Volunteers
Page 6
Sara Ash - speaking out
"It's been my way of going out and saying thank you," says Sara Ash of her experience speaking to schools and organisations about the work of the Foundation.
Sara began volunteering in the Foundation's Tauranga office four years ago, after she left her job in a commercial kitchen. Her eyesight was deteriorating due to Retinitis Pigmentosa. Aged 31, she wanted to get back into work again, but having only worked in kitchens or as a nurse aide, it was difficult to answer the oft-asked question, 'What do you want to do?'
"You don't know any more what you're capable of," she says, "or what the possibilities are without sight."
Sara initially spent two days a week at the Foundation answering the phones and filling out taxi vouchers. She graduated to helping with appeals by coordinating the fundraising volunteers. "There's no way I could have taken on an office job initially. It would have been too daunting," she says. "But Liz and Karen (office staff) really supported and stretched me."
As part of the Speakers Bureau service, Sara travels around Tauranga independently with her guide dog Destiny to speak about the journey of adjusting to sight loss in a sighted world. "I tell kids in schools that no question about blindness is too silly. Speaking is a nice way to educate people and I've learnt that everybody struggles with something. You can get stuck in your own blind world, so it's a wonderful chance to keep looking outward."
Sara has gone back to school, learning braille and studying at the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic. She saved up for a computer, received a Pearson Fund grant for JAWS software and was matched with guide dog Destiny. The polytechnic employed reader/writers as support and this year awarded her an Outstanding Adult Learner Award.
"I've gradually learned that it's OK to be vision impaired," says Sara. "Every day I get a step closer to doing what I want to be doing, which is working with people."
Sara would like to continue her voluntary work after she gets a paid job. "It's really rewarding and you learn so much," she says.
If you would like to become a volunteer, contact your regional volunteer co-ordinator on 0800 24 33 33.