BAC Leo Club Celebrates White Cane Day
Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is a progress and working together is a success.
The white cane is an internationally known symbol of awareness and support for the visually impaired. Every October, people around the world come together to celebrate and support the blind and visually impaired.
BAC's Leo Club was no different.
They have dedicated a lot of their time and efforts into helping communities in need, and have done valiantly so far with organisations like Tender Hearts, the National Cancer Society of Malaysia, and the Women's Aid Organisation. Their most recent partnership this year was with the Malaysian Association for the Blind (MAB).
On 8th October 2022, 7 members of the Leo Club (Fong May Ping, Lee Yan Yan, Tee Yee Yang, Gregory Kong Min Kyn, Calvin Sylvester, Kon Li Hsien and Sonia Ruth A/P Edmond), led by May Ping, collaborated with the Lions Club of Kuala Lumpur and MAB to celebrate International White Cane Day at the MAB hall.
This event was held to raise public awareness on how the visually impaired community can be recognised for their services, and the areas in which they have contributed.
The day started off with opening speeches by representatives from the BAC Leo Club, Lions Club of Kuala Lumpur and MAB. Ms. Siti then taught sighted participants the proper ways to guide the visually impaired. They used this knowledge well throughout the day, guiding the visually impaired up the stage for performances and places they needed to go during the event.
Throughout the day, the visually impaired gave stunning performances, insightful speeches and shared meals with Leo members, who were also joined by UOWMKDU's Leo Club! There were also games fitting in with the theme of showcasing the abilities of the visually impaired.
The highlight of the session was the goal ball game! An idea brought up by Lion Alex Ooi, the goal ball game is a game specifically for visually impaired people where one team throws a ball embedded with bells to try and land in their opponents' goal, hence the name.
With the mixture of young and old, sighted and visually impaired, everyone managed to gain something from this fruitful experience, from bonding with each other to gaining a new perspective on visually impaired people. The participants from the sighted side were pleasantly surprised to see how skilled the visually impaired players were, and how professionally they played. This piqued their interest in the goal ball game itself, which is a sport in the Paralympics.
With that, the objective of the event was achieved, making the most of the day for the visually impaired community. They truly enjoyed the day, and the sighted were amazed by the talents shown by the visually impaired community.
White Cane Day 2022 went on smoothly, and ended with celebrating BAC Leo Club's 8th birthday. From preparation of the event, to fully experiencing it throughout the day, these moments will be forever treasured and cherished by the team.
That being said, the Leo Club is not done collaborating with MAB! Their partnership continues with ongoing volunteer projects.
You can find out more by joining the Leo Club!
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