Stephanie, a volunteer from New Mexico, has been a part of the Be My Eyes community for nearly two years. Her mother was born blind in one eye and dealt with vision challenges, which made Stephanie feel connected to the blind and low vision community and compelled her to get involved with the app. To Stephanie, Be My Eyes means an opportunity to help other people, but also a way to connect as human beings.
I certainly think that those of us who have our sight need to be more aware of what the challenges are. It’s absolutely necessary if we’re going to connect.
Drawing on her experience volunteering, Stephanie mentions that when two total strangers are met with a task of some sort and are not quite communicating face-to-face, it can feel a bit awkward at first.
When you get past that technological, y’know, ‘Are you there?’ —the whole thing is a really neat experience.
Out of the variety of tasks she’s encountered in the ample amount of calls over the years, Stephanie’s most memorable experience was when a user, she was on a call with turned his camera around to face him and thanked her. She shares that it made her feel his appreciation and humanized the experience.
