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Sue Boman (centre in green), who is legally blind, leads a White Cane Connections walk at the Riverbank Discovery Centre in Brandon on Tuesday to raise awareness of the use and significance of the white cane. Supporters including workers from the Brandon CNIB and visually impaired Brandonites joined Boman for the walk. Boman is traveling across Canada holding walks throughout her six-month journey.
The white cane has long been a symbol for blindness, but for Susan Boman it represents courage and independent spirit.
Sue Boman (centre in green), who is legally blind, leads a White Cane Connections walk at the Riverbank Discovery Centre in Brandon on Tuesday to raise awareness of the use and significance of the white cane. Supporters including workers from the Brandon CNIB and visually impaired Brandonites joined Boman for the walk. Boman is traveling across Canada holding walks throughout her six-month journey. (TIM SMITH/BRANDON SUN)
Legally blind with partial sight, Boman uses a cane to walk alone.
"Not everyone knows it’s also a tool for someone with partial sight," said Boman, who is unable to identify street signs and other pedestrian landmarks.
To raise awareness about how canes empower those with vision loss, Boman started the White Cane Walk joined by her husband, Lyle, and others across the country. On March 23, she began in Sechelt, B.C., moving on to Victoria, Surrey, Vancouver, the Okanagan Valley and then the Prairies. The youngest person to join her with a cane was nine years old, the oldest was 96.
Before her stop at the Riverbank Discovery Centre in Brandon on Tuesday, Boman battled harsh weather in Winnipeg.
"It was just a wet and rainy day, but then there was the most amazing sign — ‘blinds are beautiful,’" Boman tells the small group walking with her in Brandon. "So we all took a picture in front of it."
But not all signs are friendly — another aspect of the White Cane Walk is to test different areas of a city for accessibility. This includes protruding signs and benchs that get in the way.
"Anything that is on the sidewalk, rather than beside it," Boman said, listing garbage cans, benches, small trees, grates and "sandwich signs" as common obstacles.
Water puddles and mud also cause trouble for white cane users.
"You’re in them before you know about them," laughed Wendy McMillan, a client and employee of the Canadian National Institute of the Blind.
McMillan, 39, has used a mobility cane since she was nine years old. She can see sunlight and shadow, but uses her cane to move confidently.
"You look so much more presentable with a cane — you’re not walking slow, you know what’s ahead of you," McMillan said. "It’s also great on Dec. 23, when you walk into the mall — it’s like parting the Red Sea."
McMillan has lived on her own for almost 20 years — using her cane to navigate 36 stairs to her apartment — and still remembers stepping out the first time.
"It takes a lot of courage to walk out the door for the first time and know you’re on your own," McMillan said. "I went to university and if I didn’t have my cane, I wouldn’t have been able to do it."
Megan Nolin is another a white cane user, although it’s hard to tell when she’s working.
"I play the piano at Canad Inns and I’ll put my cane underneath so it’s always close by," Nolin said.
The 27-year-old was born blind and has used a mobility cane since she was five years old, the stick growing in length as she did. Living in Brandon for nine years, Nolin said the city is quite accessible. Most intersections, such as the clean square corner of 10th Street and Victoria Avenue, are easy and safe to walk, but others are still lacking audible buzzers for safe crossing.
In the future, Nolin wants a guide dog so she can be even more independent.
"The white cane is a stick that helps you navigate, but a guide dog actually takes you around things," Nolin said.
The next stop for Boman and her cane is Medicine Hat, Alta. on Saturday. Her last stop is in Newfoundland in September. Follow her journey at whitecaneconnections.blogspot.ca.
» dponticelli@brandonsun.com
Republished from the Brandon Sun print edition June 13, 2012
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The white cane has long been a symbol for blindness, but for Susan Boman it represents courage and independent spirit.
Legally blind with partial sight, Boman uses a cane to walk alone.
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The white cane has long been a symbol for blindness, but for Susan Boman it represents courage and independent spirit.
Legally blind with partial sight, Boman uses a cane to walk alone.
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