Craig Kiser is a man on a mission. His goal sounds simple, but it is hard. He has tried before, and failed.
But he is trying again, and this time, he promises to succeed. He is betting his life on it. He has even upped the ante. This time, if he is successful, it will benefit thousands of Floridians in need.
His goal is to scale Mt. Kilimanjaro, the 19,000 foot snow-topped peak in the center of Tanzania. That would be difficult for anyone who is not a trained mountain climber. He even admits, "I'm not a mountain-climber by profession, by no stretch of the imagination, and yet, on almost a whim, I can attempt something like that." But for him it is more difficult for several more reasons. For one, he is 63 years old. Five years ago, he tried and failed, and was brought down the mountain on a stretcher. Second, and by Craig's standards, a lesser problem, he's totally blind. I had the pleasure of meeting Craig and his wife at the recent opening of Charlie Crist's new campaign headquarters in St. Petersburg. Craig is the retired Director of the State of Florida's Division of Blind Service, originally appointed to that Board by the governor, and retired in 2007, but his retirement has not slowed his never-ending crusade to help the visually impaired and blind of Florida. My wife, Monique, is one of the recently blind who had suffered not only from loss of sight, but from the lack of services to help her adjust to her new life. Her conversation from him was an inspiration that has changed her attitude and lifted her spirit.
I sat down with Craig and asked him why he is attempting this climb again. "It's really three fold," he said. "The first reason is as a fundraiser to raise money for the Blind Services Foundation, so that the foundation can provide specialized equipment and training for the blind of Florida. The second is to make a statement or provide a role model for the blind of this state, to say that, even though you are blind, you can still do anything you really want to do. There is very little that is completely limited or prevented because of loss of sight. The third is a personal one. I attempted to climb the mountain five years ago, I didn't make it, and failure just doesn't sit well with me. I'll be darned if that mountain is going to beat me."
Craig's leadership of the Division of Blind Services (DBS) won them the Sterling Award, the state's high honor for efficacy and effectiveness in Florida. They were the only state agency to win that year. The division accomplished a multitude of helpful projects. But from his perch at the state level, he could see how much more needed to be done for the estimated half-a-million Floridians listed as blind or visually impaired.
One of his current concerns is the adult population. "According to the statistics, the unemployment rate among the blind is said to be somewhere in between 70-75 percent, so it is extremely high." In fact, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, when you take into account the number of visually impaired who are not considered in the labor force anymore, the EMPLOYMENT rate for individuals over 16 who are visually impaired or blind is only 19.8 percent, which is less than those who are non-ambulatory (unable to walk).
The DBS has made great strides to get services to all ages, but funding always seems to be a barrier. "There definitely is a problem, and not just in the state of Florida. The Blind Services Agency, the Division of Blind Services operates six or seven programs, including a library for the blind, blind baby program, children's program, the vocational rehabilitation program, and then the older blind programs. Really, only the vocational rehabilitation program is adequately funded, and that program is only available for those blind who are over 14, and are seeking employment as an outcome. For those under 14 and those who are retired, or those who, for whatever reason, are not seeking employment, funding is extremely limited. The federal government has funds for the older blind program, but very little. The state draws down every dollar available for that program, but it is woefully inadequate. For those programs other that vocational rehabilitation, the division just doesn't have the money to purchase the specialized equipment, such as computers, note takers, and the various technology that has become available that is so helpful to the blind. It is just totally out of reach for most blind people, and out of reach of the division to provide this equipment for them.
The foundation tries to step in and help out where other funding is lacking. Last year, the division purchased 12 Eye-Pals, which is a device that connects to a computer, and is a camera that allows you to put printed material under it, and it takes a picture of the page and begins to read it aloud. You can read your own mail, newspapers, books -- whatever you want that is printed, it will read. But that device cost about $2,000. Last year the foundation purchased 12 and placed them around the state. Just a few weeks ago, we gave one to a 13-year-old blind child in Palmetto Florida who is a real go-getter, really impressive, but could not afford the technology. So we gave him a Braille note-taking device. They can run as much as $5,000 to $6,000 dollars apiece, so few people can afford then on their own," Mr. Kiser stated.
Blind youth have a different set of problems, especially when mainstreamed into public schools. "The 13-year-old I was talking about goes to a public school, but again, the school knows that they don't have the funding to afford that kind of equipment, either, "he said. "Typically a school will have a computer with speech software on it, but it stays at school. What happens after school? How do you do your homework? How do you do other-than-school activities that everybody else does? Most kids nowadays have computers to network with friends, surf the internet, send and receive their e-mail, do their homework, and we're trying to make it possible to allow blind students to have that same availability."
One tool that would make a world of difference is a program called Jobs Access with Speech (JAWS), created by a St. Petersburg firm called Freedom Scientific. It reads the computer screen and allows the blind to use the keyboard to interact with their computers in the same was that the sighted use the monitor and mouse. It is a fantastic piece of software, and can become the vital piece of equipment to allow the blind into almost every aspect of computers and the internet. Unfortunately, the price tag for the current full version is about $1,100.
The free market system is, in part, responsible for the high price tag on the adaptive equipment that would help members of a disparately unemployed population become productive. Most of these products come from small companies who do not produce the volume necessary to allow them to reduce the price. Large technology companies like Apple do not create new products with the blind in mind. To the visually impaired, the new iPad is merely a plastic frame. It was made for the masses, an infinitely larger market. "It is however," he noted, "slowly getting better. We are starting to see off-the-shelf products that are accessible. There is now, for example, a talking microwave. The first talking microwave had to be purchased from a company that made products strictly for the disabled and blind, and it ran about $500. Just recently, Hamilton Beach came out with microwaves that you can buy at Walmart for $75 that talk! All the features on it talk. There are even talking tire-pressure gauges. They weren't made for the blind, but (manufacturers have) realized that having talking products can help everybody in certain situations. Sometimes you have a tough time trying to read it. So, having a talking device is just handier. We're getting more competition, and with more competition, we're getting more technology and better technology, and the price is becoming a little more reasonable. But we (the blind) are a small market, and it becomes difficult to convince some manufacturers that it's a market worth tapping. However, once you take a good look at us, you realize that there are millions of blind people out there, and this IS a market worth tapping."
There are other factors out there making things difficult for the blind in the work force, as well. Rand Paul expressed his opinion (one which he feels is held by many) that erroneously concludes that the accommodations demanded by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) are too harsh on small businesses. "Yeah, there are always the nay-sayers," Craig muses." Now, the other side of that coin is that the ADA has enabled literally tens of thousands of blinded individuals to go off of the welfare rolls, become taxpayers. And that's besides what it does for their self-esteem, to be able to be independent, and be successful in life, and do the things we want to do to have the American Dream."
So, with state and federal funding low and the price for equipment and services high, Craig Kiser is going to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. First, he is doing it to raise funds. Second, he wants to raise awareness, and serve as a role model. "It makes a statement," Kiser added. "Not just to the blind, but also to the sighted world... We can have as much chance for success as any sighted person, who is 63 years old and not a mountain climber. So, we all, as blind people, need to keep public awareness in mind at all times. When we go, and ask somebody to do something for us, instead of doing it ourselves, that reinforces the image in the minds of many of the public, that the blind are virtually helpless. This is an education and a public awareness problem. The way sighted folks experience blindness is to close their eyes and imagine trying to do something without sight. They are trying to do it without training, and without having lived with it. It's one thing to close your eyes for a couple of minutes, knowing that you can open them up and see. It another thing to be without sight and be certain that you are never going to see. It really gives a wrong impression of what it's like to be blind to simply blindfold somebody and ask them to walk down the street or walk down the sidewalk. It takes much more than that to get understand the capabilities and competence of the blind. There are thousands and thousands of blind people out there doing every job you can think of, and living normal lives, like going shopping on their own, taking care of their family, and taking care of the house. Virtually any activity you can think of, there are blind people doing. But we need to get that information out in front of the public in order to change that public perception of the blind being helpless and incapable."
So, how does a blind person climb a mountain? "Erik Weihenmayer, the blind man who climbed Mt. Everest, back in 2001, is a mountain climber by profession, and totally blind. He developed a method that the blind can use, which employs only two things that are different from sighted climbers. First, we use two trekking poles, which are long poles, almost like ski poles, and with those, we can feel the ground in front of us and feel whether there's a rock to step over or tree root to step over or whether there is a hole or a need to step up, step down, step across. Then, we attach a bell to the backpack of the person in front of us, and we walk five or six feet behind that person and just follow the sound of the bell. It works amazingly well."
We then discussed the third reason he is going back to Tanzania -- his last failed attempt. "In 2005, I got to about 14,000 feet. The mountain is about 19,000 feet. I got to 14,000 feet and began suffering High Altitude Sickness. The symptoms of that are dizziness and confusion, inability to think logically and loss of balance. I knew if I reported it, they would have made me turn back, because I was with a large group. There were 25 climbers, probably 40 to 50 porters, carrying the tents, the food, and then all of the paraphernalia...so I didn't tell anyone. I climbed up another several thousand feet and the High Altitude Sickness turned into cerebral edema. When you get High Altitude Sickness, if you don't go back down a thousand or two thousand feet, and rest until your body acclimates to that altitude, High Altitude Sickness turns into one of two things: either it goes into your lungs and turns into pulmonary edema or into your brain as cerebral edema where your brain swells, both of which can be fatal. When it turned into cerebral edema, they had no choice. They had to drop me down off the mountain on a stretcher.
I learned from that -- a bunch of things. One is: don't mess around with it, it's bad news. It took me over six weeks after I got back to recover from it. Second, there is a medication called Diamox, which, in almost every case, prevents High Altitude Sickness. I already have my prescription for it, it's packed away, and I will be using it. Also, if I am still getting symptoms, this time it will just be the two of us. The guide that's going with me, Charlie Mace, from Boulder, Colorado, is the only other person, along with the porters. It's a much smaller group, so that if either of us begins getting symptoms, we can stop and go down a thousand feet of altitude. We built into our itinerary two or three extra days, if we need them. It normally takes six days to get to the top and two days to get down. If we need to take the time to acclimatize, then we can do it."
Craig took back a lot more than just a story of a failed attempt. He had the chance to find out just how the blind fare in Tanzania, and the stark difference from the situations he attempts to remediate in Florida. "Last time, we visited a school called the Longido School for the Blind. It's an elementary school, and last time, I took with me about 50 long white canes to give out to these students. This time, we'll be taking canes again, along with braille watches, and slates and styluses for writing braille when we visit that school again."
He came there offering them equipment, just as the DBS has done so well in Florida. Equipment, however, is not the greatest worry for the staff of the Longido School. "Tanzania is still very rural, very hand-to-mouth. Many are engaged in raising cattle and animals out in the bush. They have no idea of the availability of the school. There are a couple of schools for the blind in Tanzania, one in Moshi and one in Arusha. When I was there in 2005, I asked the principal of the school what his biggest problem was in rehabilitating the blind, and to my shock he said, "The biggest problem I have is finding blind children before the parents let them die." Because of their way of life, blind children are viewed as not having a future and being a drag on the family, so blind babies are often allowed to starve to death. A large part of what that school has to do is getting out and find those children and save them." At that point, Craig paused, braced himself, and then continued. "I don't know of any of that going on in America, at least I hope not. But it is a real shock and a shot of cold water that brings you closer to reality, knowing just how good we have it here, even though we still have a long way to go. We have come a long way."
His goals are set, his purpose clear, and he has planned for almost every eventuality. But, like any great endeavor, he needs financial support. One day last month, he received a call from someone who wanted to help that he never expected. The phone rang, Craig picked it up, and the voice said,"Hi! This is Stevie Wonder!" The first thing that came to Craig's mind was, 'Yeah, right, sure it is, and I'm Barak Obama.'
"But thank God I didn't say it," Craig laughed. "He talked with me about blind issues and about Kilimanjaro, for probably 10 or 15 minutes, and I was so excited to be talking to Stevie Wonder that I didn't think to ask him about donating. After I hung up, my wife yelled, "Well, call him back!" So I hit the redial and he laughed, and said that he'd be happy to help us out, and he has given us a generous contribution. He is also producing a public service spot for us, and if he can arrange his schedule, he wants to meet me in Tanzania to set up a meeting with the President of Tanzania, so we can talk about blind issues in that country."
So far, Craig has raised only a portion of the funds needed to make the climb, thanks to some car dealerships and a few other businesses, but Craig is confident that he will meet his goals, which include getting enough pledges at a penny per foot of altitude (which comes to $190 per pledge) to collect funds for equipment and services for the blind.
"We leave on August 22, so we still have a few months to raise the rest of it and to collect the pledges. We're trying to get sponsors to cover all of the expenses, so that the pledges of altitude that we're asking for can all go to the foundation to acquire equipment and training for those blind folks in need." He also stated that the sponsors will be posted on the foundation's website for at least a year.
"If I can get 1,000 pledges," Craig noted, "that would mean $190,000, and that would buy a lot of equipment and help a lot of blind people. Anyone who wants to be a sponsor or offer a pledge can go to our website and do so online by credit card or by check. That's at floridablindservices.org. We won't be collecting on the pledges until September, because we will know by then just how far up the mountain that we made it."
So, a man who has pledged his life to serving the needs of the visually impaired and the blind is risking his life to continue to achieve his goals of getting them the help they so desperately need. This time, he is certain that he will make it. Stevie Wonder said of the Kilimanjaro challenge, "What Craig is doing will be an inspiration to the blind around the World."
Craig ended our conversation with, "I hope so this time, I believe so this time." I believe him, too.
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Photo courtesy of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Note: I normally write on health care policy issues and my family's struggles with health care costs and Stickler's syndrome, but I decided to write this article in the hope that I can promote Craig Kiser's cause to the generous Huffington Post readers (and maybe even get a shot at getting Craig on the Colbert Report! I am an avid member of the ColbertNation!).