See Without Seeing

I was fortunate enough to be part of a trip to Granada, Spain as a sighted guide. This was one of the most memorable jobs I have had. It changed the way I perceived the world and life in general. When I found out about this unique opportunity, I was a bit hesitant. I did not know whether I was qualified enough to take the role of a sighted guide. Little did I know that I was about to experience a drastic transformation that made a permanent impact on my life.  This trip to Spain was organized by Traveleyes, the world’s first commercial travel agency specialized in organizing trips for visually impaired and sighted travelers.

Before we delve into the role of sighted guides, what is visual impairment? Visually impairment consist of many types including loss of visual clarity, visual field, and visual distortion. People who are visually impaired could carry a combination of these features. It is especially crucial for sighted guides to understand that people have different types and degrees of visual impairment; it is part of their job to figure what exactly they need help with.

Imagine closing your eyes shut, what would you need to travel around? This is what sighted guides have to do: empathize. Of course, the visually impaired are more than able to take care of themselves like sighted people but they require assistance sometimes.

In simple terms, sighted guides are the eyes of the visually impaired. 

Being a sighted guide requires specific techniques. These include the following:

• How to Guide the Follower (Visually Impaired) when Walking
• Follower will grasp onto the guide’s arm above the elbow
• Guide has to bend elbow slightly
• Guide should always be one half step in front of the follower
• Walk at a pace comfortable for both

• How to Deal with Special Circumstances
• When there is a narrow passage, the follower should be right behind the guide in single file while guide places arm diagonally across his or her back
• When a door has to be opened, the guide should inform the follower whether to push or pull and the side the hinges are on
• Before walking the stairs, the guide needs to stop and tell the follower whether to walk up or down. Let the follower grasp the handrail if available. The guide should be a step ahead the follower and should tell the follower when the stairs end

• How to Travel with Them
• Narrate the surroundings when necessary (i.e. at landmarks or when you see anything interesting)
• Be open to have casual conversations

Here are some additional tips:

• Be ready to help at all times
• Assist only when necessary i.e. when the visually impaired agree that they need help
• Don’t hesitate to ask if they need help or not when you see possible hindrances

• Treat them as your friend
• At the end of the day, the guide and the follower are travel companions for the trip so forging a friendship would not do any harm; it would only make the interaction more natural.

Again, it is important to ask how you could be helpful before guiding them as different individuals have different levels of visual impairment and therefore different needs. Remember they are no different than any other people, they just don’t--or perhaps just minimally--rely on their sight.

Apart from the training, there are some qualities that a sighted guide should hold and these include:

• Empathy
• Kindness
• Considerate
• Altruistic

Now that you understand the role of a sighted guide, I want to share with you snippets of my experience and what I learnt from this trip.

Arriving at London’s Heathrow Airport, we were filled with a combination of nervousness and excitement as we waited for their arrival. You may ask, wouldn’t it be a fuss to travel and be obliged to narrate the surroundings to them? Well, I too thought that it would be hard to enjoy the trip completely. I treated it more like a “job” (which it was supposed to be) than an usual “vacation”. Finally, they came. They were all so amiable and approachable which made the ice-breaking session much more smooth and easy. We paired up with the visually impaired and the guides told us we are going to switch the pairing around everyday. Then we hopped on the plane to go to Granada, Spain.

Upon landing, we visited some of the most prominent palaces in Granada including Alhambra. I was fascinated with the architecture of the palace, the characters that were carved in detail on the columns and arches, the abundance of the color of clay red on the different towers, which gave a sense of coherence and harmony. Then the problem came, there were just so much to narrate to our visually impaired partners. But hopefully I was succinct enough as I tried to point out the overall image of the palace and some interesting details. My partner Bruce loved that the palace manifested its rich history. We went beside the center tower and he slowly touched the wall and the sculptures. That was the first time I witnessed how they interact with the world without sight and it remained an unforgettable image in my head.

On another day, we visited the Royal Chapel of Granada. My partner of the day, Ruth held onto my elbows as I lead her in. When we got in, she gave off a big sigh almost as if she was overwhelmed with whatever she was experiencing. I asked her what was so fascinating. She replied, “It’s so big!” I was perplexed, not knowing how she could determine the size of the Chapel without sight. She explained that the echo was very telling; just by the way sound vibrates and echoes, she could somewhat tell how big the interior was. Adding on to that, she could tell approximately how big I was physically by the sound of my voice. I think that was part of what I learnt from this experience: although the visually impaired might not be able to rely on their sight heavily, they use their other senses to help them perceive the world. Their auditory senses for instance are heightened and are most likely be better than the average sighted person.

This trip changed my life. Initially, I did not know what to expect. Turns out, it made me realize the invaluable reward of helping others, the essence of travelling and also got to know the world of the visually impaired. Despite their disability, they try to use their sense to the fullest by hearing, touching, tasting, smelling and most importantly feeling, ultimately to see without seeing. From being a sighted guide, I learnt what it truly means to travel, to appreciate every moment while travelling, whether it means detoxing from posting photos on social and taking nonstop photos of landmarks, or just taking the time to hear birds chirp and feel the breeze sweep by.

Reading Ease - 63.4
Reading Level - 8.6