Dear Friends,
I have a favor to ask, please, no Go Fund Me account involved.
I want your eyes.
Be My Eyes is a free app that can be used with iPhones and Androids. Here’s how it works. You become a sighted volunteer by downloading the free app from the App Store or through the Be My Eyes website. When a person with a visual impairment needs assistance seeing something, they go on the app to get help. As a sighted volunteer, your phone will notify you when your good vision is being called into action. Once you answer, using the camera on their phone, the requester will be able to show you what they are looking at but cannot see. Neither your face nor anything on your end will show, the requester will not know your name or where you are from. No personal information is shared unless you both choose to have a chat!
Requesters are instructed not to ask for help with potentially dangerous situations, reading credit cards or other financial items. Other non-use situations are on the Be My Eyes website, as well as answers to questions you may have. What a requester may ask is that you read an expiration date or label, help with recipes and cooking (are the pancakes ready to be flipped?), find out when a bus or train is arriving or departing, familiarize them with a new place such as a hotel room (where are the electrical outlets?) or find a dropped item (bobby pins are not my friends). I don’t see colors, except certain shades of blue. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sent pictures to friends to help me out when buying towels, clothes, even paint colors. A personal favorite of mine: is it shampoo, conditioner or lotion? It’s a form of independence not to have to solely rely on the kindness of your besties!
If a request comes to you and it’s not a good time, you can decline; the request will go to another sighted volunteer. There are over seven million volunteers currently, but don’t let that discourage you. That is a global total, you would only be getting requests from the U.S.
That said, as much as I am asking you to volunteer to be the eyes of people like me, it is also a plea to spread the word to everyone you know in hopes of reaching people with vision challenges so that they can use the app to regain the self-sufficiency they may have lost. I know of what I speak. Seniors should have no problem using the app, it’s as simple as clicking on the app, then the “Call a volunteer” button. Right now, there are only 500,000 users. We need to get the word out. Even if you don’t have a smartphone, please pass this along to family and friends. PLEASE post this on Facebook and other social media platforms. Here is the link to this post:
Sister Rain: Be My Eyes
Also, here is the TED Talk given by Be My Eyes founder, Jørgen Wiberg.
Thank you for your time and help getting the word out. Maybe one day you’ll help me find a bobby pin!
#sisterrain #alittlesightalotofheart #legallyblindwriter #blindnessisaspectrum #opticneuropathy #visuallyimpaired #blind #bemyeyes
