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Braille instructions for Lego sets by Matthew Shifrin.听

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IN TOUCH 鈥� Lego鈥檚 鈥楢ccessible Instructions鈥� Pilot

TX:听 03.09.2019听 2040-2100

PRESENTER:听 PETER WHITE

PRODUCER:听 LEE KUMUTAT

White

Good evening.听 Many young people get involved in raising money for good causes, quite a few even take on some pretty tough activities to earn their cash.听 But earlier this year we met Hester, then 11, who planned to take her project to pretty extraordinary lengths.听 To understand the charity she was working for 鈥� Ethiopiaid 鈥� she was setting off to attend classes in a blind school in the province of Tigray.听 And her fun run would be in very high temperatures and at altitude.听 Well at that time I asked Hester what she understood about blind children鈥檚 education in Ethiopia.

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Hester

I know that their education is quite basic and they don鈥檛 really have all the equipment that I have and also, it鈥檚 not just their lessons, it鈥檚 their social life and the grounds around them that also are quite sort of 鈥� they need developing.

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White

So, how did it go?听 Well Hester鈥檚 back, she鈥檚 our studio guest today.听 Hester, welcome back, I know you鈥檝e been back for a little while now, we鈥檙e going to talk to you at more length about your trip later in the programme but because it was very clear you were a girl who was up for a challenge we thought that while you were here we鈥檇 ask for your help.听 Have you ever played Lego?

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Hester

Not really, because it鈥檚 never been very accessible to me but my brothers have, so I鈥檝e watched them do it.

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White

Right, well we鈥檝e brought some Lego along but this is because the company is trying to make the construction system accessible to visually impaired people.听 Your mum, Sarah, is along as well, just to make sure if there are any difficulties.听 Have you got the box there Sarah?

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Sarah

Well the first instruction was to open the box.

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Hester

Still haven鈥檛 done that.

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Sarah

Which is quite tricky.

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White

Well, have a go, will you?

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Hester

Okay, right, so you have to undo some Sellotape here and then, aha, hey presto 鈥� ow it鈥檚 got stuck.

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White

Actually, are there instructions Sarah?

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Sarah

There are instructions, it says 鈥渙pen the box鈥�.

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Hester

Ooh I鈥檝e done it, I鈥檝e done it.

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Sarah

Well done, it says this is tricky for everyone so ask someone to help you.

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White

You didn鈥檛 actually need any help, did you, in the end.听 Have you got long fingernails?

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Hester

Yes, I鈥檝e been working away for the last 30 seconds.

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White

Okay.听 Well Lego has taken on the challenge of making itself more accessible for blind people, both in terms of the bricks themselves and also making the instructions accessible in both braille and in audio formats.听 The man who鈥檚 had a major role in all this is Matthew Shifrin, who鈥檚 always been fascinated by the construction sets but also frustrated by the difficulty of playing completely independently.听 He joins us from Boston.

听

So, Matt, what were the problems that you found?

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Shifrin

I couldn鈥檛 build using the instructions because they were all graphics, they were all pictures and it was really problematic because as a child I had friends who were very, very committed to Lego and very passive and they would come into school and they鈥檇 say 鈥� hey, I built this spaceship yesterday.听 And another one would say 鈥� Oh, I built a castle yesterday.听 And I鈥檇 say 鈥� How did you do it?听 And they said 鈥� Oh well, we just looked at the instructions and they told us what to do.听 And the trouble was you could build 鈥� I built with my parents a lot but my parents were busy and so you鈥檇 get half a set down and then the rest of it would just go in the general Lego bin, never to be seen again.

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White

I think you had a particular friend who actually helped you play.

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Shifrin

The friend was Lilya Finkel, who was a family friend, and on my 13th birthday she brought me this big cardboard box and this big fat binder and in this big cardboard box there was an 843-piece Middle Eastern Lego palace.听 And in the big fat binder were instructions that she brailled by hand on a braille typewriter, which let me know what parts I鈥檇 need, where they should be placed and what everything would look like once everything was set and done.

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White

Explain now how you鈥檝e become involved with the Lego project in making it more accessible.

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Shifrin

After that first set that we made accessible almost a decade ago we decided that we could make these sets just in Microsoft Word and then we put them on a website called Legofortheblind.com and that鈥檚 where all our instructions lived.听 And when Legofortheblind was launched I got hundreds of emails from parents of blind children and blind kids themselves saying 鈥� Hey, this is great, can you make this set accessible and that one and what about this other one.听 And we had to turn these people down because it was just two of us. 听She would write the instructions and I would build the sets and check the instructions for typos.听 And then I reached out to Lego and asked them whether they鈥檇 be interested in creating their own text-based instructions so blind kids could build their sets on their own and thankfully Lego said yes.

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White

Let me bring in Fenella Blaize Charity, who鈥檚 the creative director of Lego Friends.听 So, Fenella, just explain what the company launched last week because you鈥檝e kind of done this in stages haven鈥檛 you?

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Charity

Yes, so we鈥檙e actually launching a pilot, which will consist of four sets

, we launched those last week with the instructions online, so you can read them using a braille reader, you can have audio instructions or a screen reader.

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White

I mean do they have to be online?听 There are ways of producing braille instructions, there are ways of producing audio instructions, I just wonder why you鈥檝e decided to do it that way.

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Charity

We鈥檝e launched them online just to try and make them as accessible as possible for as many people as possible.听 But of course, this is all part of the feedback of the pilot and we鈥檙e definitely looking into ways that we can even make it more accessible and even better than it is now.

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White

You鈥檝e described this as a pilot project and as blind people we鈥檙e rather used to pilot projects that kind of get their companies some cute publicity but then go no further, are their developments going to be incorporated into all future Lego projects, is that the idea, and indeed some past ones that people are still using?

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Charity

Yes, I mean that is definitely the ambition but we found that there are a lot of challenges in doing this, so in a lot of ways our pilot is the step in the right direction and we definitely intend for this to be scaled in the future.

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White

Well, Hester, if I can get your attention back as you rummage with your Lego.听 For a start, how are you getting on?

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Hester

Okay, so we鈥檝e managed to open the box and inside we found a few big packets of multi-coloured pieces of Lego.听 So, for the last few minutes my mother has been trying to sort them into colours and she鈥檚 looking quite frantic.

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White

What is the project that you鈥檙e actually trying 鈥� hopefully trying to start?

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Sarah

It says it鈥檚 going to be a house.

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White

Okay, you have here the creative director, you also have the man who鈥檚 driven the whole idea, if you want to ask questions this is the time to do it.

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Hester

Yes, as you said the whole thing is about getting blind children to enjoy Lego but also to do it independently and in the instructions here it says 鈥� Get a sighted person to help you 鈥� which would probably mean a parent or something.听 I鈥檓 just wondering what the next step is to make that more independent.

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Charity

But this is also parallel to the way that Lego is as an experience for sighted children as well and we know that to have a positive first experience of Lego you definitely need a play mentor to be there at the beginning.听 So, we understand that that might be frustrating but it鈥檚 all about having a successful first experience and feeling proud of what you鈥檝e done and for that to happen we know that you need support the first time you do it.

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White

Right, well the play mentor is Sarah, who鈥檚 here.听 I know neither of you have had very long to look at it but what are your own impressions?

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Sarah

Well, first of all, I had to sort it into colour and it does say 鈥� Find a sighted person, sort it into colour 鈥� so I鈥檝e done that and we have got a sea of articles and how Hester is going to find the right piece to use, according with the instructions, is going to be interesting.听 We haven鈥檛 started the build yet.

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Shifrin

Back in the day, when I used to build these sets, my friend would sort pieces for each step into separate Ziplock bags, label them in braille, then put them in larger Ziplock bags, so a set would consist of three or four of these large Ziplock bags and each one would say 鈥� Here are the pieces for step one, step two, step three.听 But I mean I can鈥檛 expect Lego to re-bag their parts in such a speedy build way and it鈥檚 unfortunate but the trouble is if Lego is primarily a sighted toy 鈥� and I know very many adult Lego builders who say 鈥� Oh, the sorting process is therapeutic 鈥� they say 鈥� our favourite part is just sorting pieces.听 And I think an issue, in part, will be to really kind of understand the pieces, at this point it might make sense not only to sort by colour but, Hester, for example, your first piece is a flat four by four鈥�

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Sarah

Yeah, we found that, there we go.

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Shifrin

Aha.

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Sarah

So, you know it鈥檚 four by four 鈥� how do you know it鈥檚 a four by four?听 That confused me in the instructions.

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Hester

Yeah, did we work out correctly that it鈥檚 supposed to be four dots up and four dots across, is that what it means?

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Shifrin

Exactly, aha, exactly.

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White

I think we鈥檙e making progress, I must say.听 And Matthew, how would you like to see this develop?

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Shifrin

When I do it for blind children, it really helps them understand the world in a more tactile way.听 I mean I can鈥檛 climb the dome of the National Gallery, I know it鈥檚 a domed building but if I tried to climb the National Gallery to figure out what that dome looked like I鈥檇 get arrested, or Nelson鈥檚 Column or whatever famous architectural landmarks you like, it鈥檚 impossible to really engage with them because they鈥檙e giant.听 But when you build something out of Lego it really enables you to learn more about the world around you in a way that you otherwise would be unable to, as a blind person.听 And so, my goal would be, if Lego could include these text-based instructions that would really open up a whole new world to blind children and really help them engage with the world around them in a way that they previously were unable to.

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White

My thanks to Matthew Shifrin and Fenella Blaize Charity.

听

The pilot offering downloadable instructions for four Lego sets is going to be running up until the end of December, details on our website.

听

So, just as these two go, Hester, how far have you got with this house?

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Hester

Well, we have 鈥� I think we鈥檝e essentially made the roof, so we鈥檝e got a sort of window, I think it might be an attic or something鈥�

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White

Which is not bad, given that you鈥檝e only really been seeing it and doing it for about 10 minutes.

听

Street sounds in Ethiopia

听

Right, time to stop playing around with Lego.听 Does that take you back to Ethiopia Hester?

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Hester

Yeah, that does sound familiar.听 That was basically everyday life on the streets of Addis Ababa and Mekelle.听 So, there鈥檚 very little sort of traffic control, there are no sort of lines on the roads, no traffic lights or anything, it鈥檚 all just one big sort of colossal mess with cows and I saw sheep being walked like dogs by their owners.

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White

So, did you find out how blind people do cope in that kind of environment?

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Hester

Your friends hold on to you and you hold on to them and that鈥檚 how they do it.

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White

Now you went to the school for visually impaired children in Mekelle.听 Tell me about your impressions there?听 I mean can you remember what it was like just walking in?

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Hester

They gave me a really, really nice welcome and I could see, straightaway, that these were really happy children.听 So, we did some dancing and my impressions were, when I walked on to the uneven ground, that it was just very unaccessible [sic] for a visually impaired person and I could tell that straightaway and they鈥檇 only just built a wall to keep the hyenas out.听 And there were thistle bushes and just uneven rocks and an open drain where the children play football.

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White

And what kind of facilities did they have?

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Hester

It was a huge courtyard, basically the whole thing was one big campus and there were a few sort of huts, buildings, with some desks inside where they鈥檇 learn English and braille and there was one place where they鈥檇 get their hair braided for the girls and then there were their dormitories which were just a row of run down little huts.

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White

You mentioned English, what kind of things weren鈥檛 they able to do in terms of subjects?

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Hester

They鈥檙e not allowed to do maths or sports and science because the teachers don鈥檛 know how to teach them and they don鈥檛 want to teach them because they just don鈥檛 know how and they鈥檙e not equipped to do so.

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White

You took quite a lot of things with you, what kind of things did you take?

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Hester

I took things like plasticine and playdoh to help with the maths as well and it鈥檚 just for the little children to play with as well.听 And one of the main things I brought which definitely made them really happy was story boxes with English stories downloaded on memory chips and you put them into the box and they play them for the blind children and I thought that鈥檚 a really nice thing for them to do because up until that their recreation was just sitting in their dormitories listening to their textbooks.

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White

Now you mentioned how difficult, how basic, some of the equipment was and yet there are examples, aren鈥檛 there, of blind women, in particular, who鈥檝e been really successful and I think you met one of them didn鈥檛 you?

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Hester

Yes, I met someone called Yetnebersh but we called her Yeti.听 And she is a blind lawyer working for disabled rights in Ethiopia.听 She invited us for dinner and at her house over dinner I did ask her a few questions about what she does.听 We did decide together that we don鈥檛 want to be regarded as blind people as a miracle, we just want to be treated as everyone else because some people think 鈥� Oh, she walked down a flight of stairs, that鈥檚 amazing 鈥� and that鈥檚 not exactly what we want, we want to do the same things and just because we do them adapted doesn鈥檛 mean that we are special.

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White

And I think you wrote the questions, is that right, somebody asked them for you?

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Hester

Yeah, I wrote the questions but giving me the questions was my friend Lily from school and whose mum works for the charity.

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White

Is that because you didn鈥檛 have access to anything to write on?

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Hester

Yeah, I couldn鈥檛 read them.

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White

Okay, let鈥檚 hear what she said.

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Yetnebersh

Okay, we are ready.

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Lily

So, how did you become blind at five years old?

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Yetnebersh

That鈥檚 an interesting question.听 I don鈥檛 know the how but I think I had some medical complications that were not able to be fixed by the time because I was living quite far from the city, like around 680 kilometres away from the city, so there was no medication at all.听 So, I remember I had a fever and I remember I was sometimes unconscious, so I was so weak, so I was very close to death.听 Death didn鈥檛 succeed in taking me so, finally blindness got me.

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Lily

And why do you say going blind was like winning the lottery?

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Yetnebersh

Ah, interesting, you have really researched a lot.听 Because in the area where I come from early marriage for girls is like the norm.听 So, my mum was married when she was 11 and she gave birth to me when she was 14.听 So, had I not been blind I would have got early married, so I would have never been educated and so I would have never been the Yetnebersh who I am today.听 So, I just tell people I have won a lottery when I was five, which made me a billionaire.听 The reason I鈥檓 picking the billionaire number is that we鈥檙e more than one billion persons with disability, so I only could belong to the billions because of this lottery which I won when I was five years old.听 So, had I not been blind I would have been early married, not educated at all, not empowered at all, not speaking English, not visiting UK or not meeting Hester, so it would have been a completely different Yetnebersh than who you know today.

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Lily

And was there a point in your life when you felt like giving up?

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Yetnebersh

No, not really.听 I always believe that challenges are the paths to opportunity.听 So, I feel always happy and I feel always trusted, whenever I face a challenge I know that it鈥檚 my responsibility to turn those challenges to opportunities.听 So, I have faced challenges but I never thought that they were there to stop me, rather I always thought that I was there to overcome them and stand over them.

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White

That鈥檚 Yetnebersh Nigussie.听 Pretty impressive woman.

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Hester

Yeah, she just deals with life in a such a way that it鈥檚 definitely what I do feel and it鈥檚 鈥� it is inspirational but not because she is blind necessarily, it鈥檚 just how she deals with life is so incredible.

听

White

And then there was the centrepiece of your trip, the thing you actually went for, amongst other things, that was the run.听 Tell me about that.

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Hester

Oh yeah, that was a 5K run in Addis Ababa, so we had to go from Addis Ababa to Mekelle to visit the blind school and then we went back to Addis Ababa for the 5K run.听 And it鈥檚 the women鈥檚 first run and it鈥檚 to promote women鈥檚 rights in Ethiopia and that was our fundraising run.

听

Actuality

Hester

Oh, it was one of the most physically and mentally exhausting things I鈥檝e ever done, so yeah, really exhausted.

听

Interviewer

And Charlotte, how was it for, what were the challenges?

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Evans

I think just having to talk the whole time and the heat is so intense that I think, yeah, getting your words out and checking that Hester鈥檚 okay and making sure she鈥檚 still positive, I mentally was draining myself.

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Interviewer

How as the atmosphere?

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Evans

Oh it鈥檚 so busy.

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Hester

Yeah, it was electric.

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Evans

It was so busy, I spent most of my time saying left and right and weaving through people 鈥� it was pretty cool, I鈥檓 so proud of you and I鈥檓 so glad and honoured you got me to come and do it with you, so thank you.

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Hester

[Groaning]

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White

[Laughter]

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Hester

That pretty much sums up my feelings about the whole run.

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White

Your mum is rather unkindly laughing.

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Hester

Thank you so much, you did it too.

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Sarah

I did, I was exhausted.

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Hester

I beat you.

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White

You did sound absolutely shattered.听 And that was 鈥� you were with your guide Charlotte, Charlotte Evans.

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Hester

Yeah, she鈥檚 my ski coach as well.

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White

Are you going to keep up your links with the Mekelle School?

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Hester

Definitely, I鈥檓 now a youth ambassador for the charity and I definitely want to go back one day to visit all my old friends because I have made some really incredible connections from March.听 So, yeah, and I鈥檓 definitely going to keep campaigning for disabled rights, just like Yeti.

听

White

Hester, thank you so much for being with us today and also Sarah, thank you too for steering us through that.

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Hester

Thank you for having us.

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White

And that is all for today.听 You can contact us to leave your direct messages on 0161 8361338.听 You can email intouch@bbc.co.uk.听 And from our website you can also download tonight鈥檚 programme or go to 大象传媒 Sounds.听 From me, Peter White, producer Lee Kumutat, Hester and Sarah, goodbye.

听