Children's Development and the Staff BBQ

Thursday March 30th – Lil from the children’s mobility department spent all day with us discussing more children’s mobility topics. We discussed development in general and concept development. We also covered family dynamics, “normal” development, disabilities and their effects on development, learning, memory, pedagogy (The art or profession of teaching), thinking and problem solving strategies, and how with children you are often part of a multi disciplinary team. It was an exhausting day! Lil is a dynamic and interesting speaker who conveys information with lots of stories, movement, and voice inflection. She is absolutely mesmerizing but gives an enormous amount of information is a short period of time, hence the exhaustion at the end of the day. At one point Lil had us each grab a random item out of her "goodie" bag and explain how we could use that item to teach a mobility concept. One of the items was a wig, which she wore when she posed for this photo. It was agreat lesson in being creative with everyday items to teach concepts.

Lunch today consisted of a staff BBQ. There were about 40 GDV employees from all different departments and it was fun to chat with all the staff. Sue and I are very interested in talking shop with the guide dog trainers but still haven’t had much opportunity. We chatted briefly with Peter Tomlins who spent a year working at The Seeing Eye in the states a few years ago. He is interested in talking shop too, so promised to find some time to sit down with us and talk. He mentioned briefly that he has been experimenting with clicker training but the idea hasn’t really caught on in Australia yet.

We continued the afternoon with Lil and ended the day with a quick review of topics to be included on our first test. Yes, I said test! We have to take exams about every other week. Tomorrow will be the first one, with a variety of multiple choice, short and long answer questions.

Like good girls, we went to the gym again and managed to find another shopping mall, as I am in need of new running shoes. Sizes here are misleading as they are labeled US10 (yes, I have big feet), but I am finding the shoe is a size smaller than what I actually wear.

Ron’s Aussie for the Day; “Cooo-eee” originally began as a distress call when a person was lost in the bush. Now it can be used in a sentence to indicate a long distance. “I was drier than a dying dingo with not a pub in cooee”.

Long Canes and Orthoptists

Wednesday March 29th – Today we began our work with the long cane. We learned how to fit a cane to a person, how to hold it, and began using the 2 point touch technique. We practiced in easy areas inside the building and will be progressing outside tomorrow.

In the afternoon we went to La Trobe University, which is the school Laura and Simone attend. The head of the Orthoptic department, Dr. Kerry Fitzmaurice gave us a presentation on what an Orthoptist does here in Australia. I had never heard of an Orthoptist in the US but Kerry explained we do have them but their scope is slightly different in the US and you find them mostly in hospitals and Ophthalmologist offices. Here’s a brief explanation; Orthoptists are trained clinicians who diagnose and provide non-surgical management of visual system dysfunctions involving vision, eye movement, eye alignment, and binocularity. For example a child with a “lazy eye” might work with an Orthoptist to straighten the eye by patching the good eye, or they might teach a person with a central field loss a technique called “eccentric viewing” where the person uses their peripheral vision to see objects or read print. That’s a very simple explanation as our lecture today went for almost 3 hours! It was very interesting and Kerry is VERY enthusiastic and passionate about her profession.

This evening at dinner I discovered another Aussie meaning. “Pudding” Christine had told me we were having chocolate pudding for dessert tonight. Naturally I pictured the pudding we have in the US (a custard like substance), when she brought me dessert it was actually a hunk of cake in a bowl with a thick chocolaty sauce over it. Apparently this is what they call ‘pudding’. Whatever it’s called, it was delicious!

Swish Table

Optometry, Ockas, Swish, and Bats

Tuesday March 28th – Today the optometrist, Ky, returned to teach us all about interpreting visual acuity tests. It was a technical morning with lots of information. We then toured the small optometry clinic on campus and she explained all the equipment for the various tests.

Ron’s Aussie for the Day Our lunch time conversation centered around the three terms for “redneck” type people and if you were to be called one, which would you choose (real intellectual stuff!). Ocka (Ah-ker) a good hearted redneck, Yobbo (yob-bow yob rhymes with job) which is like a chauvinist testosterone filled jock. And the Bogon (Bow-gun) which is a unemployed, trailer trash like person who would readily rob you blind. Naturally everyone decided the Ocker is the nicest of the three.

Also if something is really cool or original it is “Ridgy-Didgy” These people love to rhyme!

In the afternoon we returned to the locations that we had mapped yesterday, traded maps, put on the simulators, and followed them. It was good to see how another person interpreted your map.

This evening we went to the gym again. Afterwards we were craving American junk food, so we replenished all our burned calories with a Big Mac! It was dusk as we were driving to MacDonald’s and as we came to a stop sign Sue looks over and says, “hey, look at that huge flock of birds”. I looked over and said, "are those birds or bats"? As we sat there some people walked past the car so we rolled down the window and asked. “Oh yes” they nonchalantly replied, “they’re fruit bats, they roost in the park all day and fly out to eat in the fruit trees at night”. It was pretty wild, there had to be well over a hundred of them and they are enormous!
Back at the dorm everyone was playing “Swish” which is like table tennis for visually impaired people. The ball has bells on it and the large wooden paddle scrape across the table when you hit, making a ‘swish’ sound. The ball goes under the “Net” which is the large wood board suspended about 5 inches above the table. We ended the day with a rousing game of trivia Men Vs. Women, it was another wonderful vehicle in which to explore Aussie expressions.

Map Making 101

Monday March 27th – This morning Dean Johnson, the manager of the Children’s Mobility department came and talked to us about maps. Making maps can be useful in a couple of different ways. The most obvious is to use one in teaching a specific route or area. But maps are very useful in teaching broader special concepts and discovering how a person learns and interprets the world around them. We talked a lot about how O&M is an educational process with a continuum of skills. People can easily miss steps along the way or have “splinter skills” so it’s best not to make assumptions about a person’s skill set. Dean also showed us some of the tools they have available to work on these spatial mapping skills.

We then made up an imaginary client and went into town to look at a route to teach this client. It was an interesting task for me as our “client” was not only a long cane user but was also profoundly deaf (not uncommon in the blind population). So much of what I would normally teach with our clients has to do with relying on hearing, so I had to get creative.

Today in the dorm we were joined by two new clients here for a week of “scanning training” they are working with an O&M instructor and the Occupational therapist to learn strategies to best use their residual vision in daily life. A middle aged postal worker and an elderly person they are both with the Aquired Brain Injury program.

After lunch we went into town and spent 1.5 hours scoping out an area which we later would make a map for. We each were assigned a particular type of vision loss to make our map for. Once we returned to campus we made our maps. We learned about “therma form” which is a process where you use a black marker on special paper to draw your map. It then gets processed through a machine which looks something like a copy machine and any thing black on the page gets raised up, turning it into a tactile map. Pretty cool!

In the evening we forced ourselves to the gym again where I attempted to use the scale to weigh myself. I had to convert kilograms into pounds which made it easy to lie to myself… surely I just miscalculated!
Ron’s Aussie for the Day “Ocka” (Ah-Ker) which is like a redneck.

Melbourne Zoo

Sunday March 26th – Neither one of us slept well again… I can’t figure it out. So another late start but we ended up at the Melbourne Zoo at around noon. We decided that the Singapore Zoo has ruined us forever as no other zoo can live up to our experience there. It’s not that Melbourne Zoo isn’t a nice zoo; it’s quite a bit larger than Singapore’s and had a fairly good variety of animals. If was a fun, although HOT afternoon. Then we began the hunt for the internet. Susan’s computer (a Mac) isn’t compatible with the GDV system, and my connection stopped working this weekend for some unknown reason. I have to say this is one of the more frustrating aspects of this trip. In some ways Australia seems “behind the times” compared to the US. The obsession with and convenience of the internet is not the same here. Australian TV is funny too. Most families only receive 5 stations. Cable TV is available to not widely used. The most popular TV shows are from the US but they tend to be a full season behind. Shows that are popular are the same ones in the US; Desperate Housewives, all the CSI type shows, and the various medical shows like House and Grey’s Anatomy. Some reality TV is popular as well especially Survivor and The Amazing Race.
Anyway, we finally found an internet café in the city and spent an hour satisfying our internet urge. By the end of the day we were happy to lounge around and relax in the empty dorm.

The Police Escort

Saturday March 25th – We finally got to sleep in today. So we had a lazy start, made some phone calls back home and did some laundry. Once we got ready to face the day we drove first to the closest Starbuck’s which had a wireless internet connection. We spent an hour drinking coffee and catching up on email etc. After getting our internet fix we drove to Glenfarrie road which is one of the nearby shopping areas we had been in with our simulators. I needed to buy a bike lock, so that I can ride my bike to the gym, and we poked around some of the shops. By this time we were feeling pretty confident about our ability to navigate the city so we decided to try and find another shopping area that Jhaneen had told us about. The problem was our directions were based out of the GDV center. We decided to wing it from where we were already and started driving. About 20 minutes later we ended up in the middle of Melbourne, with crazy Commonwealth games traffic and random lanes blocked off for the games. OOPS! As we drove around, lost, we pulled up to a red light next to a police car. I rolled down the window and asked for directions. Naturally they realized immediately we were total foreigners, and told us to pull over after the intersection and they would give us directions. They were very nice and helpful and did their best to talk slowly so we could understand them (those Aussies talk SO fast!). Part of our problem was that the street we wanted to go to existed in several towns and we didn’t know which one we needed. The officers decided to direct us to another nearby shopping and restaurant area and started giving us new directions. Faced with yet another set of directions the vacant looks on our faces gave us away. They stopped and said, “Just follow us, we’ll take you there. Follow closely and if we go through a light or on a blocked off road, just follow”. It was hilarious! We zoomed through the city following the police car; the only thing that could have made it better was if they had the lights and siren going. They dropped us at Chapel Street, an enormous strip mall type of shopping area with plenty of cafes and restaurants. We had lunch and walked around for awhile before using the map to plan our next route before we began driving. We finally found the original area we had been shooting for (only about 5 miles from GDV). Once back at campus, Susan got the bug to go to the gym. I was feeling lazy and probably wouldn’t have gone on my own, but with her urging we headed off for another workout. It seems we are well balanced in this area, I force her to go in the mornings and she forces me to go in the evenings. We should both be in good shape by the time we get home.

Our first "Drop Off"

Friday March 24th – This morning before class David Markham, the breeding department manager came and found us. He wanted us to be able to see a couple of their breeders who where on the campus for boarding. GDV is one of the schools in the International Cooperative Breeding Group. Schools trade breeding stock to improve the genetic pool for Guide dog schools around the world. In fact GDV has some semen from our school (Jenner?) and has sent semen from some of their stud dogs to us. David wants Susan and I to see their breeding stock during the months we are here. This way we can get a brief glance at the temperament and conformation of the dogs at GDV. Marina, are you reading this? Today we met Davey, a 6 yr old active stud dog who is producing very well for GDV. He is a small to medium sized yellow lab with a very sweet, soft demeanor. We also met retried breeders Samson age 10 and Brood bitch, Fudge who is 11. Samson was a tiny male with a spunky personality who had just been neutered last month. Fudge was soft and shy, looking somewhat overwhelmed to be back at the breeding center, until Samson started flirting with her! It was fun to finally get to play with some dogs.

This morning we covered more low vision topics including falls, why they happen and how to modify the environment to avoid them. We also covered low vision aids such as the monocular, UV shields, and the video telescope.

It was an exciting afternoon! Jhaneen decided since we were all doing so well using the simulators that we were up to a bit of a challenge. We broke into pairs using the low vision simulators. I wore diabetic retinopathy and was paired with Simone who had glaucoma. Susan had cataracts and worked with Laura who had macular degeneration. It was sort of like being on “the Amazing Race” each team got dropped off at a different bus stop. Our directions (written in large print) stated to take the bus to a certain town. Once there find the train station and take the train to another town. The final leg was to find the tram station and ride the tram back into Kew and locate the café we were meeting at. We were given the bus/train/tram passes at the beginning so all we had to do was find each location. We had ID canes to use if we wanted to and I think we all used them the whole time. Having that cane in the hand was a bit like a security blanket! It also helped in parting the crowds at a couple of locations. Simone and I had a good time; we asked a lot of people a lot of questions and managed not to get lost. The whole thing took us about 1.5 hours, and we were pretty tired at the end. It was a hot day and the exercise took a lot of mental concentration.

Each time we go into the community to practice with the simulators we go to a different area. It’s exciting and frustrating at the same time. On one hand we are getting a look around the suburbs of Melbourne during class time. On the other, we miss a lot because we have low vision! Once in a while I actually can identify a store I would like to go to and Susan and I plan to hit these places this weekend.

Because we had done so well this week we got off a little early. We went back to the dorm which was like a ghost town. Students at the center go home on the weekend as does the staff, so Sue and I have the place to ourselves. We decided to go the nearby mall and get a massage at a little walk in place much like the ones they have in Singapore. The massage felt great and we poked around the Mall for awhile before deciding to head back home. Stopped at the grocery store to stock up on snacks and had a relaxing evening watching TV. This is the first time either of us have watched TV since we left the States!

Low Vision "Treasure Hunt"

Thursday March 23rd – Our guest lecturer today was Lil Deverell who works in the children’s mobility department. She spent the morning lecturing on the history of O&M in Australia, talking about case studies and the questions you need to ask in regards to the clients, and the O&M framework which includes things like problem solving skills, communication, mapping, safety, etc. The first guide dog user, Mr. Arnold Cook, came to Australia in the 1950s, but O&M here in Australia only really took off in the 1970s. Guide Dogs Victoria was the first mobility center to be built in Australia in 1962. In all of Australia there are only about 200 O&M instructors and GDV employs 20 of them! Obviously being so spread out in such a large country effects an O&M’s professional development and ability to share information and problem solve together. Lil was a dynamic and passionate speaker and will be joining us periodically during our course.

In the afternoon we had a chance to practice teaching our new skills to a group of GDV volunteers (pictured here). Much like at GDB, volunteers can have contact with our clients and need some basic education on sighted guide techniques. We each worked with a volunteer, first with them under blindfold then with them guiding us. Later in the afternoon we drove to an area similar to Chestnut Street in San Francisco (but busier) and did a sort of ‘treasure hunt’ while wearing the low vision simulators. We did several different hunts to experience a variety of eye conditions.

Dinner was fun (as always) with everyone sharing funny expressions. I’ve begun keeping a list which I call “Ron’s Aussie of the Day” for example; if something is “daggy” it means it’s terrible. I’ll try to share some each day (if they are a PG rating). Later that evening we saw our first 'Hudsen spider'. It was on the wall in the dorm and it was HUGE! Susan and I were a little freaked out but Carrie and Ron assured us they were harmless and eat other insects, especially mosquitoes. We ended the day with a good workout at the gym, mostly because the dessert was irresistible again!

Swimming, Cricket, and Sleeping Aids

Wednesday March 22nd – Susan’s friends and family will be astonished to learn that we got up at 5:30 am, went to the gym and swam laps! Our gym is quite nice and has an excellent pool. I couldn't beleive how crowded the lanes were and the lifequard told me this was the "slow season" as it's almost winter. Those Aussies really like their swimming! I should have known given the number of medals the Aussies are winning in the swim events at the Commonwealth games. When we got back Grant had freshly baked chocolate chip muffins… Good thing we already worked out!

We spent the morning reviewing more eye disorders and how they impact O&M and daily living. Our technical lectures are often interspersed with stories about clients Jhaneen has worked with, questions from Sue and I about clients we have worked with and plenty of translation from “Aussie” to “American” and back.

Today at lunch we got to talking about Cricket (Charles, you’ll like this one). Everyone was trying to explain the game to us when Jhaneen remembered there was a cricket set in the Childrens’ mobility department complete with a soft ball that we could use indoors. So here we all were in the dining room playing a simulated game of Cricket! Grant was the bowler, while Laura and Simone were batters; Ron and Jhaneen were the narrators. It was quite entertaining!

Back to work in the afternoon where we drove to a nearby neighborhood with a light business area. We all wore different low vision simulators, got a map and had to walk a route independently, later we repeated the exercise trading maps and simulators. I have to say it certainly gives you a better perspective to actually walk around in the world with the simulators rather than talk about and try them on briefly in a classroom. We then went to a mall much like the ones we have in the US. In this busy environment we practiced sighted guide again this time incorporation stairs, escalators, and travelators (which are like an escalator except instead of stairs it’s a long gradual ramp). We then had to use the low vision simulators to locate the mall directory and read the map location of a specific store. This can be quite challenging in an unfamiliar mall and depending of the type of low vision you are simulation reading the directory once you find it can be almost impossible.

Once the lesson was finished Jhaneen, Laura, and Simone went home while Sue and I stayed at the mall to do a bit of shopping. We were searching for some kind of sleeping aid as we are both having trouble sleeping here. I thought they might have a product like Tylenol PM, so we went to the “Chemist” (which is what we call a drug store or pharmacy). I explained what Tylenol PM was but they didn’t have it. Sue then asked if the cold medicines there have a sleeping agent. At that point the cashier and pharmacist started looking at us in a weird way. I just figured they didn’t understand what we meant so tried a different description, “you know like sleeping pills”. As they stared darkly at us the pharmacist asked suspiciously, “what do you need them for?” By now my light bulb had finally turned on and I realized we were creeping them out a bit. I explained we were from America and due to the jet lag we couldn’t sleep properly. The pharmacist then cautiously stated that they did have what we were looking for, and over the counter sleep aid. However she did repeat SEVERAL times, this is for OCCASIONAL use, so I think her ‘red flag’ was still up. They sold it to us anyway. Let’s hope it works!

Using simulators in "the bush"

Tuesday March 21st – The first half of our day was presented by Ky Lian an optometrist who consults monthly at GDV. She gave a power point on the role of the optometrist, orthoptist, and ophthalmologist, eye anatomy, and major causes of blindness. Jhaneen presented on primary and secondary mobility aids and we practiced using the support cane and id cane.

We spent the afternoon walking around using the simulators. We walked a bike path behind the school and took a trail “into the bush”. We then drove into town; practiced sighted guide in busier areas, then used the simulators in this environment as well. It was a full day – seems like I say that a lot, don’t I?

Evenings are fun as Susan and I eat with the two retrains, Christine the evening cook, and the night managers Carrie or Ron. It’s always entertaining chatting about our lives and trying to understand each other’s “lingo”. Our dorm manager and daytime chef is a super friendly gut named Grant. Grant and Ron are a hoot together, they get into these playful verbal battles that must make Sue and I seem like we’re watching a tennis match. We are so focused on figuring out what the heck they are saying that we stare intently at each person’s face as they speak. Sometimes it almost seems like we speak completely different languages.

First day of school

Monday March 20th – The first day of school! We began the day with an overview of the course and introductions. Our classmates are Simone Leahy and Laura Hunt who are students at Latrobe University; they hope to become O&M instructors. Our course leader is Jhaneen Trimble who is an orientation and mobility instructor with a specialty in ABI (Acquired Brain Injury). She had been at GDV for 4 years in the ABI department, was a local O&M for 3 years and spent a year in Canada doing O&M work as well. She is very nice and the course outline looks really good. We then took a tour of the campus and met the CEO Grahme White. One of our first lessons was how to make your own blindfold with thin colored foam (seen here)!

There are two retrain students here as well. They will be training on campus for 2 weeks then each will receive a 1 week transition. GDV has several types of instructors. Some train dogs only, some train the dogs and the clients, and some are field reps. The instructor in class trained both the dogs, is the only instructor in class, and will be doing the transitions.

Our days are spent with classroom lecture in the morning then practical application in the afternoon. The first day was a good refresher for Susan and I as we covered self protection and sighted guide techniques. This was the first introduction to being under blindfold for Simone and Laura and it was fun to see how quickly they gained confidence. While working with them I realized that I take many things for granted in working with our clients as they usually have a solid understanding of these basics and are, for the most part, comfortable moving around without sight. Jhaneen had some good tips and techniques that I didn’t know about (or forgot!) and we practiced walking all over the GDV campus.

This evening I drove in Australia for the first time. What an experience. As you know they drive on the “wrong” side of the road here. The driver’s seat is on the right side of the car, which means you have to use your left hand to shift gears. Thank God the car we are using is an automatic! It’s bad enough that almost every time I try to signal I turn on the windshield wipers! Susan and I drove into the town of Kew and signed up at the local YMCA. We have the best intentions of working out and we’ll see how well we can stick to it. The food here in the dorm is as good as our dorm which means I better have myself in the gym several times each week!

It's a small world after all

Sunday March 20th – Today I learned what a small world we live in. Here’s the adventure; we got a late start to the day as we stayed up pretty late last night. Once we got ourselves together we asked the apartment manager where we might find a mall to do some shopping. He suggested an area “just down the road” so we decided to walk. Unfortunately we didn’t quite understand his directions and ended up walking about 2 miles to the next town’s strip mall (not what we expected). We asked someone for a restaurant recommendation and ended up at a tasty little café. Here’s where the world gets smaller. Just as we finished eating a man with a guide dog walks into the restaurant. As I looked a bit closer I said to Susan, “that’s our harness and leash”. She glanced at him as he passed her and read our logo on the harness! So of course we get up and follow him to his table and introduce ourselves. It was Michael Osborn and his guide “Hastings”! Michael is the chairperson of GDBs Alumni Association is affiliated with many other service dog user organizations and, as a regular international traveler, is a major advocate in the movement to allow service dogs onboard international aircraft. He was blown away to have run into us and immediately said, “Are you the two instructors who are taking the course at Guide Dogs Victoria?” It surprised us that he knew about this but it turns out that he had been in contact with John Gosling at GDV last week who had told him about our arrival and about the course. He was very impressed with John’s description of the course and felt like it would be a wonderful experience for us. We joined him for his meal and we all chatted about various guide dog topics, and had a great time.

After we parted ways Susan and I decided we wanted to get a cab back to the apartment but couldn’t seem to get one to stop for us. We continued walking towards the apartment trying to flag every taxi that passed with no luck. As we walked past a gas station a nice lady about our age approached us and said she saw us waving and could she help. It turns out that she and her husband are Canadians who recently moved to Melbourne and stayed at our apartment complex when they first arrived. They are now friends with the manager, and offered to give us a lift which we gratefully accepted. *** Note to Susan and Jenna’s moms, We decided they looked very safe before accepting the ride*** Laura and Keith gave us some great tips on traveling in Melbourne and gave us their phone number suggesting we all meet for drinks sometime after we settled in.

Later we took the train into Melbourne again, poked around and had dinner before calling it a day.

The Commonwealth games

Saturday March 18th – I was up early, put my bike together, and went for a test ride. I cruised into the local shopping area to get coffee then rode to the GDV campus to get a dog fix. I introduced myself to the weekend kennel staff and they let me walk around the kennels and pet the dogs. I would guess there are about 30 dogs at the kennel, and they were all very calm and quiet. After my brief morning adventure I returned to the apartment and rousted Sue (she does like her sleep!) We got ready and figures out how to take the train into Melbourne. We happened to arrive at the beginning of the Commonwealth Games which are like a mini Olympics. It’s extremely popular here and there were tons of people in the city. This photo was taken near the train station; the music on the didgeridoos was interesting and quite good. First we shopped in the huge commonwealth souvenir store then headed to the beach (St Kilda) to catch the end of the men’s triathlon. We missed the event but did get to see the medal ceremony.

After walking around the beach area for awhile we spotted a Thai foot reflexology place and got massaged. After the couple we had in Singapore, we’re hooked.

Back in the center of Melbourne we ate dinner then walked to the casino where Sue got her poker fix. We finally got back to our apartment after midnight!

Finally "Down Under"

Friday March 17th - Our flight from Singapore was about 7.5 hours and we arrived in Melbourne at 3:30 am Singapore time (5:30 am Melbourne time). Neither of us slept on the plane so we were pretty bleary eyed when we arrived. Cleared customs pretty quickly and met John Gosling from Guide Dogs Victoria. Once outside the airport we sighed with relief, NO HEAT & HUMIDITY!!! It was a bit chilly at 5:30am, but the day warmed into the mid 60s. We loaded up our vast amount of luggage (or as they call it here – gear) and drove to the GDV campus. John gave us a quick tour of campus (from the car) and then we went into the client residence and had some coffee. Apparently we couldn’t move into the residence until Monday and the rooms nearby were yet ready. So after coffee and toast, and meeting a few folks at GDV John took us into town to briefly observe some training. GDV currently has an intern from the school in Taiwan who is working with John. They worked two doubles routes in a light business area near the campus. The dogs we saw were about 4 weeks into training and had 15 to 20 workouts. Interestingly they were still not wearing harnesses and won’t until about week 7. The training we saw was very similar to our pattern training, with the handler creating correct responses with the leash. The routes were short, simple, and positive for the dogs. They leash relieve each dog on grass right before the route. For the most part mechanics are similar to ours with the exception of the left turns, they teach both the 270 degree left and the 90 degree left. The complete traing cycle is 20 weeks and dogs usually end up with 80 to 100 workouts by the time they go to class.

After watching training our rooms were finally ready, this was a relief as we both were starting to nod and drool and didn’t want to embarrass ourselves. We spent most of the rest of the day sleeping, doing laundry, and recovering.

Singapore Zoo

Thursday March 16th – Today we leave for Australia but not until 5 pm, so we went to the Singapore Zoo which we have been wanting to do the whole time we have been here. They have a special program where you can “have breakfast with the Orangutans”. We thought that sounded pretty cool, so we headed to the zoo at 8:30am. What a fantastic experience! While you have a breakfast buffet the staff brings out an Orangutan, tells you all about them and then you get to go stand RIGHT NEXT TO IT and have your picture taken. The Orangutan here is Anita and while it’s hard to tell in the photo she is holding her 4 month old baby! She was so relaxed and calm the whole time. The baby slept and nursed and Anita ate bananas. The whole setup of this zoo is very unlike any in the US. The smaller primates are loose in different sections of the zoo and will come quite close to the people. In one picnic area we actually saw a medium sized primate taking food out of the hand of a person. Naturally people aren’t supposed to feed the animals, but you know how people are… Anyway, we had an amazing time. It’s not a very large zoo in terms of space but they have the largest primate population in the world and an incredible reproduction rate, particularly with the Orangutans.

We returned to the hotel at around 2pm as we needed to mail some GDB stuff to Australia. We had to mail the plaques and wood boxes back to the US as they were too heavy to carry as well. So we got to experience the Singapore Post Office! Yippee!

We rushed from the post office to the Singapore Art museum, which was small but good. Then it was back to the hotel to head out for the airport. Cheng met us at the hotel as he had arranged our transport again. We said our goodbyes after checking all our baggage. Amazingly enough we did not get any overweight charges although I KNOW those bags were heavier than 50#. Thank you British Airways!

Meeting the US Ambassador

Wednesday March 15th – We began today by meeting the US Ambassador to Singapore Patricia L. Herbold. Ambassador Tommy Koh had arranged this meeting and Cheng had also invited Rob Patterson (loosely affiliated with The Seeing Eye) and his associate Janet Winkler. We arrived at the embassy and proceeded through a stiff security screening which required us to leave all our belongings (including cameras) behind at the guard station. An assistant to the Ambassador meet us there and escorted us up to the Ambassador’s office. All the glass in the building was thick, bullet-proof glass and the glass and steel doors were incredibly heavy. We met with the Ambassador and several of her staff. Kendra was the star and they all enjoyed greeting and petting her. Kendra sat between the Ambassador and Cheng during the meeting and the Ambassador was obviously a dog lover as she stroked and gave Kendra belly rubs during most of the meeting. A staff member took a few digital photos one of which I’ve posted here. During our meeting we talked about the need for O&M services in this country and the Ambassador’s staff had some ideas for somehow linking with a US university program to train O&M specialists here. I’m sure Cheng will be following up with her in the future.

After leaving the Embassy we conducted yet another interview. Interestingly while Sue was doing the mobility walk part of the interview (I was following taking video & photos) a young boy (about 12 yrs) came up and asked me some questions. It turns out that he attends the Secondary school that we had toured. He told me that he has seen “the blind man with the dog” on TV that day and also sow the newspaper article. He was very curious, friendly, and seemed to have a positive outlook about dogs.

I actually had time for a quick dip in the pool before we did some computer work and went to our next meeting. It was very refreshing as the 90 degree weather with 51% humidity is beginning to get to me.

We went to the Raffel’s hotel where Mr. Patterson was hosting a dinner in a private room for Dr. Toh See Kiat who is a lawyer who is a founding member of the Singapore Guide Dog Society. Dr. Toh was unable to attend the presentation so we briefly went over the information and answered questions. He is a bright and articulate man who is thinking about all the possible issues (positive and negative) that guide dogs might face in Singapore. Dinner was lovely and presided over by the assistant hotel manager, Madi, who we had met at our breakfast meeting last week. He was VERY welcoming and happy to receive Cheng and Kendra at the hotel again. He commented on the news coverage and mentioned that the staff was buzzing about the “blind man with the dog” who had visited their hotel twice. It seems Cheng and Kendra are turning into minor celebrities!

Cheng & Kendra in the news!

Tuesday March 14th – When I woke up today I turned on the TV to the news as usual and lo and behold… Cheng and Kendra were on! Channel News Asia (like a local CNN) had attended the symposium and did some filming of Cheng prior to the presentation as well as filming the whole presentation! It was a good clip and looped back on several times that morning. Once I grabbed the local paper (Straights Times) I found another article and a big photo. In all there were 3 or 4 newspapers that covered the event and the one TV station. It seemed that all the new interest was generated at the urging of Ambassador Tommy Koh who we had met with last week.

The rest of the day was spent interviewing two potential applicants. It is always interesting to visit people in their homes as we continue to learn so much about the culture and social customs. After the first interview we had lunch with our applicant at the nearby mall. She lives near and is friends with the person we were interviewing next. As he was tied up for a while she took us to a foot reflexology shop in the mall. While we enjoyed (most of the time) our foot rub we chatted with the owner of the shop and his wife. I say we enjoyed most of the time because foot reflexology can range from relaxing, to slightly uncomfortable to downright painful when they hit certain spots on your foot. Susan and I were both wearing shirts with the guide dog logo and pretty soon the couple noticed and asked about GDB. It turns out they had seen the TV footage of Cheng on the local news that morning, and had read an article in the Chinese paper. They we very excited to have us there and were avid dog lovers.

We then met the next applicant and went to his home to conduct the interview. After the interview was over we managed to do a bit of walking around, rode the MRT again and ate dinner. By this time I was craving some familiar junk food and when I happened to see a good old Burger King, I satisfied my junk food compulsion!

The Guide Dog "Mini Symposium" (long post)

Monday March 13th - An extremely long day was ahead. We began with a breakfast meeting at the world famous "Raffels" hotel with Mr. Rob Patterson, a businessman, who is a consultant to the board of The Seeing Eye, in New Jersey. Some months ago Rob was visiting GDB in CA. He met with some of our staff and happened to mention his personal interest in Asia in general and the potential for guide dogs there. Ironically we had recently served Cheng Hock and Rob asked for an introduction to him. In the next months Rob and Cheng corresponded via email. Rob happened to be in Singapore on business at the same time as Susan & I and requested a meeting. We enjoyed the beauty of the hotel and courteous service of the staff. The staff had been notified of Kendra's presence and had prepared a dog bowl of water and a rawhide bone on a special tray (which Cheng politely declined). They were very excited to see her and very welcoming.

After Breakfast we had another interview, then it was back to the hotel to prepare for the "Symposium". I was able to modify an existing power point presentation in the GDB database (thank you Ben and Darren!) which had great photos and information about the program and etiquette when interacting with a guide dog team.

The Symposium took place at Alexandra Hospital and was sponsored by the ophthalmology department. They had a large lecture theater and a staff who were very helpful in setting up all our audio visual equipment. Rob did a short introduction on the history of dogs as guides in the US. He made the analogy between Morris Frank, the first dog user in the US (1929), and Cheng Hock the first dog user in Singapore today. Susan introduced GDB and explained what we were doing as well as our organizations mission statement. We then showed the Soul Mates video which looked wonderful up on the huge screen. I delivered the power point presentation and we closed with our video "considering a guide".

We had been told by several people that in this culture people usually do not ask questions during a Q&A session and to not feel offended if there were no questions. So we were delighted to discover that the audience was so interested that there were so many questions we finally had to stop taking them and end the program. Much to our surprise the program ended with the hospital presenting us each with a HUGE plaque thanking us for speaking at the symposium!

Following the dinner we headed to a private country club with the founding members of the new society tentatively named, Guide Dogs for the Blind, Singapore. Some of the hospital staff joined us as well. We had a private room and as this was the first time the board members had met we spent some time with introductions. We all chatted over a traditional Chinese dinner then Susan & I held another Q&A session. The forming society is made up of influential business people from a variety of professions. They all seemed very enthusiastic about the guide dog movement and had a lot of thoughtful questions about how to support the movement in Singapore.

At the end of the dinner they presented us again with thank you gifts, lovely Rosewood jewelry boxes with a historic photos of Alexandra Hospital on the lid! They were all so kind and generous and we had a wonderful time. It is so rewarding to see people becoming passionate about such an important cause.

Shopping and the Night Safari

Toady we got a break from all the work. We finally slept in then decided to go to the famous "Orchard Road". Orchard road is a shopping area not unlike Union Square in San Francisco, except it's MUCH BIGGER! We walked around for a few hours and only saw about 1/3 of the area. Lots of famous designer stores, so we didn't buy anything but enjoyed some serious window shopping. In the evening we went to the Night Safari. This is the world's only night time zoo experience and it was wonderful! They had a "Creatures of the Night" animal show which was very good. Some of the animals in the show included, civits, owls, otters, a clouded leopard, and believe it or not they had trained hyena's to enter the stage area, target a location, then leave! After the show we took a tram around the zoo and guide talked about each exhibit. We walked on some of the trails even passing through an aviary where large fruit bats were flying right around us! We were there until almost midnight and had a Great time!

A day off! (Sort of)

Saturday March 11th - We finally got a day off and decided to visit the Singapore Botanic Gardens and National Orchid Garden. Cheng and Rhoda joined us for the morning and we spent several hours wandering the grounds. The Botanic Gardens are open to the general public and many people walk their pet dogs there. Pets are not allowed in the National Orchid Garden and Cheng had to explain to the manager why Kendra was an exception. We were allowed to enter and Kendra became the first dog ever to go into the National Orchid Garden. The Orchid garden was really beautiful with over 1000 species and 2000 hybrids. A lovely was to spend to morning!

Cheng arranged for a young optometrist, Rebecca to transport us and join us at our next adventure, the Jurong Bird Park. With over 9000 birds belonging to more than 600 species, it is one of the worlds best in conservation and display of birds in natural settings. We attended the "All Star Bird Show" where I was picked to have a toucan fly up, land on my arm, eat out of my hand, then fly back to the stage! Pretty fun!

Kendra goes to school

Friday March 10th - Another early start to the day as Cheng had made arrangements for us to tour a local school. We took a taxi to Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary School. Secondary schools in Singapore hold years 7-10 or ages 13-16. This particular school is one of the two in the country which has a visually impaired program. The school has about 1400 students with 14 blind students. We met with the principal Stephen Chin, who was excited to meet Cheng & Kendra and was completely blown away when he saw them work together. Mr. Chin happened to be in the process of trying to expand the VH (visually handicapped) program, in fact, the local organization for the blind, SAVH (Singapore Association for the Visually Handicapped) is scheduled to present at the school assembly next week. So our timing couldn't have been better. He had NO concept of how a dog could be used as a mobility aid, and was so impressed at how well behaved Kendra was during our meeting. He asked really basic questions like "who takes care of the dog?" And was surprised to find out that Cheng himself could feed, groom, and pick up after his dog. Mr. Chin arranged for us to tour the whole school, including the VH room, which serves as a sort of study hall and is run by a visually impaired teacher.

After the tour the three of us (and Kendra) chatted for a while with the VH teacher who is a friend of Cheng's. There were several VH student's there (all boys), some of whom Cheng already knew. The boys were very interested in Kendra but a bit afraid too. They slowly inched closer over time then mustered up the courage to actually pet her. Kendra is the perfect dog for these situations, she stays very calm, doesn't attempt to lick or make sudden movements. Generally she just gently rolls over hoping for a belly rub.

We got some computer work done in the afternoon and finished the day with our first interview.

"Buskers" in Singapore

Thursday March 9th - Today we moved to a different hotel - the Swisshotel Merchant Court. The internet connection actually works at this hotel! I have been craving some email and contact from home. We then hit the town again with Cheng. He showed us the local shopping malls, which are huge 7+ story buildings with hundreds of small shops. Cheng took us to his favorite computer store where we all bought some supplies. We then took the MRT and bus back to his neighborhood where he introduced us to the profession of "Busking". The woman pictured here is a "Busker" which is a street performer. She is visually impaired, attended our Guide Dog presentation, and agreed to show us what busking is all about. Buskers must audition and get a license from the government to work. Some Buskers sing, some play one or more instruments, some have disiabilities, some do not. A portion of the money they collect must go to charity as well. A good Busker can make $300 SD ($184 US dollars) only working for 3-4 hours per day.

Afterwards we met Cheng's wife and shopped at the local grocery store, which was also located in a multi level mall.

Problem solving, Politicking, and Presenting

Wednesday March 8th - Another early morning. We rode the bus the Cheng's house and spent the morning watching him work his routes and helping him problem solve a few minor issues. He and Kendra are doing quite well overall. Later Cheng was able to arrange an audience with the Ambassador of Foreign Affairs, Professor Tommy Koh. We took a taxi to the Ministry which has high security including unsmiling guards holding enormous machine guns. We were escorted to a comfortable meeting room where Professor Koh met us a few minutes later. He is a kind, gracious man who is a dog lover and was delighted to meet Kendra. Professor Koh has been working for to get rights and access for the disabled since the 1980s and is a strong supporter of Cheng Hock and the guide dog movement. He chatted with us for about 40 minutes, asking several times if there was anything he could assist us with during our stay. He and Cheng discussed the status of the Singapore Society of Guide Dogs for the Blind and he offered to make several important contacts on Cheng's behalf.

He walked us to the lobby watching in amazement and delight as Cheng and Kendra worked together. The photo here was taken in the lobby while we waited for our taxi.

Later that night Susan, Cheng, and I went to the Society for the Blind offices where we met with 9 visually impaired people and gave a presentation about Guide Dogs. Some of the attendees were people we will be interviewing later and some just wanted to know more about guide dogs in general. Several of us went to dinner afterwards... Another long day!

My first social faux pas

Tuesday March 7th - After about 5 hours of sleep I woke up and decided to start the trip out right by going to the gym for a workout. So I get dressed, grab my ipod and empty water bottle and head for the gym. Unfortunately the small gym does not have a water cooler so I head back to the front desk to ask where I can get some water. They look at me kind of funny but tell me I can fill it in the restaurant where the breakfast buffet is going on.

Now here's where you get to use your imagination... Here I am, not only in a country where conservative and fashionable dressing is so important that nobody wears shorts it 90 degree super humidity. But I am also staying in a hotel near the "Little India" sector of town, so many guests are wearing the traditional Indian garb of the Sari and a head covering. What do I wear to work out in, you ask? Spandex shorts, sleeveless coolmax top, and a baseball cap.

I'm hoping I was only imagining the hush that fell over the restaurant as I had to walk all the way through to fill my water bottle. But at least I was hydrated during my workout!

Susan & I spent most of the day exploring, riding the MRT (light rail) and celebrating when we found a Starbucks. We had dinner with Cheng at a nearby Chinese food restaurant and planned the rest of the week.

The LONG ride over

This big fat 747 left on Sunday March 5th at 11:30 am from San Francisco to Tokyo. Hallelujah, I got an upgrade to business class where the seat lay almost completely horizontal!! So 11 hours, several glasses of wine, 3 movies, two meals, and not much sleep later I arrived in Tokyo. By this time it's 1am for me, I'm pretty groggy but I stumble me way to my connection to discover the bad news, no upgrade. What! No upgrade? This can't be happening... By now I'm a business class snob, or at least I want to be. Oh well, I figure as tired as I am, and after I pop the Tylenol PM my mother told me to take, I'll just pass out no matter how small the seat, right? WRONG! While taking the sleeping pill did make me drool and see double, it did not get me to sleep. So I spent the next 7.5 hours in a semi comatose state, cursing the genetics which made my 5'10" frame have to twist like a pretzel in the seat. However, by some miracle I did survive and arrived in Singapore. I managed to find Susan in the baggage area. While you might think me quite a detective to locate a person I had never met, I have to admit it was easy to identify the only 6 foot tall, blonde, American in the airport!

Speaking of luggage, the amount between the two of us was ridiculous. Susan had two huge bags and a big carry on. I had one huge suitcase, a big carry on, and my hard sided bike case. Yes, I brought my bike, are you kidding? There's going to be some great riding in Melbourne!

We had told Cheng that we could get ourselves to the hotel and that he did not need to make arrangements to pick us up. After all, we are big girls. And in the land of the not so tall... I mean BIG! Anyway, we head out and look who's there... Cheng and Kendra! I was actually really nice that he met us, and he brought a driver who had a very large van. As Cheng put it, " I thought 2 women traveling for 4 months would have a lot of luggage" and he was right.

My first impression of the country when I stepped out side was only about the weather. Here is was midnight, and it was easily 85 degrees with a gazillion humidity! We're talking instant sweat bath. When we got settled in at the hotel I checked my watch and realized that while it was 2am on March the 7th, it was 9:30 am March the 6th. I had been on the road for 24.5 hours!

Access for service dogs in Singapore

I think many of us take for granted the rights and privileges we as citizens of the United States have. One of those many rights is the Americans with Disabilities Acts (ADA) which REQUIRES that ALL public places be assessable to persons with disabilities and allows a disabled person with a service animal the right to entry as well.

Unfortunately this is not the case in Singapore. In fact Cheng Hock actually recieved a dog guide (from another school) in 1982. At that time he was unable to gain entry anywhere with his dog, rendering the dog pretty much useless as a mobility aid. He ended up returning the dog to the school within the first 2 years. Since then, Cheng and his supporters have been working towards gaining access right for all people with disabilities. Recently he felt enough progress had been made to try again and received "Kendra" a female yellow lab from GDB.

Here's a brief list of the progress made so far:

1987 - MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) which is the light rail system in Singapore (both above and under ground) was built in 1987. When forming the Rapid Transit Systems Act a Sub clause (8.3) states that while animals are prohibited, this does “not apply to a guide dog accompanied by any blind person”.

November 2005 – SBS Transit will allow blind persons with guide dogs to board buses.

August 2005 - Due to Cheng’s close working relationship with the ophthalmology department on issues relating to blindness Alexandria Hospital has gone on record as the first medical establishment in Singapore to allow guide dogs on its premises.

Dec 2005 – The National Environment Agency (NEA) carried out a review (with Cheng’s assistance) and decided to grant licenses to food establishments the discretion to allow guide dogs on their premises so long as the dogs are harnessed and kept at the owner’s side. The NEA has offered to contact restaurants on Cheng's behalf at his request.

Currently, using taxis is the most problematic. Many drivers will refuse to pick up a person with a guide dog. Cheng finds that if he attempts to flag one down on the street only 1 in 10 taxis will stop. If he calls ahead and informs taxis of the dog, 80% of the time he will get a pick up (there is an extra $2 charge). Of the 20% of drivers who refuse10% are Islamic (apparently the Islamic faith teaches that dogs are unclean) and 10% report their reasons as allergies.

Cheng spends a great deal of his time educating the public in regards to his right to bring his dog where ever he goes. He still gets denied access occasionally, but more often than not he is successful.

What the heck am I doing halfway around the world??

Hello everyone!
This is my first ever attempt at "blogging" so bear with me as I iron out the kinks.

So, some of you may be asking... why am I in Singapore? If you already know the answer you may skip to the next paragraph. Last August Guide Dogs for the Blind (hereafter known as GDB) served a gentleman named Cheng Hock who lives in Singapore with a dog. Cheng travels frequently to the US so it wasn't too much of a stretch to provide him with a dog as all the normal services provided by GDB could still take place in the good old USA. Cheng is interested in GDB serving additional clients in the country and asked GDB to explore this possibility. Since Susan Armstrong (an Oregon campus instructor) and I were traveling to Australia to take a course at Guide Dogs Victoria (in Melbourne). GDB had us stop in Singapore to explore this possibilty. So, here I am!