My nephew is totally blind and has been since he was about 8 years old. After living with glaucoma and really never being able to see more than faint light for 8 years he couldn't tolerate the pain from the pressure anymore. At 8 years old he had an operation to relieve the pressure which left him totally blind. He's been active in Camp Bloomfield for most of his life and if it wasn't for this place he says he wouldn't have learned the independence he's had most of his life. He had always amazed me with all that he could do on his own. Years ago he founded a radio station for the blind which he still has today. They have special radios for the blind and read the news, sale papers, books, etc. over the radio. He has a team of volunteers that come in and read. They even have a kids program on air for the kids who are blind or partially sighted. He has done all of this on grants and donations, with a never ending worry of having to shut it down due to lack of funds. Anyway, he sent me this article that was in the Malibu times newspaper where the camp is located. My sister usually drives him and his family to camp and then goes back a week later to pick them all up. They live about 2 hours away from us. This is close enough for us to go to, so DH and I are going. This will be so interesting.....my nephew is Tom Rash. I am so proud of him..he really can do anything a sighted person can do! It's amazing how they get along in life! He just became a gramdpa for the first time and he is on cloud nine!

Here's the article~~

The organization, which helps visually impaired and blind children and adults achieve independence, is having a summer festival on Saturday, designed to educate sighted persons and promote sensitivity to people who typically regard their blindness as just another way of going about life.

By Melonie Magruder / Special to The Malibu Times

This Saturday, the Junior Blind of America will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its Camp Bloomfield in Malibu with a summer festival, which is open to the public. The festival pays tribute to the visionary generosity of Henry Bloomfield, the transplanted Indianan who offered a 40-acre campground up in the Santa Monica Mountains to children who were visually impaired.

Along with Norm Kaplan, founder of the Junior Blind of America, Bloomfield fulfilled a goal of creating an outdoor summer experience for thousands of visually impaired children since 1958, offering typical summer camp activities that sighted youngsters take for granted, such as archery, horseback riding and wall climbing.

Shirley Manning, director of adult education for the Junior Blind of America, spent several summers at Camp Bloomfield as a child.

"The most important thing Camp Bloomfield taught me was to question what sighted people expected I could do," said Manning, who has been blind since birth. "Society has a pretty dim view, no pun intended, of what blind people can accomplish. Basically, we do the same things they do, but in slightly different ways."

Manning said Camp Bloomfield was the highlight of her summer every year from 1965 to 1974.

"I became a horse nut and learned how to saddle and groom my horse," she said.

The experience gave her enough confidence to eventually buy her own horse.

"It was such a valuable experience because we did normal camp stuff and I was just another kid," Manning said. "I wasn't 'the blind girl.'"

This year, the Junior Blind of America is opening its doors to visitors in a festival designed to educate sighted persons and promote sensitivity to people who typically regard their blindness as just another way of going about life.

Activities will include a Blindness Discovery Area, Captain Carl's Mobile Tide Pool, games and prizes, and a lunchtime show featuring a barbecue and homage to the Bloomfield family.

Communications manager for the Junior Blind, Camille Wheatley, said the event is free and she encourages the community to come enjoy the campgrounds and "see what it's like to be blind."

"We'll have different demonstrations, like the Juno Walk," Wheatley said. "It's a simulation where sighted people will be blindfolded then led with a harness, like those used by guide dogs. It's a terrific way to learn orientation and mobility."

As the years have passed, adaptive technology has progressed such that visually impaired people can program computer software and "read" pretty much everything with integrated voice synthesizers.

"At the festival, you'll be able to see campers who read and translate Braille," Wheatley said. "But we have a lot of computer technology, like Zoom Text, and other programs."

Camp Bloomfield does not charge fees for its camp sessions, relying exclusively on donations and grants.

Until he died in 1989, founder Kaplan was deeply involved in the summer camp sessions, frequently teaching blind youngsters himself how to swim.

"Norm started Junior Blind, basically, in his back yard," Manning said. "He knew that camp experiences led to life lessons."

Former camper Veronica Rash recalled, "I remember my first day at Camp Bloomfield when I was six. I spilled a whole tray of peas and carrots down my front, and was terrified I'd be in trouble. Norm just picked me up, gave me one of his big shirts to wear while my clothes were being washed and told me that I would be OK and that everyone learned from accidents like this."

Rash met her husband, Tom, who is totally blind, through the Junior Blind Foundation and they both became counselors at Camp Bloomfield in 1985. The couple has five children now, two who are partially sighted.

"Camp Bloomfield was such a confidence builder for me," Rash said. "Love was spoken there. You learn that you can do anything sighted people can do, but with different approaches."

The Rashes usually enjoy one of the "Family Camp" weeks Camp Bloomfield offers every summer.

"We swim, ride, do archery, arts and crafts or just hang around the cabin," Rash said. "It's great family time."

This Saturday's events, from 10 a.m. till 2 p.m., will provide a host of activities for more than 500 expected campers and their families, and a chance for the general public to appreciate the different approach to life taken by visually impaired people.

"You have to be an advocate for yourself," Manning said. "I learned how to cook and sew at Camp Bloomfield, and they are skills I use to this day. However, my mother still can't be in the same room with me when I'm using an electric sewing machine."

Camp Bloomfield is located at 35375 Mulholland Hwy., off Pacific Coast Highway, near Leo Carrillo Beach. More information can be obtained by contacting Debbie McBeth at 323.295. 4555 ext. 267 or by emailing, dmcbeth@jumiorblind.org

Here is a link that might be useful: Tom's website