Sappi Ideas that Matter - Book 7

Africa
My Eyes Are Used to Help Someone
South African Guide Dogs Association
18
As a young girl, Cherece-Lara Wolf belonged to the
Junior Guide Dogs club. Her fascination with the way
in which puppies are trained to be someone else’s eyes
stayed with her over the years, as did her amazement at
how visually impaired people could adapt their handicap
to lead a normal and independent life.
Now a third-year graphic design student at Inscape
Design College in Roodepoort, South Africa, Cherece-
Lara soon saw a way in which her passion and her
training could come together to assist an organisation
that provides such a critical lifeline for the visually
impaired.
Founded in 1953 by Gladys Evans, the South African
Guide Dogs Association (SAGA) for the blind is
fully dependent on fund raising, donations, sales of
Christmas cards, collections and the generosity of the
public. SAGA is a founder member of the international
federation of Guide Dog Schools for the blind of which
there are 71 schools in 29 countries. With the training
of each guide dog costing more than ZAR7,500 (over
US$1,000) and taking 18 months to complete, her help
was more than welcome.
With the goal of raising both awareness and money
for the organisation, Cherece-Lara developed a printed
magazine insert consisting of two pages. On the first
page, a guide dog with ‘My eyes are used to help
someone’ written in Braille was featured. On the second
page, a donation form appeared alongside the visual
of the dog and the same text in Braille.
Due to appear in Cosmopolitan magazine (with a
circulation of 145,000 copies and a readership of more
than 758,000) Cherece-Lara’s endearing communication
will no doubt open readers’ eyes to the plight of the
visually impaired, and hopefully open their pockets too.