by Doris Belusic

The Canadian Federation of the Blind held its fifth convention, ‘The Journey’, in Victoria, BC, at the Capital City Center Hotel, on May 11 – 13, 2012.

It was an amazing convention with close to 50 participants, including attendees and supporters. We were especially pleased to have such a large youth component this year. And, we were honoured to have the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) of Washington State President and NFB National Board member, Mike Freeman and his wife, Connie, in attendance.

Friday morning started with a workshop on E-bay, including a live demonstration of listing an item to sell.

Friday afternoon, we held an Adaptive Technology and Blindness Resource Exhibit, featuring HumanWare, AbleTech and Personal Communications Systems. Available to try were items such as portable refreshable Braille displays, PDAs, CCTVs of all shapes, a Mac running the Apple’s VoiceOver, and other fun electronic gadgets.
There were long, white canes to try and take for free, CFB T-shirts and mugs, CFB and other blindness literature and a Braille table display.

The evening was exciting. First, we met and enjoyed the company of other blind attendees, old friends and new, many from out of town, while eating appetizers at our Welcome Reception. BC MLA Lana Popham addressed the group, speaking about the need for choice in one’s rehabilitation options and the urgent need for government-funded intensive blindness-skills training.

Later we held our ‘Rowdy and Raucous’ auction, selling donated items of all sorts, to raise money for CFB. West Coast smoked scallops, a specially made quilted table runner and many other quality items enticed bidders. The Morning Glory Muffins, Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies, Kahlua Brownies and Sour Cream Coffee Cake, baked by blind members, all took in high bids. Thank you to Dean Yano of HumanWare for generously donating a Victor Stream digital recorder, which claimed the top bid of the evening – and for sharing his cake!

On Saturday, we held the day-long conference. The opening ceremony included a welcome speech by both CFB President, Elizabeth Lalonde and NFB Representative, Mike Freeman, followed by an electric guitar rendition of ‘Oh Canada’ and a fun ‘Name that Tune’ game.

During the day, there were many informative and inspirational speeches on a variety of blindness-related topics. This truly was the blind speaking for themselves, on topics such as the Federation in your journey, the NFB, using the white cane and Braille, a blind Spanish teacher spoke about her experiences, and the blind Manager of Blind Beginnings spoke of her program. Two people spoke about attending NFB intensive blindness-skills training centres, including Elizabeth, who spoke about her 9-month journey at the Louisiana Center for the Blind.

There were updates from HumanWare and AbleTech about the latest Adaptive Technologies and we heard an update about library services.

Blind author, Graeme McCreath, spoke about his recently published book, ‘The Politics of Blindness: From Charity to Parity’.

We held panel discussions about employment, human rights and recreation, plus a live interview with two CFB members about their journey from the visual to the non-visual.

Thanks to our Youth Mentoring Program, funded by a grant from Coast Capital Savings, we were able to sponsor youth to attend the convention, and with a generous donation from the Victoria Imperial Lions Club, we were able to assist with transportation costs. It was wonderful having so many youth in attendance, speaking, showing their talents and participating fully. On the Employment Panel they actively demonstrated a real desire and hunger to find gainful employment for themselves.

The Banquet dinner is always the highlight of any Federation convention. It is where we visit, reminisce and enjoy our meals. Mike Freeman’s keynote address topped the evening.

The Banquet segued into our Talent Night, which was a lot of fun. We listened to blind performers on guitar and piano, sing and rap, tell jokes and recite original poetry. Among us there is big talent!

Sunday morning we held our Annual General Meeting, while enjoying breakfast.

Elizabeth, our CFB President for the past ten years, decided it was time to step forward to the position of Past President, so that she may continue related goals, but remain a fully active member of CFB. She spoke of how much she has enjoyed her position as President. A huge thank you went out to Elizabeth for her dedication, time and accomplishments during her Presidency.

Elections were held and a new Board was elected. Congratulations and thank you to those elected. (By the way, all regular members of CFB and those of the Board are blind.)

Mike Freeman put out an invitation for everyone to attend the National Federation of the Blind of Washington State Convention, which will be held October 19 – 21, 2012.

We’d like to thank our sponsors of the convention: Victoria Imperial Lions Club; Coast Capital Savings; Capital City Center Hotel; HumanWare; AbleTech; Personal Communications Systems; and the National Federation of the Blind. We’d also like to thank our volunteers and all those who attended and made our convention such a success.

These conventions are organized and run by the blind. It was so empowering to be together with other blind folk and to learn and socialize. We are all mentors and mentees. Federation conventions truly are one of the best ways for blind people to learn about potential, capabilities, accomplishments, advocacy, high expectations, positive attitudes, confidence, independence and to know that it’s respectable and OK to be blind. And, it’s fun being in a setting where blind people are in the majority!