Gayle Yarnall and Caring Hearts Mexico

For Gayle Yarnall the notion of life without access to talking books is simply unthinkable.

Yarnall, the director of Perkins Products, recently took a trip to San Luis Mexico to bring technology and teach people how to use it at a brand new center for the blind. When she handed a 72-year-old man who is blind a Victor Reader Stream loaded with the story of Don Quixote in Spanish he put on the headphones and drifted away.

“It was the first book he ever read and he was so happy it was like he had left the building,” said Yarnall. “People tend to take reading for granted. Here is somebody who spent his life with no access to anything.”

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When Gayle Yarnall received a call from someone with an organization building a center for the blind in Mexico she was immediately intrigued.

The man calling was with Caring Hearts Mexico and was in the midst of a mission project to build a center for the blind for displaced individuals with visual impairments in San Luis Mexico, just south of Yuma. The organization was looking for someone to help them select assistive technology, bring it down to the center, and teach people how to use it. 

Gayle Yarnall with members of Caring Hearts Mexico

"I was completely fascinated and by the end of our half hour conversation, Harold asked me if I would come down with the technology and help the blind people get started in learning it,” recalled Yarnall.

Yarnall, who is blind, is the director of Perkins Products and knows firsthand the value of assistive technology for individuals who are visually impaired. She arrived at the center in the middle of its construction and brought with her Perkins Braillers and slates and styluses for writing in braille donated by Perkins Products. Perkins Braille & Talking Book Library donated hand held magnifiers and audio books.

Yarnall worked alongside two women helping to start up the center and together they did an overview of the equipment for a handful of people with blindness and low vision. Yarnall said the goal was to have one person focused on learning each product.

“We had them pick their favorite things to work with and each person would be the evangelist for that particular product and eventually help train others at the center,” Yarnall explained.

Braille & Talking Book Library Director Kim Charlson said the library frequently receives requests for donated materials from organizations all over the world. She said last year the BTBL sent $30,000 worth of equipment and braille books to schools and organizations in other countries including Bhutan, Barbados, Antigua, and India.

“We would never want to throw anything out that could be used by someone else,” Charlson said.

A woman who is blind giving an interview at the center construction site.

Caring Hearts Mexico Coordinator Ken Blose said the new center has been running smoothly since Yarnall’s visit. He said 15 to 20 people are using the materials from Perkins on a daily basis.

“It is a thrill to see these people experience for the first time the many different resources that are available. Most of the people who are at the center find themselves in impoverished situations, and to be able to enjoy all of these wonderful tools goes beyond what they could possibly imagine,” he said.

Yarnall, who has her Victor Reader Stream loaded with dozens of audio books at any given time, was particularly touched by meeting a man she came to call “Don Quixote.” She dubbed him with the nickname because of how much he enjoyed listening to the story when she handed him her player and headphones. At 72 years old, it was his first time reading a book.

Blose said having access to the technology and materials is huge for people at the center. “A new world of literature is being opened up to them that they could not experience before, and they are learning new skills which are lifting their spirits,” he said.

Yarnall wrote about her experience at the center in her blog, Gayle Unplugged. In an entry entitled “Being Part of a Miracle,” Yarnall wrote: “I was just a tiny cog in the wheel that made magic happen. It is wonderful how we can change lives when we set our minds to it and our lives are enhanced in the process.”

 Return to Perkins Insight on the Braille & Talking Book Library.