As we enter Sweet So Sweet, a cafe in an alley off ­Guangfu South Road, Tai­pei City, owner Lin Jia­zhen is busy serving. Watching her move around the cramped space looking after her customers, it’s difficult to imagine that Lin is visually impaired. Her left eye can sense light but nothing more, and her right eye has a visual acuity of only 0.01.

Despite visual impairments, Lu Guanliang looks after himself well and grasps any opportunity to brighten the future for other visually impaired people. (photo by Jimmy Lin)

Sweet So Sweet

When Lin was only eight months old, she fell off a rocking chair, an event which led to the development of a cataract in her left eye and the eventual loss of the crystalline lens. And then when she was just two, she had another fall in a playground which damaged the lens in her right eye. After the two accidents and the loss of the lenses in both eyes, she lost all visual focus, so she had to use two separate pairs of heavy glasses, one for near vision, and the other for distant. Although this was very inconvenient, she was still able to read and write with corrected visual acuity of 0.6 and 0.7, a condition that persisted until she turned 18. Lin even passed her motorcycle license test, but in the same year, her vision started to become blurred. She consulted many specialists, but nobody was able to diagnose the issue. The following year, however, one doctor discovered higher than normal intraocular pressure, causing severe optic atrophy. An ophthalmologist told her: “If you’re very lucky, you might keep your current level of vision until you’re 40.” This announcement was like receiving a death sentence for her vision.

Optimistic by nature, Lin was not seriously affected by the bad news for too long. She began to think about her future, not wanting to add to her parents’ burden as they weren’t particularly well off. So she resolutely decided to drop out of school and find a job. Lin started working in catering, and then ran a bubble tea shop with her brother and sister. She also gained experience direct selling nutritional supplements. And then finally, in 2009, she opened a cafe. This was the beginning of Sweet So Sweet.

Lin is constantly looking for ways to compensate for her lack of vision, like using her senses of touch and hearing to learn how to make coffee. After overcoming many difficulties, Lin eventually obtained a UK International Award in Barista Skills in 2015, becoming the first visually impaired person from Taiwan to gain this honor.

Members of the Hand to Heart Visually Impaired Care Association visited nursing homes across Taiwan to provide massage therapy for residents. (courtesy of Hand to Heart)

A good heart

Lin has been invited to speak by organizations such as the Taiwan Association for Visually Impaired People, and the Tai­pei School for the Visually Impaired. When she was on stage, she could sense the hopeful faces of visually impaired students in front of her, people she felt a need to help. So she decided to open a second cafe by renting the ground floor of a neighboring building, employing staff who were also visually impaired—all this despite the fact that she was yet to turn a profit from the first cafe.

In addition to running cafes, Lin also teaches catering at the Tai­pei School for the Visually Impaired. “We may not able to reach 100% perfection, but we strive to do our best,” says Lin. Managing such a business is not easy at the best of times, but it offers special challenges for the visually impaired. But Lin and her staff put their hearts into helping everyone enjoy a good coffee. Every coffee is made with loving care.

Feng Jiancheng, Chen Yuhui, Lu Guanliang, and Lai Baoquan (left to right) supported each other in courageously leaving their familiar environments to undertake a journey across Taiwan. (courtesy of Hand to Heart)

The sunglasses man

There are about 60,000 visually impaired people in Taiwan, of whom 80% suffer from an acquired impairment, usually as a result of injury or disease. Unfortunately, many also suffer from the widespread lack of understanding of their condition. When people lose their ability to see clearly, everyday tasks become difficult, and they are often limited to working in areas such as massage and musical performance. Russ Kan, however, refuses to be defeated by his disability. Nicknamed “the sunglasses man,” Kan is living proof that the visually impaired are able to develop complex work skills to a high degree. Currently employed by the Innovative DigiTech-Enabled Applications & Services Institute (IDEAS) at the Institute for Information Industry, Kan develops software that can help to create a more acessible environment for disabled people, not just for the visually impaired, but also for the aged and anyone who finds life difficult because of a disability. A cellphone app called i-AIM is an example of his efforts.

Kan, who at 36 years old is completely blind, enjoyed an active life and quite a brilliant career before he lost his sight. After completing a master’s degree, he was immediately invited to work with the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, later moving to Yahoo where he ran Taiwan Yahoo’s homepage. Kan was often required to participate in online meetings with teams in the US, regularly working over ten hours a day. His life was totally occupied by his work, which may perhaps explain why he tended to ignore the increasingly serious symptoms of developing health issues. Kan was enjoying a well-paid job and promising career prospects, was in a wonderful relationship and was fluent in several languages. Then life played a cruel trick on him—as a result of long-term high intra­ocular pressure leading to optic atrophy, he suddenly lost most of his vision at only 29 years of age.

Kan was initially diagnosed with acute glaucoma, which was treated with eye drops to reduce the intra­ocular pressure, but there was no improvement. Then he underwent several surgical procedures, after which he seemed to detect some improvement in his vision, raising his hopes for a cure. But this didn’t last long. Within a two-year period he underwent 11 operations and tried numerous therapies, but unfortunately there seemed to be no cure. He fell into a dark abyss of despair.

Lu Guanliang (lying down, front) brought his visually impaired friends together to travel across Taiwan, exploring the world and experiencing the goodness of life through all their other senses. (courtesy of Hand to Heart)

A glimmer

Kan had gone blind just as his life had seemed to be taking off. He contemplated suicide: “I was secretly collecting charcoal during our Moon Festival barbecue but my family members noticed,” says Kan. With help from family and friends, Kan gradually recovered the ability to look after himself. He had been a doctoral candidate at National ­Chiao Tung University before he lost his sight, so as he gradually recovered, he applied to resume his studies, and went on to become the first visually impaired IT doctorate holder in Taiwan. In an effort to regain his independence, Kan undertook orientation mobility training, learning to use his other senses to orient himself as he moved about. These days, using his cane, he is able to travel alone on public transport and lives quite independently, doing his own cooking and housework.

In the past, Kan always put great emphasis on his own and others’ professional performance, often rejecting subordinates’ proposals as inadequate. Now he is more likely to patiently listen to others’ ideas and can empathize more. He has turned his terrible experience into a strength. Working with friends, he cofounded the Hope of Vision Association Taiwan to provide integrated resource services for people with acquired visual impairment and their carers.

Kan’s desire to create software to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities accorded with the ideals of the Institute for Information Industry where he was working, so he was able to develop the i-AIM mobile app, recruiting other disabled people to work as narrators to provide an audio “picture.” The audio description enables the visually impaired to find items or recognize words and information through real-time online video. The app not only helps visually impaired people to become more independent, but also provides work opportunities for those who assist them. Kan wants to promote the idea of professional narration, hoping to launch such a service for films in which the narrator talks through a scene, describing what is happening on the screen without interfering with the normal film audio. Kan insists that disabled people have the same needs for daily life and recreation as anyone else. Through public speaking and an online presence, he hopes to promote a more welcoming and accessible environment for disabled people.

With aids such as braille readers and text-to-speech software, visually impaired people too are able to use computers. (photo by Jimmy Lin)

Journey across Taiwan

There’s not a lot of difference between daily life for the visually impaired and life for everyone else. But their lack of ability to see their surroundings makes many afraid to leave a familiar environment, so they tend to limit their travel to the essentials: usually just to and fro between home and work.

In April this year, a group of four visually impaired people—Lu Guan­liang, Lai Bao­quan, Feng Jian­cheng and Chen Yu­hui—took off on a journey across Taiwan to serve the communities they visited with their massage skills. Some of the four are completely blind and some have very limited vision, but they supported each other and completed the nine-day journey with virtually no outside assistance, visiting nursing homes to provide massage services to older or disabled people. A documentary film, On the Road, was made of the journey, sponsored by the Taiwan Youth Foundation and public donations.

The film shows them visiting a beach in Heng­chun, experiencing the feel of cool seawater and the soft beach sand, and they also visited a night market, navigating totally by their other senses. The group did get lost occasionally and sometimes missed their train, but nothing could shake their determination to complete the journey across the island.

Lin Jiazhen (left) believes that anyone who tries hard can overcome any difficulty. Next to Lin is co-worker Mia Hsu, also visually impaired, who has worked with Lin for two years. They invite everyone to their cafe Sweet So Sweet to taste the dishes that they lovingly prepare.

Hand to heart

This significant undertaking was initiated by Lu Guan­liang, founder of the Hand to Heart Visually Impaired Care Association. Now 28 years of age, Lu was born blind, and his hearing was damaged by otitis media in childhood. Although he is disabled, he has always been keen to do volunteer work since he was young. Although he needs assistance, he wants more than that—he wants to contribute to assisting other vulnerable people. So after many years of deliberation, he established Hand to Heart in 2015. The group helps visually impaired people to find meaningful work, provides life support, and brings together the visually impaired to provide care for other vulnerable groups.

Lu’s very positive and enquiring nature led him to undertake two solo journeys across Taiwan in 2015. He found that the residents of nursing homes enjoyed his companionship and massage therapy, but because the powers of one person are finite, he decided to bring his visually impaired friends along to join in the task.

Was he scared of traveling alone? He replies cheerfully that “failure is a kind of pleasure, and experience is a kind of learning.” Visually impaired people also have the right to follow their dreams, and should not allow themselves to be limited by their disability. And that’s why he initiated this year’s journey with his companions. After the April trip, the team even travelled to northern Thailand this summer to share their benevolence with children in care.

The documentary is a graphic portrayal of the lives of visually impaired people—inviting friends over to share a hotpot, play music and sing, never resorting to pathos. They want to reveal the facts of their lives so the public gains a better understanding of the needs of people with visual impairments.

The resilience and independence displayed by Lin Jia­zhen, Russ Kan and Lu Guan­liang are remarkable. They not only look after themselves perfectly well, but also grasp every moment of life, striving to create a more friendly and accessible environment, hoping that the public will pay attention and realize the need for investment in society’s vulnerable groups. Every little piece of goodwill contributes a spark, together creating a glimmer, and gradually condensing into a lighthouse in the dark, a bright beam of hope. 

Despite her visual impairment, Lin Jiazhen looks after herself well and grasps any opportunity to brighten the future for other visually impaired people.

Despite his visual impairment, Russ Kan looks after himself well and grasps any opportunity to brighten the future for other visually impaired people.

With her amiable and very positive personality, Lin shares her work experience by teaching catering at the Taipei School for the Visually Impaired. She hopes that the children at the school can look forward to diverse and interesting careers.

The staff at Sweet So Sweet are all visually impaired. The open cash box and coin tray on the counter allow customers to pay and get their own change, an honesty system that works well.

Shown here walking with his white cane, Russ Kan believes that creating a more accessible working environment will enable the visually impaired to achieve their full potential.

After Russ Kan became blind, his brother Joey (right) resigned his position in a foreign company to assist in managing the Hope of Vision Association, Taiwan. The brothers work together to help disabled people.

Working at the Institute for Information Industry, Russ Kan uses his IT skills to develop software that will help disabled people. The cellphone app i-AIM is one shining example of his work.

Development of the app i-AIM employed people disabled by spinal cord injuries to work as narrators, reading information for the visually impaired through an online video. Kan’s app has created a number of job opportunities for disabled people.