Cortical Visual Impairment with The Red Balloon Foundation ( www.redballoon.org )

Christine Roman Lantzy, Ph.D.

Director, Pediatric VIEW Program, The Children’s Home of Pittsburgh

June 16, 2024

Good morning, South Africa.  Lindsay and I got settled into our conference center rooms and delightfully, we were greeted with gifts of food and beverage to make our stay more welcoming.  I slept well in the exact same room I was in in 2021 when previously hosted by Antoinette and Terry who founded and manage The Red Balloon Foundation.  It was nice to be in familiar space.

(Antoinette and Terry)

Today, we had a transition day to become adjusted to a new time zone.  Our hosts drove us outside Johannesburg to a traditional Afrikaans market.  The market was large and festive.  The sky was blue, the temperature in the mid 60’s and people seemed happy to be browsing among the hundreds of handmade clothes, trinkets, soaps, leather goods, and bakery items.  Lindsay and I purchased little blocks of Ouma Hanna’s beer seep soap.  I have no idea what beer seep is, but I was assured that it would most certainly remove the stains I had on my shirt from morning coffee.  Who am I to doubt?

We had lunch outdoors at a Dutch restaurant and spent some lovely time together eating waffles and chatting.  Antoinette’s husband and baby daughter joined us. Watching little Mila visually engage with the people and activities around her reminded me about the reason we are in South Africa and the overwhelming impact of CVI on moment-by-moment, nearly accidental, learning.

(Lunch at the Windmill)

Once back at the conference center, behind the security walls, gates, cameras, and razor wire, Lindsay and I discovered that there was no power/no water in our rooms.  Ahhh, load shedding or an actual outage?  So, as I write this, I hear the loud humming of the generator as it forces reserved power into our otherwise dark rooms.  The owner, Helen, let us know that we should get out showers before 10 PM when the generator will be turned off too.  Tomorrow is day #1 of the 2-week event.  Hopefully we will be able to use technology, I am too old to tap dance all day.

(Scenes along the drive outside Johannesburgh)

(Sunset Day 1)

CVI Workshop 2024 Agenda Week 1

CVI Workshop 2024 Agenda Week 2