Dane Gibson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Dec 10/99) - Even though Angela Kalluk is legally blind, she had no problem reading the directions that came with her new Furby.

That's because the Grade 7 Weledeh student's classroom assistant, Maureen O'Hagan, spent five Sunday afternoons translating the toy's instruction booklet into braille for her.

"I decided to buy Angela a Furby for her birthday. But I realized after I bought it that the toy's manual had very small print and tons of information on what can be done with the creature," said O'Hagan.

"It was obvious a blind child wouldn't be able to enjoy it to its full potential without being able to read the manual."

O'Hagan started translating the Furby booklet into braille. When she was finished, the manual was the size of a small book.

While typing it out, she realized there was a connection between the Furby's ability to talk and learn to what they were teaching in their programs for blind and visually impaired children.

"I decided that rather than Angela just benefitting from it, blind children from all over the world could benefit," said O'Hagan.

She sent a letter to the toy's manufacturers explaining how the interactive nature of the toy can assist blind children, and she offered them the braille manual she had translated.

That was in May. In September, she received a letter from Tiger Electronics in Harrogate, England.

The letter thanked her for translating the manual and said they were now discussing using the story for a magazine article.

"We are in discussions with Talkback Magazine to see if we can raise awareness for blind and partially sighted people by using your Furby story as a lead," stated the letter.

The letter was encouraging, but it didn't end there. On Nov. 19, the school received a box from the company's Illinois headquarters.

It came with a simple note from Lana Simon, their director of public relations: "It's amazing how Furby has touched so many lives around the world. Please find two enclosed Furbys and a couple of other Tiger Electronics games that blind students might enjoy." The Weledeh school Braille Club decided to keep the games for the club, and to raffle the two Furby's off. Tickets are 50 cents each, and they are giving the proceeds to the Salvation Army's Christmas Hamper program.

And so, thanks to O'Hagan, what started as a simple birthday gift for Angela Kalluk has blossomed into something wonderful.