What would life be like if you lost your light?
How do you go to the supermarket and buy a bottle of your favorite drink, how do you walk on the busy street, how do you take the bus or subway, can you go to the park and smell the flowers?
For a sighted person, these questions may never have been considered. Recently, a reporter from Jinan Daily experienced these scenes in a "Bright Experience Hall" located on the basement floor of Xinhua Bookstore on Quancheng Road.
12 scenes "immersive" to experience the life of the blind
In a space of more than 600 square meters, the venue creates an all-black environment and 12 experience scenes. Here, under the guidance of the "light guide", the experiencer completely turns off the vision for about 45 minutes, and uses the senses of hearing, touch, smell, taste and other senses to explore a dark world, such as: taking the subway, walking through the streets, visiting parks, shopping in supermarkets, and identifying food.
After receiving a blind cane from the guide, our experience began. When the light in front of you completely disappears, a strong sense of insecurity ensues. We could only rely on the blind cane to test the way forward little by little, avoiding all obstacles, and slowly moving along the blind path under our feet. Along the way, relying on groping, under the guidance of the guide, take the subway, go to the "Baotu Spring Park" to listen to the sound of the spring flowing, and touch the "Baotu Spring Stele"; Feel the moonlight of the lotus pond in the "Daming Lake"; Then go to the narrow "Xiangfeng Lane" to experience the life of the residents of the old city; You should also follow the "shopping list" given by the guide to buy the products you need in the "supermarket...... Throughout the process, the experiencer can only rely on sound, touch, and smell to judge the environment and find solutions. If you don't experience it firsthand, you may never be able to appreciate the difficulties of daily life for people with visual impairments.
Willing to be a "guide" of public goodwill
"We built this experience hall to let the public pay more attention to their own vision health through experience, pay attention to the group of visually impaired people, and cherish the good life they have at the moment. Huang Lei, the person in charge of the "Guangming Experience Hall", said frankly that such an experience hall originally originated in Germany in 1988, and is currently only introduced in a few major cities such as Shanghai in China, and now this store in Jinan is the only one in the north.
"After I experienced it in Shanghai three years ago, I was so shocked. I think everyone should come and feel it once, and after experiencing it, you will have a different view of your own health and current situation, and you will pay more attention to and help people with disabilities. Huang Lei talked about his original intention to build this venue. However, at the beginning of the business, when looking for a business partner, his idea was not recognized. "In the eyes of many people, this experience has no repurchase rate, low economic benefits, and the investment value is not as good as a bubble tea shop. In the face of doubtful voices, Huang Lei is determined in his heart. "I value the social benefits it brings, and if I can use an experience to channel people's goodwill and drive the whole city to pay more attention to the disabled community, the meaning cannot be measured in money. ”
Today, the "Bright Experience Center" has placed a total of 6 visually impaired people as guides. "Two of them were blind due to retinal detachment caused by long-term improper use of their eyes. Huang Lei introduced his team, one of the visually impaired guides, once walking alone on Quancheng Road, because a car occupied the blind road, he was trapped in the narrow space between the vehicle and the flower bed, and it took 15 minutes to get out, and finally the partners rushed to the scene to "rescue" him.
None of the 3,065 experiencers did not pay
"I believe that every time someone who comes to us will at least not occupy the blind alley after the experience. Whenever he talks about the various experiences of his visually impaired partners, Huang Lei is always very moved. There are nearly 15,000 blind people in Jinan, accounting for 7.39% of the total number of disabled people. In Huang Lei's view, if the whole society can create a safe, convenient and warm travel environment, they can also climb mountains, visit parks, visit shopping malls like ordinary people, and enjoy a better life.
In order to maintain normal operation, the experience hall charges admission fees. In this regard, Huang Lei has also been questioned: "Some people say that since there is a public welfare purpose, tickets should not be charged." But if I want to do it for a long time, I need money, and our employees also need to live. And our attitude towards every experiencer is to experience first, and then decide whether to buy or not to pay after the experience. If you feel that the experience feels average and unrewarding for you, then you don't have to pay for it. But to our surprise, as of today, not a single of the 3,065 experiencers did not pay, and some even wanted to donate money for the visually impaired. Huang Lei said that from this detail, he can really feel that everyone has compassion and everyone is willing to pay for public welfare.
Indeed, on the message wall of the exhibition hall, we saw many handwritten notes left by tourists from all over the world. Between the lines, there is a sincere wish from the heart: "In the darkness ahead, there will always be a beam of light that will illuminate, come on!" I hope that the guide, Mr. Xiaoxu, can see again. "If you don't go through this darkness, how can you know that light is so precious. ”