To Life!

SPIRITUALITY

Staff photos by Angie Baan

Co-chair Barbara Mandelbaum of Oak Park works at the bindery.

A Binding Effort

Beth El volunteers make reading
easier for people who are blind.

Robin Schwartz
Special to the Jewish News

i

lene Goldman Sawyer of West
Bloomfield knows what it's like to
watch the snow fly during a February
storm, see Shabbat candles glow or admire
a friend's smile. She also knows- what it's like
to live without vision.
At the age of 9, Sawyer lost her ability to
see, becoming one of more than 10 mil-
lion Americans who are blind or visually
impaired. But through her disability, she
says she learned to experience life in a whole
different way.
"When I was 9 years old, in fourth grade,
I had to learn how to read and write all over
again using Braille Sawyer said. "The hard-
est thing to teach a blind child is how to
walk and how to write
Now the retired social worker and pro-
fessional counselor volunteers her time to
make sure other visually impaired people
have a wide selection of Braille books to
read. She and Barbara Mandelbaum of Oak
Park co-chair the Temple Beth El Braille
Bindery Volunteers, a dedicated group of
more than a dozen Jewish and non-Jewish
men and women. They meet every Tuesday
at the temple in Bloomfield Township to
type, bind, repair and emboss books and
other materials for the blind, including
manuals, menus and greeting cards. Sawyer
is the only blind volunteer.
"It's really quite an operation; it's a
cooperative effort," she said. "The books
are typed on a computer using a special
program that translates English into Braille.

When they're printed, the pages come out
flat. Then somebody proofreads it and it
goes on an embosser to raise the dots. We
also have machines that bind the books"
The temple bindery, which has been in
continuous operation since 1960, is the only
Braille bindery in the state housed within
a religious institution. It's sponsored by
the Temple Beth El Sisterhood and oper-
ates strictly on donations, although private
citizens who request books are charged for
materials.
Last year, the group produced more than
2,000 publications for schools and librar-
ies in Michigan, Indiana, New York, Israel,
Africa and Guam. Many of the schools pro-
vide the paper for the books they request.
The bindery also produces tactile "con-
cept books" for children, using fabrics to
help youngsters understand things like
shapes and sizes. The project is a truly a
labor of love for Sawyer and the other vol-
unteers.
"If children are not taught Braille, they're
illiterate, and that's a real shanda (shame)','
Sawyer said. "Every child should have the
opportunity to read and write. Everyone
who participates in this project feels like
they're accomplishing something — doing
something that's really worthwhile!'

The Braille Bindery Volunteers meet
every Tuesday from about 9:30
a.m. to noon at Temple Beth El,
7400 Telegraph Road at 14 Mile. For
information, to make a donation or
to volunteer, call the temple, (248)
851-1100.

Bindery co-chair Ilene Sawyer of West Bloomfield is with a Leader Dog.

Earl Remer of West Bloomfield volunteers at the bindery.

February 22 2007

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