You’re listening to a Community Story from Be My Eyes. Hi everyone! My name is Wenwei, and I’m from the United States, from Ohio, and I’m blind. I can see shadows, I have light perception, but that’s about the extent of my eyesight. So, I’m always looking for any assistive technology that will help me complete all of my tasks on my own, because of course it’s important to do what you can on your own. That’s when I discovered Be My Eyes, I discovered it when I was abroad. I heard about it from a few people back in the States, and I heard about it from a blind guy I met in Chile. I decided that I had nothing to lose, so I installed the app on my phone. The first thing I did was to ensure that this woman was not selling me rotten fruit and vegetables at a “feria”, because that has happened to me in Chile, and I was really upset. Since then, I’ve also asked volunteers to describe just everything. The streets in Latin America are really colorful, there’s just always something going on. There’s live dancing, some kind of show, they have booths where they’re selling artwork or other things. I wanted to be involved in that without relying on somebody to accompany me, and Be My Eyes volunteers were more than happy to give me the opportunity to just be a tourist and look around. Since I was using this app in rather unconventional ways already, I decided to see if I could learn how to knit and crochet. Granted, this was something I’ve always wanted to learn how to do, I just could never seem to get past the slip knot, and I also didn’t want to burden someone or impose on their time, because it would have been a significant time commitment for them. I didn’t really want to invest in a class, just because I wasn’t sure if I would love to knit and crochet. I used Be My Eyes volunteers like sighted people would use YouTube tutorials, and they were really great. They gave me a lot of feedback on the stitches I was creating, and on the cast-on methods I wanted to learn. They were so accommodating, they were even willing to watch videos and look at pictures, and compare the results on my needle with the results on the computer screen. They made sure that I was holding the needle in an appropriate way, and that I was doing the correct motions when completing my stitches. One of the challenges that I did face was that volunteers would typically inform me that they were not able to see either the work on my needle or my hands, or sometimes even both. As a result, they would ask me to raise my hands halfway and angle them in an extremely awkward position. Consequently, I created a makeshift tripod, where I would set my phone and sit somewhere, where my hand and the beginning of my project were all dead center in the frame. I have found that things started moving significantly quicker, and I was using my time efficiently and productively. Volunteers are really great, because not only are they willing to help you and really ensure that you accomplish what you set out to do, they’ll also tell you if this isn’t really something they’re able to do. I really do respect that kind of honesty, because I’ve noticed that some people will just tell me that they’re able to do something, but they actually can’t. I just feel that’s super counter-productive and a waste of everybody’s time. I also appreciate the fact that they’re willing to donate some time to help you do stuff like this. This is why Be My Eyes has become such an invaluable asset in my life - not only am I able to do the everyday regular stuff, things like identifying my stuff in common areas, or stuff around my friend’s house when they’re running out and I’m there working on my laptop, or just in my own house, and assisting me with webpages that are not accessible, but they’re also available and willing to spent a little bit of time enabling me to explore my creative side. That just means so much to me, because all the volunteers who have decided to be a Be My Eyes volunteer are willing to help out in any way they can. That’s just something that you know, and you can definitely feel when you call somebody, you don’t feel like you’re asking a huge favor or that somebody’s condescending to help you, you feel like they really do want to help you, and that’s pretty great. I can do it on my own time and in the comfort of wherever I am. Thank you for listening to this Community Story from Be My Eyes. You can share your story too, send it to mystory@bemyeyes.com. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel, download our app, or visit www.bemyeyes.com/community-stories for more.