The following links are MP3 files of Philippa’s audiodiary from the trip.  Download them and listen away.  Philippa is returning to Guatemala in 2010 — find out more by following this link.

• Song and dance by pupils at New Life school, Guatemala, with audio description
• Song: ‘All of my life is in Christ’ and audio description of dance by disabled pupils at New Life school
• Experience a Guatemalan song and dance from Philippa’s perspective
• Philippa shares her experience of disability with Guatemalan teachers
• Philippa traversing a boat, steps and uneven ground in Guatemala with assistance from team-members
• Audio description for Philippa of Lake Atitlan, Guatemala
• Translated summary of the personal experience of Blanky, a 17 year-old wheelchair user at New Life school, Guatemala, now studying accountancy

Exciting plans – I have been busy this week planning for the trip to Guatemala in August. I was so excited when Tim told me it was definitely going ahead that I wanted to start packing straight away, but my parent’s persuaded me it was too early! So I am having to be content with just being excited.

Leap of faith – I still remember how exciting it was last year, leaving the country with 3 people who I had only met once before, and flying for about 13 hours. I was surprised at how calm I was, considering that I don’t travel much. I only go on public transport with my family/friends, and had previously only flown for 1 hour to Scotland with my dad, so this was a big leap of faith. I am glad that God was in control and made things go so smoothly. I really enjoyed it!! I am looking forward to going back again to share what God has done for me with more people, and to share my experience of being blind. I really can’t wait – have I said that?

Conducting – My friend and I are planning several things to fund raise and to promote awareness of the trip. These include a concert, a Guatemalan evening, and going round churches to talk about why we are going. In between all this, I am going to a conducting day with my choir. We are used to having just 1 conductor, but this week we will have a different conductor for each piece of music. It will be interesting for me because I can’t see the conductor. They are all pieces we have done before and know well, so it will be hard to do them wrong. I will have to follow the choir member next to me very closely and just hope they are getting it right, otherwise I could end up singing in the wrong place!

Random conversations – I am also going to a cousin’s wedding this month. I have a big family so weddings are fairly frequent. I don’t much like weddings though. I find them very long. I usually enjoy the service, but standing round for photographs is not much fun, I can’t even look round and see what other people are wearing to pass the time. I find it hard too in the reception to make conversation. I will sit on a table with my parents, and they will be able to talk to people even if they don’t know them, wheras I find it hard to just start a random conversation when I don’t know who is there. I think though that other people on the table must find it hard to talk to me if we haven’t met. A lot of people are not sure what to say when they realise I am blind, so the ice doesn’t really get broken by either of us.

People don’t talk to me – The same thing happens when I visit new churches. The people on the door are quite often phased by not having any eye contact, or me not stretching out my hand to take their’s. Quite a few places I have found that they talk to my parents and not to me, not because they are being horrible, but because they are not sure. My parents introduce me to make things go a little easier.

Leading the singing – Mostly wherever I go I try and stay inconspicuously between my parents. I was going to try and do that at this wedding, but then I was asked to lead the singing, so I don’t think I’ll get away with that.

Over the last few months, my parents have initiated an idea that they had in September. They wanted to convert the largest spare room into a bedsit for me, with its own kitchen section, equipped with everything I’d need to be as independent as I could be, but still close enough to get help from them when I needed it.  At first I wasn’t sure about the idea, as I had always planned to move right out into a flat. However, my mobility skills are not that great because I don’t feel confident going out on my own. I would not be able to go on busses, so if I moved into one of the local towns or villages, I would have had to rely on taxis or family members if I wanted to get to church, or to see my family. I want to be able to pop in and out of my parents’ house just like all my brothers and sisters do, so I thought about the idea, prayed about it, and it went ahead.

Magnetic hob

In October I moved in. My dad had done most of the work, with help from my Sister’s boyfriend to build the kitchen unit. Over the next few weeks I had a great time picking out pans, utensils, plates, etc with my mum and sisters. I had a small induction hob for Christmas the previous year, so I bought the pans to go with it. The hob is magnetic, so it will only heat up where the pan is touching. This means that it doesn’t matter where I put the pan on the hob, it will heat up the pan without me running the risk of burning the handle, and also that I can touch the surface of the hob without burning myself.

Talking microwave

My talking microwave, which is a combination oven and grill, is made by Cobolt, and speaks each function (”door open” “high power microwave 2 minutes” etc). With dad’s help, I also found a portable oven in Argos, with 3 dials for temperature, function (roast, bake, etc) and 60 minute timer. I labelled the dials with simple things like ‘R’ for roast, ‘B’ for bake etc.  The oven will only operate when the timer is going, so if I absent-mindedly leave the oven on, it will only be on for the maximum of 60 minutes, then switch off.

Shock of internet shopping

I have a small fridge and freezer, which are just big enough for me to do a weeks shopping at a time. I  tried the internet shopping on Asda the other day, and I was so shocked to realise that it is not as simple as I thought! There are 3 or 4 types of sugar, a wide range of bread, meat, milk . . . it was a real eye opener for me. The thing is, because I don’t look at the shelves of things in shops, I didn’t realise what a mine field it really is!

Different-coloured onions

Even buying something as simple as onions becomes difficult when you don’t know if you have red or brown ones, and you never knew there were 2 different colours in the first place!  So I still go shopping with my mum when she does her weekly shop, and now we discuss in depth what different varieties you can get of each thing. The people in Asda probably think we’re mad! Little do they know it’s building my independence.

Talking scales

My talking scales and measuring jug (again from Cobolt systems) are indispensible to me too. They allow me to weigh ingredients for cakes or measure liquids for sauces accurately. For Christmas I was given bits for my pad (my bedsit). Among these was a blender, and a device called an Auto stirrer which I can leave in the saucepan to stir the dinner while I make a cup of tea!

Folding chopping board

I also got a chopping board that folds up so that the things I’ve sliced can be carried easily to where I want and chucked in without spilling any of it!

Braille washing machine

My washing machine was possibly the hardest item to pick. I wanted a washer dryer because I didn’t want to take my things down to dry in mum’s dryer or have a clothes airer taking up valuable space. It was difficult to find one without a digital display, but I did manage to find some. In the end though, my decision was made because of the fact that Hotpoint provide braille control panels for machines that have dials, and when I rang them to check they were able to confirm that a panel for my machine could be made. The machine was instantly purchased, and 4 weeks after it was installed, the tailor-made panel had arrived with an engineer to fit it. It’s fantastic! Hotpoint even provide a braille key so that the abbreviations they have used can be explained. I couldn’t thank them enough-what a wonderful service!

Independence means I’m responsible for my own washing up!

I have my computer in here as well, and everything else I could possibly fit in. I am really enjoying the freedom and independence this little flat gives me, and really thank my parents and God for making it possible! It has enabled me to achieve a level of independence which might not have been possible before. The only thing is, being independent seems to mean I’m responsible for the washing up! As I write this, it is sitting on the side waiting for me!

Talking computer
My computer is equipped with a screen reader called Jaws for Windows. This translates everything that is displayed on the screen, including anything I type, into speech. When I started work, a firm called Blazie Engineering came in to write a script for Jaws, so that I could use the auction system for typing on lots, looking up statements, invoices, and client details. Along with this, I have an 80-cell braille display which runs in conjunction with Jaws, so that if I am on the phone and need to read some information to a customer, I can read it in braille rather than the computer talking at the same time as the customer.

‘Lots’ to do
When colleagues have their day off, I take messages and pass them on by email.  Another of my duties is to wipe the tapes, ready for typing. The porters spend all day on Thursday sticking lot numbers on each lot, recording a brief description of it and telling us who its vendor is, then we in the office do the audio typing. It’s important to concentrate because if I forget which side I have wiped, then I could miss a side and the dictation could get mixed up with the previous week’s sales.

Peacocks
When I first began to type for Peacocks Auction Centre, they were surprised how bad my spelling is.  I could say it’s inherited because my parents aren’t too great at spelling, but my teacher once said to me, “your spelling is atrocious Philippa” so I told him “my mum can’t spell, my dad can’t spell, so how do you expect me to?” Apparently that wasn’t the right answer!

Different spellings
I am a phonetic speller because the screen reader reads everything out to me, and I think if a word sounds right it must be spelt right. Sometimes when I use spell check I don’t choose the right spelling of a word, because my screen reader is pronouncing it differently than we would say it because it is American. And then there are the spellings of things like vault and volt. I didn’t even realise there were two different spellings of that. They started off trying to get me to learn the spellings I got wrong but just like at school it wouldn’t stick. I know it’s quite common in blind people because they rely on computers so much. But I was just as bad in braille.

Posh dishwasher
In my first week I misheard what the porter said when he described a dishwasher. He said “bosch dishwasher” and I typed “posh dishwasher” much to the amusement of the auctioneer who read it out on Saturday.

The phones have been busy today because we have a gun auction tomorrow run by another auction company who use our premises, a valuation day on Friday as well as a take-in day for the Rock and Pop sale in October and viewing for the general Saturday sale.

Doing the job
I really enjoy my job because there are such a variety of people to talk to but I find it difficult when customers ask for directions, and put them through to someone else. I very rarely tell a customer that I am blind, not because I am bothered about it, but just because it isn’t relevant to them. I am doing the job as any sighted person would, just with a few different pieces of problem-solving technology.