago after an initial three-week visit. Having travelled all over the country, she is never without her cane. When I arrived at her house for an interview, she insisted that she first demonstrate how to cross a busy street with the white cane. She showed me the moves which she had learned from her friend Le\u00e2 Da\u00e2n Ba\u00efch Vie\u00e4t, who studied mobility training for the blind in the US at the University of Pennsylvania. He later returned to teach blind people in Vie\u00e4t Nam.<\/p>\n

\u201cLe\u00e2 was the master of mobility for visually impaired people. Unfortunately, he died from cancer after he set up the first mobility-training course in Vie\u00e4t Nam,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

Grace says that most visually impaired people in the country do not know how to use the cane, and they often don\u2019t go out because they feel embarrassed and uncomfortable. Few of them own a white cane, which began to be widely used in the early 20th century in France, the UK, and the US.<\/p>\n

Her biggest concern now is that few blind people in Vie\u00e4t Nam choose to use a cane. Without it, they stay isolated from friends and the community.<\/p>\n

The three things that have helped her survive in Vie\u00e4t Nam are her hat, sunglasses, and white cane, she says. \u201cEven though the cane helps me, I know sometimes I can still get really nervous,\u201d Grace admits.<\/p>\n

\"\"
VNS photo courtesy of Nha\u00e4t Ho\u00e0ng Centre<\/small>
On October 15, 2011, a visually impaired man crosses a busy street on White Cane Safety Day, which was celebrated for the first time in Vie\u00e4t Nam this year.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

She struck me as a woman of strong self-determination, with an iron spirit. She has had several difficulties in her life. Diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa at aged 31, she later discovered that she had leukemia, which was successfully treated and remains in remission.<\/p>\n

During her first few days in Vie\u00e4t Nam, Grace says she felt odd when she stepped out onto the street, hearing the roaring sound of motorbikes. She often took a taxi or motorbike to travel because of her fear. She says the streets in Sa\u00f8i Go\u00f8n can be difficult to navigate without assistance, from either a cane, a seeing-eye dog or another person. The pavements are often crowded with parking lots for motorbikes or kiosks, she says.<\/p>\n

In 1999, before coming to Vie\u00e4t Nam, she relied heavily on her cane during a five-week stay in India. Later, when she moved here, she found that the roads here were more organized than in India. During her 12 years here, she has not had any accident, except for one fall in a bathroom.<\/p>\n

More young people in Vie\u00e4t Nam are beginning to use the white cane, which helps them to walk and use public transport. Hoa\u00f8ng V\u00f3nh Ta\u00e2m, 18, who was born with a visual impairment, travels by bus to his university in District 3 from Nha\u00e4t Ho\u00e0ng Centre for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Thu\u00fb \u00d1\u00f6\u00f9c District. He learned how to use the cane from teachers at the centre.<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks to the cane, I travelled independently to high school, and now I can attend university,\u201d says Ta\u00e2m, who wants to become a tour guide.<\/p>\n

A few weeks ago, Ta\u00e2m got lost when he was going home because the bus suddenly changed route. He got off and began walking. \u201cI was able to get home because of my cane and what I was taught,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Le\u00e2 Th\u00f2 Va\u00e2n Nga, director of the centre, was trained in Australia in mobility techniques for the blind. Nga, who is not visually impaired, says the white cane is like a long finger for the people who use it. Without the cane, they can feel isolated from the community, refusing to participate in social activities or studies at school.<\/p>\n

In Vie\u00e4t Nam, there are only about 20 lecturers around the country who can teach mobility techniques for the blind. Nga said that when she studied in Australia, as part of her training, she was dropped in the middle of nowhere blindfolded, and had to find a way to return to a previously appointed location. In Vie\u00e4t Nam, Nga teaches the same practical techniques as well as several theory classes. \u201cWalking on the street, I understand the challenges that the blind face, and know the importance of the white cane,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

She hopes to develop more orientation courses for the blind. \u201cEven sighted people get lost, so the course is very important.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recently, four five-day courses on mobility techniques were offered to teachers at schools for the blind and other schools.<\/p>\n

Symbol of independence<\/p>\n

To raise awareness about the visually impaired, Vie\u00e4t Nam celebrated the first White Cane Safety Day on Oct. 14, with 50 visually impaired people walking with their white canes down Nguye\u00e3n Ch\u00ed Thanh Street from Nguye\u00e3n \u00d1\u00ecnh Chie\u00e5u Blind School in HCM City. The special day was initiated in 1964 by the US Congress in a joint resolution that designated Oct. 15 as White Cane Safety Day. Renamed Blind Americans Equality Day by President Barack Obama this year on Oct. 14, the day recognises the contributions of Americans who are blind or have poor vision.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn this day, we celebrate the achievements of blind and visually impaired Americans and reaffirm our commitment to advancing their complete social and economic integration,\u201d Obama said.<\/p>\n

Not only does the white cane offer protection and help the visually impaired live independently, it also alerts motor vehicles and pedestrians to yield the right of way to the person using the cane.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This interview with Grace Mishler, Brethren member serving in Vietnam with support from the denomination\u2019s Global Mission and Service office, is by Vietnamese journalist L\u00f6u Va\u00ean \u00d1a\u00eft. It originally appeared Nov. 15, 2011, in English in the \u201cVietnam News Outlook\u201d social section. The visually impaired struggle to be more independent by using a white cane that allows them to better integrate into society. \u201cWith my cane, I feel more independent in Vie\u00e4t Nam. It\u2019s my best friend here,\u201d says American Grace Mishler, who works as a consultant at the HCM City University of Social Sciences and Humanities. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1276,364],"wf_post_folders":[],"class_list":["post-3851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-disabilities","tag-vietnam"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3851"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3854,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3851\/revisions\/3854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3851"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=3851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}