14 years ago, Yuki moved from Japan to the United States. Living with her husband and working in the fiscal department on a campus in Seattle, most of her life is now in the United States. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t miss her home country once in a while.
Last time Yuki was back in Japan, she brought back her favorite tea that she likes to enjoy after a long day of work. It’s crucial for Yuki to prepare it right, but unfortunately she couldn’t remember the instructions. Her husband doesn’t speak Japanese, and she therefore needed to find someone speaking Japanese to help her read the instructions. Be My Eyes turned out to be the answer. “I connected with a Japanese Be My Eyes volunteer, and she just went through the steps, how to do it and voila! I was able to make my cup of tea for the day”, Yuki explains. Not only could she now enjoy her cup of tea, she also had an opportunity to speak Japanese - something that doesn’t happen too often in her daily life.
Everyday, we experience a lot of things that we know we can do, but sometimes we just need somebody to help us. Be My Eyes is my special friend that helps me anytime, anywhere, if I want it to.
Yuki also uses Be My Eyes to connect to volunteers a little closer to her current home. When Yuki had to go to her new clinic for the first time, it was early in the morning, and no people were around the area to help her find the exact location. In came a friendly Be My Eyes volunteer, who looked up the exact location of Yuki’s clinic, walked with her step-by-step checking house numbers and stayed on until Yuki was checked in to her clinic. “The small moments like that, we don’t know how often we’ll experience, but when we need it, we have it thanks to Be My Eyes”, Yuki concludes.
Tip: Be My Eyes always tries to connect you to a volunteer speaking your primary language first. If you, like Yuki, want to switch between two specific languages, make sure to change your primary language, so you’ll be connected to someone speaking the right language. Language changes can easily be done in the app settings.
