trail and, for each station, wrote descriptive accounts that visually impaired visitors would find interesting. As a teacher, I had spent hundreds of hours encour- aging students to observe plants and animals in the local environment, but the quality of their focus while re-conceiving the world for the blind went far beyond typical classroom experi- ence. Students who had avoided close observation in class were now touching, smelling, listen- ing, and writing descriptions filled with new realizations. Their research and discovery resulted in laminated pages of site details that could be used by sighted guides to interpret textures, shapes and smells of inter- esting wild plants for the visually impaired. Shells, rocks, local bird calls, sounds of the sea and the odor of the mudflats became features of the tour as well. The second focus of the


program was workshops for students developed by staff and members of the Singapore Asso- ciation for the Visually Handi- capped. The workshops discussed the nature and range of visual impairments and offered techniques for assisting visually impaired visitors. Empathy training included stu- dents’ leading students while blindfolded. This prepared them for the first outing, which placed two student guides with each visually impaired guest. One student would inter- pret the natural features of the trail, while the other served as a physical guide.


A multifaceted adventure


Fifteen guests from SAVH went on the first outing, accom- panied by teachers, students and members of the Nature Society. The group traveled by bus to Changi Village, from which “bumboat” ferries made the ten-minute trip to Pulau Ubin. Embarking and disembarking from the boats on rough waters became a bonding adventure, one that demanded courage and faith on the part of both the student guides and their visually impaired acquaintances. Once ashore, the groups of students and guests began


to experience Pulau Ubin’s beauty. The trail took the walk- ers along the shore with its sound of gentle waves and beneath a tickling curtain of adventitious roots growing from a giant fig. It soon turned into an orchard typical of rural Southeast Asia, where the guests found themselves on a delightful sensory and nostalgic trek. They recognized through smell and touch many prized plants, such as rambutan, jackfruit, Malay gooseberry, banana, pineapple, durian, starfruit, mangosteen, betelnut palm, coconut and guava. The group enjoyed the refreshing scent of a blade of crushed lemongrass and discussed the use of tapioca roots and leaves as a survival food during the Japanese


Page 40


Exploring the texture of a banana flower.


occupation of World War II. A cool shade greeted the visitors as they entered a fragment of secondary rainforest. Along a mangrove shore, they felt the prickly fronds of pandan, or screwpine, along with the floating fruits of prominent mangrove species. The tactile geometry of shells, the sculpted texture of mounds built by the “mud lobster,” the sucking sounds of mudskippers mov- ing over the tidal flats, and the “stitched” call of the tailorbird all provided a sense of the abundant animal life found in


In many cases, the students’ expectations of being the leaders were transformed into fascination as their visually impaired guests shared their knowledge of plants, culture and history.


the mangrove. (The diversity of birds on Pulau Ubin adds great value to the place, and we always felt lucky when we heard the gurgling vocal- izations of the straw-headed bulbul, the abrupt crowing of the red junglefowl, or the cough of the Oriental pied hornbill.) After the trail walk, the


group returned for lunch at a Singaporean food court. For the next three years, trips followed this format: bus rides to the


jetty, boat rides to Pulau Ubin, guided trail exploration, and lunch at a local restaurant or “hawker” stall.


Affecting intellect and emotions


A dynamic range of educational and interpretive outcomes accrued to everyone involved in developing the sensory trail. Students’ reactions ranged from joy and deep satisfac- tion to humility, courage, admiration, empathy and new- found respect. In many cases, the students’ expectations of being the leaders were transformed into fascination as they became learners while their visually impaired guests shared their knowledge of plants, culture and history. The trip was nostalgic for many of the guests, a foray into the village life of their youth. Teachers marveled at the multidirectional knowledge being shared. Expatriate students held hands with disabled, elderly citizens of Singapore. Malays, Tamils, Chinese and Eurasians held hands with Americans. Students practiced the Mandarin they had learned in class, creating warm friendships through appreciation of nature’s beauty. After the first trip in 1996, the project won the Singa-


pore Rotary Club International’s “Preserve Planet Earth Award.” The award included a grant of nearly 10,000 Singa- pore dollars (US$7,000) for the continuation of the project. The SAVE students were energized by winning this presti- gious award and made a commitment to lead monthly tours during school for the next three years.


Taking the program to another level


As new students joined the SAVE club and participated in outings, conversation turned to making the trail a perma- nent fixture in the Palau Ubin landscape. When the project


GREEN TEACHER 83


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56