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An effervescent personality,

outspoken, determined and apassion to succeed these are thewords to describe Khohane Blake, afinal year Optometry student at theUniversity of Guyana.The journey to this point has notalways been a smooth one. Born in

the rural community of New Market

in the Southern Parish of St.Elizabeth, Jamaica, Khohanes storyis one of overcoming just aboutevery obstacle-and there were many.She grew up in an extended family,with her mother being the soleprovider, however she was

surrounded by a brother,

grandparents, her aunt and cousins.There was one thing that made herfamily unique in the quietcommunity, Khohanes mother,Racquel Adams was blind.

A lot of persons wonder how could a blind women teach someone how to read what she did was ask my Aunt

to write the letters of the alphabet on cardboard and ask my Aunt to teach me the letters......

RACQUEL ADAMS KHOHANE-9MONTHSARVEL GRANT (CEO - CCB) AND

KHOHANE

PREPARING TO GIVE SIGHT

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I dont know what its like to see my

mother with sight. She got blind when I

was about 3, I have one very faded

memory of her with sight, I can recall

seeing her coming through the gate with

a bag. Her blindness did not bother us,

my mother was our sole caretaker and

giver and she was like any other mother,

she cooked, washed, cleaned and ironed

She was our sole caretaker and giver,

she was like any other mother, she

cooked, washed, cleaned and ironed.

Khohanes childhood was prettynormal, but not everyone saw it that

way, there were those who weresurprised that Racquel Adamsmastered a multitude of tasks, fromgardening to cooking. If we came inone evening and there was no food we

would wonder what was wrong, because

she would always cook, and if she had to

go somewhere she would make sure

there was food it was a very normal

life.

Racquel Adams was born fully

sighted but a mysterious illnessrobbed her of her vision.She woke up one morning andcouldnt see the light bulb, she went to

the Ophthalmologist and he gave her a

letter to go to the Cornwall Regional

Hospital (in western Jamaica), but by

the end of the day she lost complete

sight in one eye, and the following week,

the vision in the other eye went away.

She spent six months in Hospital and

everyone tried to find out what was

wrong . said Khohane

Despite the unexpected twist of fatein the life of Racquel Adams,nothing stopped her. With herdetermination, she even taught ayoung Khohane to read and by age6, Khohane's reading abilitysurpassed those her age.

A lot of persons wondered how could aa woman who is blind teach someone

how to read what she did was ask my

Aunt to write the letters of the alphabet

on cardboard and ask my aunt to teach

me the letters.

Then my Mother would say, when you

see words spell them. So if I saw C-A-

T I would was ask Mommy what is

this word - she would tell me its CAT

and said anywhere you go in the world

and see C-A-T, its still cat. With that

foundation, by the age of six, I was

reading like a Grade Three student

Throughout her early years in

school, Khohane's mother wasconstantly by her side.She was there along the way, when we

had to study, she was sit up with us and

come in with snacks in the middle of the

night

At age 12 she passed the CommonEntrance - an examination taken bychildren to transition from Primaryto Secondary School.My mother was there along the way,

when we had to study she would sit up

with us like any other mother shewould come with snacks in the middle

of the night.

Mothers death

While in High School as Khohaneprepared to sit exams, her motherdied from a mysterious illness.Khohane was 17.I have an Aunt who has always been

very supportive she took us in - my

brother and I. She became our secondmother. She pushed and encouraged me

saying there was no way she would

watch me fail. At the end of the school

year I passed all of my courses.

Have successfully completed HighSchool, a decision need to be madeconcerning her future but Khohanehad no interest in returning to

school and took a year off andworked.So for the whole year I worked I

found a job in an Auto Shop. So now I

know a lot about auto parts!

University of the West Indies

To Khohanes reluctance, her Auntinsisted that discontinuing hereducation was not an option. As aresult applications were sent off toColleges across the island.I said Auntie I dont think this is very

feasible - I didnt want to be too

dependent on you or anyone else. But

she insisted that I apply to UWI(University of the West Indies). Do you

know what happened ? I got through to

UWI , but they didnt call me to say I

was accepted , they called her! I will

never forget, I was at work when my

Aunt called and told me to pack my

bags because we were going to

Kingston!

Khohane moved onto the MonaCampus of the University of theWest Indies as a student of

Economics but the road ahead wasfar from easy. The lack of funds tooka toll on her and in her second year,she was faced with one of thehardest decisions of her life whenshe walked away from theUniversity into an unknown future.It was so very very hard for my Aunt

to support me financially. I did not

know what was ahead but I told her that

I would do something that would make

her proud and me proud and my mother

proud

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At this turning point in her life, theCaribbean Council for the Blind (CCB),came into the picture.As I contemplated my future, I

remembered that my mother was

rehabilitated by this lady by the name of

Audryln Lewis. I contacted her and she

encouraged me to tell CCB my story. So I

wrote a letter to the CEO Mr. Arvel

Grant and almost immediately I got a

response! Mr. Grant asked me what I

wanted to do, I told him I wanted to do

something in Health, I really wasnt

interested in Economics. He asked if I was

interested in the Refractionist Course at

the University of Guyana and I said okay

and jumped at the opportunity!

The University of Guyana

Khohane now saw the light at the end

of a long dark tunnel and with greatanticipation left for Guyana.I came and did it and I liked it, because I

liked it I did well in it, after that he offered

me a scholarship to do Optometry, he told

me it was a lot more advanced. And I

really like it, the work is hard, it is not

easy but I put extra effort in it . So here I

am

Another significant development tookplace while in Guyana in that shesuddenly realized how very special

her mother wasI realized that it wasnt easy for someone

who was visually impaired to care for

small children. I realized her drive and

how special she was.

Now a final year Optometry sSudent,she is proud of what she has achieved.My mother would be so proud of us, not

just me but my brother and a young

cousin she helped to bring up . She would

be so proud of us, at times we would sit

and say, only if mommy was here to see usnow. We know she would be so happy,

nothing would steal her joy.

As Khohane prepares for the futureshes thankful to the CaribbeanCouncil for the Blind.

Im happy I told them my story. When I told them , I got a scholarship to dowhat I want to do,not just anything, but to help someone who is visually

impaired.Somebody who will need this service and will probably be a mother to a

child or a brother or a sister and it could make a difference in their lives,like how

they (CCB) made a difference in my life.

From the rural community of New Market in Jamaica, to the halls of theUniversity of Guyana, Khohane Blake is on a mission, one of helping theCaribbean Council for the Blind to fulfill its mandate of Preventingblindiness and visual impairment while restoring sight and creatingopportunities for persons whose sight cannot be restored.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CkmftfWfO4

Preparing to give sight (video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CkmftfWfO4http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CkmftfWfO4http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CkmftfWfO4http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CkmftfWfO4